So Maryland Republicans now have Dan Cox as their nominee for governor and the similarly nuts Gordana Schifanelli as their nominee for lieutenant governor. Don’t be surprised if you hear unhappy conservative commentators kvetching about how the Dems’ strategy of spending small change on Cox caused his lead to double. But the reality is that the base wants what the base wants, and Maryland Republicans wanted them some Dan Cox.

Anything can happen in politics, but the safe bet is that whomever Democrats nominate—as of this writing, the race is too close to call, with Wes Moore (a veteran, author, charity CEO, Rhodes Scholar, and host of a show on the Oprah network) leading Tom Perez (the former secretary of labor)—will win in November, given Maryland’s overwhelmingly Democratic voter affiliation numbers. It would take a moderate in the mold of Hogan, as Schulz is, to win the state for the GOP.