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Washington (CNN) — Civil rights leaders marking the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech Saturday scorned a nearby Glenn Beck-led rally, saying it came with no message and with a presumption that King’s famous discourse can be used as a conservative platform.

The Rev. Al Sharpton and a range of activists spoke at the event, which they called “Reclaim the Dream,” insisting that King’s vision for America has not been completely fulfilled.

“Don’t let anyone tell you that they have the right to take their country back. It’s our country, too,” said Avis Jones Deweaver, executive director of the National Council of Negro Women, making a reference to the Tea Party members attending the Beck rally at the Lincoln Memorial.

“We will reclaim the dream. It was ours from the beginning. A dream that we will make reality,” she said at the Dunbar High School rally in northwest Washington, D.C.

Video: Sharpton, King weigh in on Beck

People at Dunbar stood shoulder to shoulder, filling half of a high school football field and the track around one half of the field. They also filled about five sections of the bleachers.

Many of the speakers made numerous references to what America was like in 1963, when King gave his speech.

“Schools all over America still were segregated and public accommodations housing was segregated and blacks in the South didn’t have the right to vote. The march on Washington changed all of that. Glenn Beck’s march will change nothing. But you can’t blame Glenn Beck for his ‘March on Washington’ envy. Too bad he doesn’t have a message to match the place or that is worthy of the march,” said Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.

Following the rally, Sharpton linked arms with fellow marchers and walked 3 miles to the site of the future Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, just a few blocks from the Lincoln Memorial.

Sharpton and others couldn’t resist discussing Beck’s controversial rally on the National Mall. Beck, who has a program on Fox News as well as several radio programs, was criticized for holding his event — which he called “Restoring Honor” — where King delivered his speech April 28, 1963.

Civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson told CNN that Beck was mimicking King and “humiliating the tradition.”

Beck said the site of his rally was appropriate to reflect on the legacy of King, “the man who stood down on those stairs and gave his life for everyone’s right to have a dream.”

“They may have the mall,” countered Sharpton, “but we have the message. They may have the platform but we have the dream.”

“This is our day and we ain’t giving it away,” said Sharpton, who reminded the crowd that much civil rights progress has been seen in the last several decades but more needs to be made.

Sharpton told CNN’s Don Lemon on Saturday night that Beck’s rally wasn’t appropriate for a day when people reflect on King’s policy message.

“Whose civil rights agenda did he lay out? It was a motivational speech,” Sharpton said of Beck. “It might be good, but it’s not civil rights.”

Earlier Saturday, Sharpton noted that in 1963, African-Americans had to sit in the back of buses and couldn’t check into segregated hotels. Now, he said, people flew in to the event first class and can use public accommodations. And most significantly, he noted, the president of the United States is an African-American.

Sharpton also said that more progress needs to be made in education, criminal justice and other issues, such as statehood for the District of Columbia, which has a large black population.

“We’re not there yet,” he said.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who also spoke at the event, called education “the civil rights issue of our generation.” He said it’s time to stop being complacent about education and demand excellence.

Sharpton said the conservatives who rallied at the Lincoln Memorial should ask President Abraham Lincoln himself why he led the fight against states’ rights during the Civil War to hold the union together. He urged the people there to read King’s speech and talk to people who endured discrimination in their lives.

Sharpton warned conservative forces they’d face a fight in the upcoming elections, and called on people to turn out to vote this year as they did in 2008, when Obama was elected.

“We’re coming out to fight and we’re not going to let you turn back the clock,” he said.

Other well-known public figures spoke, including National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial, who said, “we will not stand silent as some seek to hijack, as some seek to distort and contort, as some seek to bamboozle and confuse the vision of Dr. King’s dream.”

Morehouse College President Robert Franklin indicated that King was treated respectfully by the conservatives.

“I am delighted to know that Mr. Glenn Beck and his colleagues discovered the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech,” he said. But, he added, Beck needs to travel to Morehouse, the Atlanta college King attended, to learn what King studied — citing, for example, the works of religious thinkers who influenced the late civil rights leader.

A couple of speakers also noted the passing of Dorothy Height earlier this year. Height, a civil rights pioneer, had been chair and president emeritus of the National Council of Negro Women and was on the podium with King during the 1963 speech.

The “I Have a Dream” speech — delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial — served as a symbol of the fight against racial discrimination. It was made during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and is considered one of the most pivotal and memorable of American speeches.

CNN’s Sarah Lee contributed to this report.

