MIchigan Senate Race 2012

Has anybody noticed that the race for the Republican nomination for the US Senate is getting just about no coverage? Since the to-do over Pete Hoekstra's Super Bowl ads, next to nothing has been said about the race.

That's likely because the race is as over as the one for the GOP Presidential slot. Most polls show Hoekstra so far in front that a serious challenge to him is unlikely, outside of his doing something patently catastrophic or incredibly stupid. He has the support of about half the Republicans in the race. That's considerable, when you realize that there are 11 people vying for the chance to run against Debbie Stabenow. Of course, it appears that approximately 40% of potential voters are undecided. But unless all those uncertain voters swing to one candidate, Hoekstra's got the thing tied up.

A further reason for the general disinterest may be in that Stabenow will be difficult to beat. Most polling shows her beating any GOP challenger, although not by tremendous margins. A lot of that may well not play out until the November elections, when we see how the big picture is developing. Will there be Presidential coattails or Republican triumphs for the respective Parties' more local candidates to take advantage of?

But the most likely reason there's little attention to the race here is that it's only April, the Presidential nominations are a foregone conclusion, and we're simply in a lull in the election cycle. And that's good. It shows that Americans aren't all political wonks who thrive on watching and predicting election outcomes. It shows that Americans have lives outside the voting booth.

Well, some of us anyway.