What We Learned: Vuvuzela Edition

We learned those awful vuvuzelas make our TVs sound like soccer games are happening in an apiary. And how much does it say that so many of ESPN's soccer announcers are British?

Here's what else this week in politics taught the staff at The Hotline:

-- The media's favorite meme this week: It's the new Year of the Woman! In truth, it won't be. Sure, women won GOV nominations in CA and ME this week, and SC's Nikki Haley (R) was so close to winning her primary outright that the RGA started defending her as the nominee-in-waiting. But the incoming GOP class in Congress will be virtually bereft of women; only 7 of 105 candidates at various stages of the NRCC's Young Guns program are women. That's a lower percentage of women than they already represent in the GOP Conference (17 of the 177 GOPers in the House are women).

-- Resumes matter. As does self-oppo research. Rep. Mark Kirk still has the benefit of not being the "mob bank" guy. But, he's quickly losing the high ground on credibility. Kirk hasn't been able to move past serious questions about his military service, even as questions over CT AG Dick Blumenthal's (D) Vietnam-era service have faded.

-- Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL) needs a game changer, fast. There's no evidence that his 'grassroots strategy' is taking hold, and investor Jeff Greene is quickly gaining in the polls. If the DSCC is indeed for him, maybe an early expenditure aimed at pumping up his numbers will show the donors and the media that they mean business. If the DSCC is still hesitant, Meek needs to invest some money now to get them to take a stand.

-- Then again, one thing we learned this week is that Bill Clinton backs winners -- from Rep. Mark Critz in PA-12 to ME GOV nominee Libby Mitchell and, of course, Lincoln. Meek was one of the first candidates Bubba helped out with fundraisers and rallies.

-- Clinton tells us incumbents may not want to run away from Washington, despite the anti-incumbent mood. His speech in NV, on behalf of Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid, was clearly a shot at the Dem consultant class.

-- The Research 2000/Daily Kos divorce has wide-ranging implications -- not the least of which are the effects of Nate Silver's "pollster rankings" on the industry at large. But the absence of the R2K/DKos surveys -- accuracy and reliability notwithstanding -- underscores the lack of live-caller polls in many states without dependable in-state pollsters. Mason-Dixon has its cadre of media clients. Quinnipiac has its regular list of states in which it polls. States like AZ, IA, NH, NY and PA all have reasonably solid in-state commercial or academic pollsters. But in other states without those operations, this week's developments have left a void, one likely to be filled by a further increase in automated polling.

-- Both parties will have headaches this Nov., thanks to their flanks. For the GOP, it's Tea Party orgs who refuse to endorse its nominees in VA-02 and VA-05, places where they hope to pick off incumbents. And for Dems, it's labor groups in NC-08 who continue to push a third-party bid against Rep. Larry Kissell (D), mainly because of his vote against the health care overhaul.

-- Dissatisfied Liberals made themselves heard this week at the America's Future Now conference in DC, reminding us that there is a counterpoint to the Angry Right. Campaign for America's Future co-dir. Robert Borosage said 6/7: "We have to stop taking the president's temperature. We have to stop being critics and start being actors once more." The storyline could have grown, as Liberal hecklers shouted through Speaker Nancy Pelosi's half-hour speech 6/8, but then come-from-the-Left challenger AR LG Bill Halter (D) went down in the AR SEN primary 6/8 to Sen. Blanche Lincoln. Counterpoint made, back to the Angry Right narrative.

-- Leading the opposition to the health care reform law is not a silver bullet for AGs running for higher office. SC's Henry McMaster (R) finished in a distant third place in the SC GOV GOP primary despite rallying other GOP AGs from across the country against the reform effort with a lawsuit. Also, TPM notes that MI AG Mike Cox (R) and FL AG Bill McCollum (R) are trailing in their GOV primaries even though both signed on to the lawsuit too. Of course, AG Tom Corbett (R) won the PA GOV GOP primary 5/18, but he didn't have significant opposition once Rep. Jim Gerlach (R) dropped out of the race over 5 months ago.

-- AZ Gov. Jan Brewer (R) may still be the front-runner, but she likely will not have as much cash to spend in the GOP race as she originally anticipated. A SCOTUS decision to halt matching funds in AZ this past week all but guarantees that Owen "Buz" Mills (R) will be able to outspend her. Though with Brewer landing a recent WH sit down and the popularity of the immigration bill remaining in the minds of voters, even a 7-figure spending advantage for Mills may not be enough to stop Brewer from securing the nomination.

-- CA's much-celebrated GOP women need new media strategies. Ex-HP CEO Carly Fiorina needs to be more disciplined and focus on CA for a bit. Ex-eBay CEO Meg Whitman (R) needs to be more aggressive with the media, which has labeled her a question-dodger. Going after Ex-Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in TV ads and in stump speeches are okay, but she needs to show that she can answer an unexpected question. Otherwise, however many debates Whitman eventually agrees to will turn into nerve-wracking encounters for her campaign.

-- The power of incumbency still exists and a pro-TARP vote is not necessarily the electoral kiss-of-death. Lincoln and Rep. John Boozman (R) both voted for TARP, and they beat back a host of rivals who attacked that vote. The same thing happened to Rep. Gresham Barrett (R), who qualified for the SC-GOV runoff even though the other 3 GOPers in the race all bashed him for his TARP vote too.