Second rally recalls ’63 March on Washington

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Washington (CNN) — The planned large rally by Fox News Channel and radio talk show host Glenn Beck on Saturday on the National Mall is causing controversy because of its location and timing.

Saturday is the 47th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and Beck’s rally will be in front of the Lincoln Memorial, where the civil rights leader delivered his historic address.

Beck, a hero to many conservative voters across the country, says that the mission of the rally is to honor American troops and that the event is nonpolitical.

A news release for the “Restoring Honor” rally says “this non-political event benefits the Special Operations Warrior Foundation and pays tribute to America’s service personnel and other upstanding citizens who embody our nation’s founding principles of integrity, truth and honor.”

Tea Party activists from across the country are expected to attend, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a Fox News contributor, is expected to have a prominent speaking role.

“Tea Party Patriots, our national coordinators, are going because our supporters from around the country by the thousands are going to be there tomorrow for this event,” Tea Party Patriots National Coordinator Jenny Beth Martin said Friday on “CNN’s American Morning.”

Beck has been heavily promoting the event on his Fox program and on his radio broadcasts, and he says that the timing of the event wasn’t intentional.

“It was not my intention to select 8-28 because of the Martin Luther King tie. It is the day he made that speech. I had no idea until I announced it,” Beck said on his radio show in June, soon after the announcement of the rally.

Video: Glenn Beck rally stirs controversy

Video: The Beck effect

Video: Who owns the civil rights movement?

“Whites don’t own Abraham Lincoln. Blacks don’t own Martin Luther King. Those are American icons, American ideas, and we should just talk about character, and that’s really what this event is about. It’s about honoring character,” Beck said Thursday on his Fox program.

Also speaking at the event will be Alveda King, a niece of the late civil rights leader.

While the NAACP put out a cautious statement regarding the rally, there has been plenty of criticism of the event.

“It’s offensive because it’s out of line with the fact. It’s out of line with the truth. The reality is that the conservative movement in America historically has always opposed expansion of civil rights for all kinds of people,” Michael Fauntroy, an assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University, said Friday on CNN’s American Morning.

“From my perspective, there’s no real evidence that Glenn Beck is serious about trying to bring people together and to reclaim the civil rights movement, in my opinion; it’s really about trying to confuse the civil rights movement and to delegitimize it and in fact dishonor it,” Fauntroy said.

Expect a lot of debate over the size of the crowd.

While the National Park Service long ago stopped giving crowd estimates for events along the National Mall, organizers of the rally are putting out predictions. Brendan Steinhauser, director of state and federal campaigns for FreedomWorks, which has been helping to organize the event, predicts a crowd of 250,000 or more. He thinks the crowd will fill up the Lincoln Memorial area, the reflecting pool and reach the area by the National World War II Memorial.

FreedomWorks is a nonprofit organization that helps train volunteer activists and provides some of the organization behind the Tea Party movement, including last year’s 9/12 taxpayer march on Washington.

“FreedomWorks has been sharing our logistical notes from organizing the huge 9/12 Taxpayer March on Washington in 2009 with Glenn Beck’s staff,” Steinhauser said. “They are doing the heavy lifting on the 8/28 event, and we’ve tried to be as supportive as possible in terms of promotion, sending volunteers their way, helping them navigate the bureaucratic obstacles to doing events in Washington, and most importantly, turning out FreedomWorks members for the weekend’s events.”

One hour after the start of the Beck rally, NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous will join the Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network and other civil rights leaders in a mass rally just a few miles away. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is also participating.

Following an event at Washington’s Dunbar High School, the participants will march to the site of the future Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial just a few blocks from the Lincoln Memorial.

It’s possible participants in both events could cross paths.

Organizers of the Beck rally and FreedomWorks say they have not coordinated their efforts with Republican Party officials. And officials at the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee all say they are not involved in the event.

But a top House Democrat charges that Beck’s claim that the rally is nonpolitical is nonsense.

“It’s blatantly political,” Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said at an appearance Friday at the National Press Club. “I mean, come on. You have seen Glenn Beck and a lot of the talk show hosts on Fox News out there talking about this election for the last 15 months since the day President Obama was elected president.”

“You’ve had a constant tirade against the president, against Democratic efforts to get the economy turned around. Let’s call it what it is. It’s a blatant political effort.”

Glenn Beck rally plans cause a stir

(CNN) — Primary voters are set to head to the polls this weekend, this time in Louisiana and West Virginia.

In Louisiana, GOP Sen. David Vitter is expected to easily overcome a primary challenge Saturday in his first appearance on the ballot since a 2007 prostitution scandal.

