You may not have heard, but even though half-term governor and Fox News personality Sarah Palin inserted herself into Georgia politics and campaigned on behalf of a fellow "mama grizzly" for governor here, her candidate lost the run-off election yesterday. Although the contest was close with only 2,500 votes separating the two candidates, Karen Handel had beaten Nathan Deal in the primary by 11 points. Her Palin-supported loss in the run-off can only be considered an epic collapse, a sign that even redneck Georgia is getting sick and tired of Queen Sarah and her Tea Party nonsense.

Not that I'm entirely happy about the outcome. The victor, Nathan Deal, is an ethically challenged disgraced former Congressman with extremely conservative views. During the campaign, Handel painted him as a "corrupt relic of Washington." And while Handel conceded to some limited abortion rights, at least in the case of rape and incest, and mildly supported some gay-rights issues, Deal is a staunch anti-choice advocate and is so virulently anti-gay that it makes you wonder if he doesn't have something to hide - it's probably just a matter of time before some sort of tawdry scandal breaks out around him.

Both Republican candidates damages each other's reputations during the run-off and a Libertarian candidate is still running for Governor to split the remaining conservative vote, so it looks like Georgia is going to send Democrat Roy Barnes back to the Governor's mansion this November.