And so, on Tuesday, the so-called experts braced for the latest insanity. But instead, in the first major round of primary voting ahead of the midterm elections, Republican and Democratic voters made generally safe choices. In primaries in West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana, voters eschewed the most out-there potential nominees, leading both party establishments to breathe a rare sigh of relief…

It is testament to the distinctiveness of the president’s personality that “Trumpy” or “Trumpian” has become shorthand for every exaggerated or outlandish political gesture, from not-so-veiled racism (Blankenship) to affection for dictators (Kucinich) to questionably gotten riches (Braun). Voters of both parties remain obviously annoyed with the corruption and disarray they perceive in D.C., and both parties are in the throes of identity crises that have yet to be resolved. But that doesn’t mean they’re just going to go for, as one Republican congressman put it, “the craziest son of a bitch in the race.”