Stu Rothenberg goes anti-establishment: “The narrative that this is an anti-incumbent political year is already well-established, and only a fool would fight it. So here goes. While there is some truth to the storyline, the narrative being pounded into your head daily on television and in print is clearly misleading. … Incumbents have lost, and so have some “establishment” candidates. But the results have many explanations, most of which have nothing to do with incumbency. Alvin Greene’s victory in the South Carolina Democratic Senate primary ought to be proof of that. (Surprisingly, I haven’t yet heard anyone say he won because he was the ultimate ‘outsider.’)”

ALASKA: “Inspired by an endorsement by Sarah Palin, the group Tea Party Express examined the politics of Senate hopeful Joe Miller and decided it, too, would back Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s challenger in the Republican primary,” Roll Call writes.

CONNECTICUT: In a recent interview with a Connecticut paper, per the New York Times, Richard Blumenthal “said he joined the Marine Corps Reserve in April 1970 knowing that reservists could be activated for service in Vietnam. ‘I did not want to avoid service,’ he said. ‘I did realize reservists could be called up, and that it was something that I wanted to do.’”

“But military experts said there was no expectation that reserve units would be activated at the time Mr. Blumenthal enlisted, particularly given how drastically public opinion had turned against the war.”

ILLINOIS: The New York Times writes about another resume exaggeration by Mark Kirk (R). “Representative Mark S. Kirk of Illinois, a Republican candidate for the United States Senate, has often reminisced about his time as a teacher… A review of public comments that Mr. Kirk has made over the last decade shows that while he may refer to himself as a former teacher, he does not talk about the brevity of his experience: a year in London at a private school and part-time in a nursery school as part of a work-study program while he was a student at Cornell University.”

MASSACHUSETTS: “Governor Deval Patrick is battling a recession and a national backlash against incumbents, but it was his Republican rival, Charles D. Baker, who found himself on the defensive more often yesterday during the first major debate of the gubernatorial campaign,” The Boston Globe reports. “The wide-open format in the initial face-off, and the presence of independent candidate Timothy P. Cahill, helped Patrick deflect criticism on issues where he is most politically vulnerable: taxes, health care costs, immigration, and state government spending.”

NEW JERSEY: Chris Christie’s election hasn’t changed Garden Staters’ negative feelings about their state. In fact, they’ve gotten worse. Political Wire writes, “A new Quinnipiac poll finds 44% of New Jersey voters describe Gov. Christopher Christie (R) as a ‘leader’ while 43% call him a ‘bully.’ Voters also say by a 52% to 38% margin that he is ‘confrontational,’ rather than ‘honest and refreshing.’ … A total of 75% of New Jersey voters are ‘somewhat dissatisfied’ or ‘very dissatisfied’ with life in the Garden State, the worst satisfaction rating ever in New Jersey.”

SOUTH CAROLINA: “The South Carolina State Election Commission will not investigate Democrat Alvin Greene’s controversial victory in last week’s Senate primary,” The Hill reports. The state election commission sees no reason to initiate an investigation into our voting system,” Chris Whitmire, a spokesman for the commission, said, “We have full confidence in the reliability and accuracy of the state’s voting system and we have nothing to indicate there was any voting-system failure on June 8. The system has performed accurately and consistently.”

Jenny Sanford and Mitt Romney will campaign for Nikki Haley tomorrow.