Politics and other nightmares

I was going to start this off with, "Ah, life is good." But that's a bit of an overraction in the world of politics, so i'll just say, "Well. Pretty good week." First, a single election in Massachusetts changed the whole political landscape in Washington. Health care reform is dead, and cap-and-trade is on life support.

Gov. Daniels spent much of his State of the State address bragging about the relative solvency of Indiana government, and that annoyed The Journal Gazette:

NPR travels to Anderson to find out whether Hoosiers, who went Democratic for the first time in decades and helped put Barack Obama in the White House, have any buyer's remorse:

George W. Bush won this county in both 2000 and 2004. But in 2008, like the state as a whole, it flipped and went Democratic, driven by economic worries and by the intense enthusiasm of Obama supporters.

Mike Pence has been getting pressure to take on Evan Bayh in the Senate race this year, and he's likely to get even more when he meets with the National Republican Senatorial Committee this afternoon. When he visited us earlier this month, he was pretty negative about the idea.

Isn't this about the scariest photo you've ever seen?

The scary part is not that they're pretending to like each other and are ready to explode. The scary part is how comfortable they look together.

OK, folks, back to the center

In a victory few thought possible just a month ago, Republican Scott Brown defeated Democrat Martha Coakley Tuesday in the race for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy -- a win that could grind President Obama's agenda to a halt and portend huge losses for Democrats in the November midterms.

The times, they are a changin:

Eight in 10 Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use and nearly half favor decriminalizing the drug more generally, both far higher than a decade ago.

Enjoy driving on Indiana freeways while you can, before they become one giant speed trap. Spurred by the state's budget shortfall and inspired by the huge number of tickets Maryland has been able to write under a similar program, two Indiana legislators want to start using a "work zone freeway speed camera" program (added emphasis mine):

Ah, maybe a pleasant winter and an early spring. With the state strapped for cash, it is speculated that Gov. Daniels will use his State of the State address tonight to focus on smaller issues and how to keep the state solvent, rather than proposing bold new initiatives as he has in the past. And:

But he's likely to spend just as much time patting the legislature on the back.

Thank God for The Wall Street Journal. Otherwise, we might not have the incisive insight that "Turnout Is Key in Massachusetts Battle":