Their Just Desserts

Just for fun, I thought I'd make a list of candidates who either really deserve to lose or really deserve to win. Excluded will be incumbents who deserve to win and will do so easily and were never really in play this cycle. Some of the "deserves to win" nominations will be in the form of "doesn't deserve to lose," usually in the case of an incumbent who seems likely to lose. And no, I'm not going to be 100% pro-Democratic. Don't believe me? Just watch (very long, so below the fold.) [Also, some of these are pretty obvious. Some of them aren't. It's basically just sort of a summary of the election campaign minus the results.]

Deserves to Lose: Frank Caprio (D-RIgov), for telling Barack Obama to "shove it." He will, and my next Governor calls himself "Linc."
Deserves to Win: Scott McAdams (D-AKsen), who sports a +20 net favorability while his opponents are both around -20, but could lose the semifinals to Joe Miller if enough of those who like him make the "tactical" mistake of voting tactically for Murkowski. (Semifinals, because the winner proceeds to take on Lisa Murkowski in court for the championship.) He could win; it's a toss of a three-way coin (which I'd love to see!).
Deserves to Lose: Charlie Crist (I-FLsen), who tacked right in the primary, left the primary, tacked left, and then handed Kendrick Meek a cross in an attempt to get him to drop out; I'm not kidding. He will.
Deserves to Lose: Alvin Greene (D-SCsen). 'Nuff said.
Doesn't Deserve to Win, But Is Still Awesome: Jimmy McMillan (RTDH-NYgov). The Rent is Too Damn High. Once again, 'nuff said.
Doesn't Deserve to Lose: Harry Reid (D-NVsen). The 111th Senate was actually one of the most productive in decades, mainly because it was the first in decades where they basically spent all their time trying to get serious shit done. I think he won't, but it's a nailbiter.
Deserve to Lose: Dan Maes (R-COgov) for being the worst candidate ever (literally; he's going to make the Colorado GOP become a minor party for the next four years), and Tom Tancredo (C-COgov), for being Tom Tancredo, an entrepreneur of xenophobia.
Deserves to Lose: Carl Paladino (R-NYgov), for being a sick fuck. Don't believe me? Seriously, don't believe me? There are times when name-calling is appropriate; this is one of them. He will.
Deserves to Lose: Jack Conway (D-KYsen). That ad was at the very least disquieting, and certainly did damage by providing ammo for the "but both sides do it!!!" chorus. And it backfired. He will, badly.
Deserves to Lose: Rand Paul (R-KYsen). Yep, both of them. Rand for being the world's most boring fringe nutter, and for having made light of his supporters' having stomped on a woman's head.
Deserves to Lose: David Vitter (R-LAsen). For frequenting prostitutes. Seriously, when's the last time an actual admitted john got elected to a statewide office? Shame Louisiana's the only place in the union with French sexual mores instead of Puritan. He won't.
Deserve to Lose: Jan Brewer (R-AZgov), for being the nation's top xenophobe this past year and for having the worst debate performance ever, and John McCain (R-AZsen), for being John McCain. You know what I mean. They won't.
Deserves to Lose: Blanche Lincoln (D-ARsen), for having had the DSCC bail her out of a tough primary with lots o' cash, only to be a much worse candidate in addition to being much more conservative than her vanquished foe, Bill Halter. Boy, will she ever.
Deserves to Lose: Meg Whitman (R-CAgov), for being an idiot and praising her opponent's former tenure as Governor. I think she will.
Deserves to Lose: Charles Djou (R-HI01), for having won the seat of Obama's birth only due to a quasi-split Democratic Party, and being way, way too conservative for Hawaii. Toss-up, though.
Deserve to Win: Rush Holt (D-NJ12), Frank Pallone (D-NJ06), David Cicillini (D-RI01), and Barney Frank (D-MA04), for being good liberal Democrats from solid Democratic districts who've done nothing to deserve the smattering of polls showing them endangered. And also for being, respectively, my home representative, my former representative, my school hopeful representative, and Barney Frank. They all will, I think.
