About a week ago, Salon ran an interesting item, headlined, "The 10 most terrifying would-be congressmen." I put it aside with a little note to myself: "Check to see how many of these nutjobs actually win."
The answer: half of them.
So, which of the five "most terrifying would-be congressmen" won? Some real doozies:
Renee Ellmers in North Carolina's 2nd
Ellmers is perhaps best known for running on a virulently anti-Muslim platform, and based much of her advertising on her opposition to the Park51 project (which is nowhere near her district). In September, she appeared utterly humiliated during an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, but nevertheless narrowly won yesterday.
See the others on AlterNet