It's a fairly big primary day around the country and, alas for us touts, it looks like the chalk's going to hold pretty much everywhere. In Arizona, John McCain is likely to leave Kelli Ward far behind among the chemtrails. In Florida, authentic Republocrat Patrick Murphy looks like he'll beat Alan Grayson, who has used his primary campaign to pretty much demolish his national reputation as anything but a loud voice in the peanut gallery. Which is a shame because Murphy really needed a strong and serious challenge from his left.

Instead, we had Grayson running a horrible campaign, shouting into the wind, and being trailed by nasty allegations from his first wife, thereby hanging out to dry all those progressive groups who jumped in early on his side. (Although, as it turns out, his second wife may wind up succeeding him in Congress, which would be strange.)

On the other side, Young Marco Rubio is going to be the nominee for the seat he abandoned after his presidential campaign cratered, and he would like the voters of Florida to know that, while he appreciates their support, he still hears the rolling Potomac a'callin' his name, as Tiger Beat On The Potomac explains.

"No one can make that commitment because you don't know what the future's gonna hold in your life personally or politically," the Florida senator told CNN on Monday, opening the door for a presidential run when asked if he could commit to a full Senate term before seemingly slamming it shut in the next breath.

Let us dispel with the notion that Young Marco Rubio doesn't have the soul of a career hack.

Also in Florida, Democratic candidate Tim Canova no longer is feeling the Bern much, since his challenge to the egregious Debbie Wasserman Schultz largely was abandoned by the people who managed to rid the DNC of her barely discernible leadership. After endorsing Canova, Bernie Sanders declined to campaign for him in the district, which has not endeared him to the candidate, as The Hill explains.

He told the left-leaning "The Young Turks" web series on Tuesday that "it is a bit disappointing" that Sanders hasn't stumped for him. "We are hoping that the Sanders campaign does still come through, that Bernie comes through, and makes an appearance for us, or at the very least helps us raise some more money during such a critical period down the home stretch," Canova said. But in an interview with The Hill a few days later, Canova tried to downplay any influence a Sanders appearance would have on helping energize voters to go to the polls. "At this point, maybe it'll be a distraction," Canova said. "We're going to win this, no matter who comes to town."

As tempting as it is, I would not draw any conclusions about the national parties based on tonight's sample size. The Sanders Our Revolution operation is too new, and any judgment as to its power should be suspended until the 2018 midterms.

Meanwhile, the Republican candidates who conspicuously allied themselves with El Caudillo del Mar-A-Lago are minor figures at best, and they're either fighting uphill battles against incumbents (Ward, against McCain), or have been blindsided by a bolt of unleashed ambition (Carlos Beruff, in Florida, who had Rubio dropped on his head.) The real indicators will come later. Both McCain and Rubio have hummina-hummina'ed endorsements of their party's nominee. Both are vulnerable to well-funded Democratic challengers in November.

That's when they may look down and wonder who tied the millstone around their ankles.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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