Deserve to Win: Tom Corbett (R-PAgov), Rob Portman (R-OHsen), Don Young (R-AK01), possibly some others. Corbett's the exemplar here. I don't like 'em, they're Republicans, I'm rooting against them, but goddamn it, they're the most popular politicians in their states. I can't really deny that the logic of democracy approves of their victories. They all will.
Doesn't Deserve to Win: Joe Manchin (D-WVsen). If you offered me a trade of having Manchin lose in exchange for giving one Democrat who would otherwise have lost a reprive, I'd take it in a second. Not just because he's conservative, but because his defeat would make the advocates of the "Democrats should run to the center/right" meme eat it big time. I think he will, though, and I am after all rooting for him to.
Deserve to Lose: Mark Kirk (R-ILsen), Pat Toomey (R-PAsen), Ken Buck (R-COsen), Sharron Angle (R-NVsen), Ron Johnson (R-WIsen). Respectively, for being a pathological liar, for being a Tea Partier before such things existed and for making Rick Santorum look liberal, for being so crazy you'd notice if it weren't for his surroundings, for being, well, the surroundings that make you not notice the previous guy, and for refusing to tell us what he'll do in office until he's, well, in office. I hope they all do; Toomey and Johnson, at least, probably won't.
Deserves to Lose: Christine O'Donnell (R-DEsen). Not for not being a witch; no, no, I'm grateful she isn't a witch. For ever having thought she was halfway cool enough to be a witch, and for being stupid enough to have "I'm not a witch" be the first words out of her mouth in the general election. Boy will she ever, and it'll be fun to watch.
Doesn't Deserve to Lose: Russ Feingold (D-WIsen). Of the $2.7 million in independent investments in this race, $2.67 million have been spent against Feingold. That's at his request. 'Nuff said. Unfortunately, he may well; if so, Feingold for SCOTUS!!!
Deserve to Lose: Ken Block (M-RIgov) and Tom Horner (I-MNgov). For being nasty, snarking so-called independents who, while running against nasty partisan politics, are, as I said, nasty and snarking. They will, though, rest assured.
Deserve to Lose: Dino Rossi (R-WAsen), Roy Blunt (R-MOsen), Rob Portman (R-OHsen), Kelly Ayotte (R-NHsen), probably some more. For being a bunch of old, tired corporatist/lobbyist sorts, vintage establishment Republican, who will be propped up by the Tea Partiers' enthusiasm. Wrong candidates in the right cycle. Other than Rossi, none will. And yes, I know I said Portman deserved to win earlier. Both are true.
Deserve to Win: Bill White (D-TXgov), Joe Sestak (D-PAsen), and probably a few others, for being the right candidate in the wrong cycle.
Deserves to Lose: Sarah Palin. Yeah, she's not running. Doesn't matter. She deserves to lose 435 House races, 37 Senate races, and 37 Governorship races. On every ballot, there should just be a little box that says, oh hey, I'm also voting against Sarah Palin in this race.
Doesn't Deserve to Lose: Nancy Pelosi (D-CA08). She won't literally lose, but if we lose the majority, rumor has it she's not interested in being the minority leader and might even leave the House. That would be a horrible, horrible shame, because she has been a truly great Speaker and is currently the leading force standing up for liberalism in this country. And if the 111th Senate was pretty good, the 111th House would've been transformational if the Senate didn't exist, on par with the New Deal and Great Society Congresses.

I think that about sums it up. Many of these people will get their just desserts. Many will not. I have a hunch things will be a bit better for Democrats than is broadly predicted (a shocker to those who know me, I'm sure!). If they do, here's to celebrating and watching Republicans turn into a circular nuclear testing squad pre-2012. If they don't, well, there's only one thing to say: Give 'em hell, Barry!