As I suspected, a mixed bag in the primaries and special elections yesterday.

In Arkansas, Senator Blanche Lincoln ekes out first place, but faces a runoff on June 8 against primary opponent Bill Halter because she failed to get more than 50% of the vote. John Boozman was the easy winner on the GOP side.

In Pennsylvania, Arlen Specter is finally pushed into involuntary retirement by the voters, as he loses the Democratic primary to Joe Sestak, 54%-46%. Pat Toomey is the GOP nominee. The Democrats scored a victory, though, with the special election to fill the late John Murtha's seat, as former Murtha aide Mark Critz beat Tim Burns 53%-44%.

In Kentucky, Rand Paul, son of Texas Congressman and Presidential candidate Ron Paul, won the GOP primary over 'Trey' Grayson 58%-35%. While that race got all the attention, on the Democratic side Jack Conway narrowly beat Daniel Mongiardo for the nomination.

So, what does it all mean? The electorate, as we all seem to agree, is in an angry mood. The question is, how will this anger be directed in November? The answer, unfortunately, won't be known until we get there, as the voters will likely be moved most by whatever is most pressing at that given moment. Obama might not have won were it not for the financial collapse in October of '08. The GOP is in the driver's seat right now, but much can happen over the Summer, so any predictions now are probably not worth the time or effort it takes to make them.

Benny Avni says President Ahmadinejad of Iran is running diplomatic circles around President Obama.

Tom Friedman wants Obama to use the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to push for a new tax on gasoline and other petroleum products to help reduce our dependency on oil. Some Conservatives, me included, thought we should do that after 9/11 as part of a national security initiative to end our dependency on foreign oil (and offset those tax increases with reductions in payroll and other taxes), so its not such a bad idea.

Democrats need to be concerned about their white, working class base.

Pat Buchanan wonders if the PIIGS will blow up Europe.