I deeply respect Dennis Kucinich. He is an unapologetic liberal and was an indefatigable Democratic presidential candidate both in 2004 and 2008. His presence--when allowed by the traditional media,who too often ignored or made fun of him--served the necessary purpose of moving the conversation towards more progressive ideals, even as a longshot candidate.

So it's no surprise that Rabbi Michael Lerner brought up the idea of primarying Barack Obama as a way to keep him honest to Democratic ideals, he named Kucinich specifically as the kind of primary candidate we need.

But there is a real way to save the Obama presidency: by challenging him in the 2012 presidential primaries with a candidate who would unequivocally commit to a well-defined progressive agenda and contrast it with the Obama administration's policies. Such a candidacy would be pooh-poohed by the media, but if it gathered enough popular support - as is likely given the level of alienation among many who were the backbone of Obama's 2008 success - this campaign would pressure Obama toward much more progressive positions and make him a more viable 2012 candidate. Far from weakening his chances for reelection, this kind of progressive primary challenge could save Obama if he moves in the desired direction. And if he holds firm to his current track, he's a goner anyway.

I fundamentally disagree with Lerner's thesis, and I think history backs me up. Ask Jimmy Carter how getting primaried by Teddy Kennedy helped him. But either way, this kind of left jab against the President has to go on without Dennis Kucinich, who declined officially on Lawrence O'Donnell's program any interest in primarying the President in 2012.

But Kucinich is not going quietly into that good night. Just because he won't primary Obama does not mean that he thinks liberals should sit quietly by. He recommends that we speak loud and long about helping the middle class, about getting out of Afghanistan, free trade and our monetary system, injecting our values into the debate.

That's a campaign I think we all should get behind.

Tonight was a big night in primary-land with some expected, some unexpected, some disappointing, and some cliffhanging results.

Arkansas: Blanche Lincoln squeaks by Bill Halter

Despite Bill Halter's slight lead in the polls, Blanche Lincoln took the lead in votes from the first returns and never gave it back, squeaking through the runoff by a 9,500 vote margin as of this writing, winning the Democratic nomination to run against Republican John Boozman in November.

It appears that voter turnout was down slightly from the May 18th primary. In that race, a total of 324,216 votes were cast. In this one, with 83% reporting, 213,818 votes had been cast. Extrapolation of that result gives me an estimated voter turnout of 257,600 or so. This might not be such a big deal, but there are lingering questions about the integrity of this runoff, given that one county only had two polling places for this runoff instead of the 40 open for the primary. A lawsuit has been filed; voter disenfranchisement alleged.

California message: Rich corporate washout women win

Yep, that's right. Carly Fiorina will run against Barbara Boxer for the US Senate, and Meg Whitman will face Jerry Brown for Governor. Tom Campbell, Chuck Devore, and Steve Poizner were left in the dust. Sarah Palin can finally put a winner (Fiorina) in her column, and we're off to the races. Whitman spent $81 million ($71 million of her own money) on the primary. And they say Republicans are conservative.

On the ballot initiatives, Californians bear-hugged open primaries but sent fair elections packing. Despite a harrowing first few hours of returns, it appears that enough Californians rejected the idea of P,G&E and Mercury Insurance buying custom-built laws to build up their business at taxpayers' expense, but it is not a shoe-in. It is 1:00 AM as I write this, and Prop 17 just flipped to NO 15 minutes ago. Prop 16 flipped at midnight or so. Prop 13 sailed to victory as did Prop 14.

In other news, Rep. Jane Harman overwhelmed challenger Marcy Winograd 59.3%-40.7%.

Seems that anti-incumbent sentiment didn't quite ooze all the way out to California.

Birther takes a bath

Orly Taitz lost big, but it still amazes me that nearly 300,000 California Republicans think she's worthy to run for or hold public office.

Nevada - Harry Reid has a very strange challenger: Sharron Angle

A lot of money went to Angle from the tea party groups in the last few months of the campaign, and with Sue Lowden doing the funky chicken, Angle pulled out the win, more or less guaranteeing Harry Reid his next term in the Senate. Angle isn't your ordinary conservative. She wants to repeal Social Security, Medicare, health care reform, and all regulations hindering offshore drilling. I think there may be some issues with that these days. There's more, but that link goes to a cached version of her website which may change since the live site is offline but for a donation page.

Senator Ensign's good buddy Gov. Gibbons lost his primary bid by 30 points (ouch!) to Judge Brian Sandoval, who will run against Democrat Rory Reid in November.

More on yesterday's primaries here.

There are more stories to tell, including how this Twitterer was born. Election nights are emotional, and tonight was no exception, even for some unnamed "senior White House officials."