In West Virginia, voters are choosing the Democratic and Republican nominees for a November special election to replace the late Sen. Robert Byrd, a Democrat.

Vitter is being opposed in the Republican primary by former state Supreme Court Justice Chet Traylor and Nick Accardo. Tulane University political science professor Brian Box said after Traylor’s last-minute entry into the race, “it seemed like it could be an interesting primary.”

When he announced his challenge, Traylor said that “we wouldn’t be in this position if we had a senator who could get results.” He ran a radio ad targeting Vitter over “family values,” and cited a Vitter aide’s arrest on domestic abuse charges.

But with little money and questions raised about Traylor’s past, Box said that, in the end, Traylor’s campaign “never became anything.”

With polls showing him holding a large lead, Vitter has spent most of his time in the primary focusing on the general election, not his Republican opposition.

Vitter’s advertising “is almost entirely against [likely Democratic nominee Charlie] Melancon,” Box said. “There was nothing against Republicans.”

Melancon, the congressman from Louisiana’s 3rd District outside New Orleans, is the favorite in the Democratic Senate primary against Cary Deaton and Neeson Chauvin.

The nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report rates the general election as “favored Republican.”

Several U.S. House primaries are also on the Louisiana ballot, including the race for candidates seeking Melancon’s seat. Republicans believe they have a chance to pick up the seat, the only one in the state currently in Democratic hands. Box said three major Republican candidates have been competing, “trying to out-tea party each other.”

Meanwhile, four Democrats are competing to challenge vulnerable GOP Rep. Joseph Cao in his New Orleans district. The race has been targeted by national Democrats as a seat considered vulnerable in November. The seat was held by Democrats until Cao was elected to replace former Rep. William Jefferson, who is serving a 13-year prison term after his conviction on corruption charges.

Cao initially voted with House Democrats on health care reform, but voted against the final version of the bill.

“Cao is in a lot of trouble,” Box said. Democrats have focused “so much on defending turf, [but] this is a chance for a pickup.”

In West Virginia, both parties will select nominees for the general election race for the seat of Byrd, who was serving his ninth term in the Senate when he died in June at age 92.

Gov. Joe Manchin is expected to win the Democratic nomination over two opponents, including 95-year-old Ken Hechler. Hechler was a four-term secretary of state and represented West Virginia in the U.S. House from 1959 to 1977.

On the GOP side, 10 candidates are competing for the nomination, including businessman John Raese, who was defeated by Byrd in 2006.

Primary votes in Louisiana, West Virginia

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(CNN) — Strategists on both sides of the political aisle weighed in this week on what President Obama and Republicans must do before the November midterms to give their parties a boost.

The 10-week to-do lists resulted in thousands of comments and suggestions from CNN readers, ranging from constructive to highly critical.

Readers suggested Obama look for a new job and put a muzzle on Vice President Joe Biden, while commenters providing advice for the GOP recommended a muzzle for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Mouth guards aside, readers also offered up practical guidance for Obama and the GOP. Here are some of the suggestions:

1. For Obama: Govern from the center

CNN readers say they want to see Obama get behind a more bipartisan agenda. The No. 1 thing they want to see is job creation, and they don’t want partisan games to get in the way.

Commenters advised Obama to not be influenced by those on the far left and instead focus on what the American public wants.

2. Tout the administration’s accomplishments

Supporters of the health care legislation passed this year say they’re proud of it — and they want Obama to talk about it more. “Talk up Healthcare, because so many supported the bill!” one commenter suggested.

Obama signed the health care bill in March after a long, emotional debate in Congress. Now that the dust has settled, backers of the bill want to hear all about it.

“Talk about what you have done, and what you would like to do, and why,” another reader wrote.

3. Rise above the partisan bickering

“Quit politicking which further divides our nation,” one commenter posted.

Readers say they are sick of partisan games getting in the way of action on Capitol Hill — and they want the administration to stay out of the mudslinging.

4. Shake up the staff

Commenters are ready for some fresh faces. Even those supportive of Obama say they are ready for him to reload the strategy and bring in some new staffers.

5. Stay out of local issues

Readers say the want to see more presidential leadership from Obama. They want him to avoid getting involved with local issues and distractions and focus on the job at hand.

“Be a leader, be positive, plan for success, stay focused,” one reader said.

1. For Republicans: Steer clear of the far right commentators

Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter are doing more harm than good for the GOP, some commenters warned.

Readers say they want Republicans to avoid accepting what’s meant to be shock-jock entertainment as sound advice for the party.

