House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, rarely agree on much. When it comes to the nation's current political climate, however, they do have remarkably similar views. Each believes current officeholders have a tough road to travel.
"There is no question," says Ms. Pelosi. "There is, at this moment, an anti-incumbent mood." Rep. Boehner's take on the topic: "It's 'politicians beware.'"
There already is ample evidence to support those views. More proof about voters' feelings about incumbents and those challenging them will come in three key U.S. Senate primaries today.
In the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania, five-term incumbent U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, a long-time Republican, changed parties rather than chance a GOP primary run against Pat Toomey, leader of the Club for Growth, a prominent conservative group. Sen. Specter faces Rep. Joe Sestak, a retired Navy admiral, in a race that most political observers call too close to call.
In the Arkansas Democratic primary, two-term incumbent U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln is being pressed by Bill Halter, the state's lieutenant governor, for the party's nomination. The winner of that internecine battle will face strong GOP opposition in November in a state that is increasingly Republican.
The shoe is on the other foot, so to speak, in Kentucky. In the Republican primary there, Trey Grayson, the secretary of state, is running against, Rand Paul, a Tea Party favorite endorsed by Sarah Palin, to succeed Jim Bunning, who is retiring. Mr. Paul, the polls indicate, is making a late run, apparently winning approval by reminding voters that Mr. Grayson is an incumbent. That message, it seems, has found some resonance with voters in the mood for change.
The outcomes of those and other elections today might provide additional insight into the mood of an unsettled electorate that already has rebuffed the candidacies of incumbents in both parties. The message might not be definitive, but it certainly will be instructive for politicians trying to divine the future.