I'm trying to come up with something interesting…

…to say about the US Senate primary, but so far the results are tediously predictable. It'll be Patty Murray against Dino Rossi, but you knew that last week. Last month, for that matter. Probably could'a guessed last year.

When the rest of the votes from the Puget Sound corridor come in, it'll be interesting to see how close Patty comes to the 50% mark with the traditionally conservative primary electorate, but other than that the results are most interesting as a lead-in to the Sarah Palin scorecard in the upper left last night.

Palin made three endorsements in this state. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is an establishment incumbent, and the safe bet paid off for Sarah last night. John Koster in the 2nd CD is a challenger, but still a known quantity among Republicans in northwest Washington and was likely to come through the primary with or without the Palin seal of approval.

The campaign that really tested the value of a Palin endorsement, of course, was Clint Didier's US Senate bid. She jumped aboard early, while Dino was still picking up pin money on the foreclosure seminar circuit, and Didier played her name for all it was worth. She never appeared in the state on his behalf, though. As far as I know, the only face time he got with the former half a governor was when she summoned him away from the state Republican convention in Vancouver while she had momentarily lit down in the tri-cities. There was a recorded message for a last minute round of robocalls, but I'd imagine it all added up to a lot less than Didier had hoped. At least 22% less, which is how much he trails Rossi for second place as the results stand.