Young At Heart

DENVER -- If you thought Dems here have a difficult task in bringing the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama factions together, imagine the job that confronts GOPers in AK-AL after today's primary mess.

-- Don Young (R) has not gone down easily, as many -- including maybe even LG Sean Parnell (R) -- expected early on. Young has displayed an aggressive posture towards Parnell throughout this primary, and has run a campaign fitting an underdog challenger, not an entrenched incumbent. And that has done him well.

-- But that has also allowed cracks to show in Parnell's armor. If Parnell's lucky enough to survive today, pollsters say, Young will have exposed a big weakness in Parnell: that voters see him as an empty suit. (Hmmm, sounds a lot like the conversation in Denver this week, no?)

-- And if Young wins, don't bet on a similar comeback in 11/08. '06 LG nominee Ethan Berkowitz (D) and the DCCC will play for keeps and have already reserved $500K+ worth of airtime. They'll use all of that, and more, for a chance at one of their best pickup opportunities in the nation.

-- A Parnell win still gives GOPers a good shot at the seat. But just as the WH Dem primary did for McCain, this primary certainly gave AK Dems lots more ammo to use against him in the general.