Noteworthy items:

Right-wing whackjob and former maha-neighbor “Mean Jean” Schmidt lost her seat in the House in a landslide to her primary opponent, Brad Wenstrup. Unfortunately, from what I’ve read Wenstrup also is a right-wing whackjob, and he’s expected to win in the general election.

I regret that Dennis Kucinich was redistricted out of his House seat. Even though his self-promoting grandstanding sometimes worked against progress rather than for it, his perspective is needed in Washington.

Republicans stripped an 86-year-old World War II veteran of his right to vote. But did they really intend to keep elderly white men from voting? I thought that was their strongest constituency?

Of Mitt Romney’s tepid showing, Dan Balz writes,

Nomination battles often strengthen the winner, but some take a toll. Rarely is there a straight line between March and November that predicts the outcome of a general election. Still, Romney is in worse shape at this point in the campaign than virtually all recent previous nominees.

Demographically, his image among independent voters, the most critical swing group, is more negative now than it was when the primary battle began. He could be hurt among women. He is in trouble with Latinos, a growing part of the electorate that is tilting even more Democratic than it was four years ago. He is not as strong as he needs to be among working-class white voters, among whom President Obama has been consistently weak.

Any other thoughts?