WY, Oh WY?

Anyone trying to get any divine any message from the '08 primary season is running a fools errand.

-- Just look at the last week. A millionaire self-funder won in CO-02, while an outsider defeated an ex-Rep. in KS-02. So, it follows that a millionaire outsider would have a great shot at victory in last p.m.'s WY-AL primary, right? Not really. Ex-Treas. Cynthia Lummis (R) won a surprisingly comfortable victory over rancher Mark Gordon (R).

-- Thus far, there haven't been any real binding themes to this cycle's primaries. Sure, four incumbents have lost, but each loss can be blamed more on the candidate's own flaws than an anti-incumbent wave. Outsiders have done well, but candidates like Lummis and CA-04's Tom McClintock (R) still are able to win in a year where gov't types aren't doing well.

-- The important lesson: Don't expect that the pol. enviro. alone will determine the outcome of House contests. At the end of the day, campaigns and candidates still matter, as Lummis, CO-02's Jared Polis (D) and KS-02's Lynn Jenkins (R) can attest.