2. Keep religion out of politics

“I’m a conservative person, and I’m all for people believing what they want to, but please keep it out of your politics,” one commenter posted.

Readers say they want Republicans to focus on issues such as jobs and the economy instead of trying to prove who is the better Christian.

3. Be conservative, but be bipartisan

Some commenters say that while they like conservatives, not all Republicans fit the bill. Readers say they want lawmakers to stick to their conservative ideas, with an understanding that working with Democrats instead of against them will be more productive.

4. Represent your constituents, not your party’s agenda

“The only thing I want to see from either party is a return to REPRESENTING THEIR CONSTITUENTS, not their party,” a reader said. “When your constituents in large numbers oppose a bill, your obligation is to them.”

“I’m tired of politicians being elected and then ignoring what their constituents want or don’t want. Suddenly the only thing they care about is party support,” the reader continued.

Commenters want their elected officials to listen to them instead of being afraid of breaking with the party.

“Show the American people that you’re capable of putting them ahead of your party,” one person said.

5. Tell the voters what will be different if Republicans take power

“Republicans are going to take back the House and Senate, and it will change absolutely nothing,” one reader said, arguing that both parties are controlled by special interests.

Voters want to know how things would change if Republicans had the majority.

Do you have more suggestions for President Obama or lawmakers? Weigh in below.

To-do list: Your ideas for Obama, GOP

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Meg Whitman spends big in California but still trails Brown

(CNN) — Sen. John McCain told supporters he will “take nothing for granted” after defeating former Rep. J.D. Hayworth in a bitterly fought Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Arizona Tuesday.

“I … will fight with every ounce of strength and conviction I possess to make the case for my continued service in the Senate, and the policies and principles I will advocate and defend if I’m fortunate to be re-elected,” McCain said in his victory speech Tuesday night.

McCain — seeking a fifth term as senator — was ahead 58.8 percent to 29.8 percent, with 20 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press.

The race between McCain — the 2008 GOP presidential nominee — and conservative talk show host Hayworth started off nasty and didn’t get any friendlier down the home stretch. Forced to spend $20 million in the campaign, McCain was driven to the right on some issues as Hayworth accused him of not being a true conservative.

McCain is expected to easily beat any one of the four Democratic primary candidates in the solidly red state.

Video: Crist says race benefits Florida

Video: Marco Rubio is looking to the road ahead

Video: Alex Sink wins Fla. Democratic primary

In Florida — one of four other states to hold primaries Tuesday — millionaire political newcomer Rick Scott claimed victory over Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum in the Republican primary for governor.

In a speech to supporters, Scott, who spent $50 million of his own fortune since joining the race in April, alluded to the divisive nature of his fight against McCollum, the party-establishment favorite and former Congressman.

“Some of you may have noticed this was a hard-fought race. We talked a lot about our differences, but tonight it’s time to remember those things that bring us together — to recall our core beliefs and recommit ourselves to fighting for our principles,” Scott said. “The Republican Party will come together, and the reason we will come together is our shared devotion to the values that make America great.”

Scott was ahead of McCollum, 46.5 percent to 43.4 percent, with 96 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press.

The winner will face a November general election against Alex Sink, Florida’s chief financial officer, whom CNN projected will win the state’s Democratic primary for governor.

In a different race featuring a political veteran against a self-funded candidate with deep pockets, Rep. Kendrick Meek declared victory over billionaire Jeff Greene in Florida’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.

Meek led Greene 57.3 percent to 31.2 percent, with 97 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press.

Meek will take on Marco Rubio — who won the Republican primary for Senate — and Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican-turned independent, in the general election.

In an e-mail Tuesday night, Meek thanked supporters for lifting him past Greene, a billionaire real estate investor who was funding his own bid after making a fortune betting against the housing market.

“The pundits thought this seat could be bought. Our critics wrote us off. But together, you and I proved them wrong,” Meek’s message said.

Meek used his victory speech minutes later to try and establish himself as the candidate for Democratic voters in November. He noted that he is “running against two conservative candidates” — a clear swipe at Crist, who could siphon votes from Meek in November. “I made the case, and I am the real Democrat in this race,” Meek said.

Crist, who avoided a primary battle with Rubio by announcing an independent candidacy, framed the three-way Senate race as a choice between him, the hard right and the hard left.

“If … you want somebody who wants to fight the gridlock in Washington and put the people first instead of the party, [and] do what’s right for Florida rather than what’s right for Washington or right for just Republicans or Democrats, then you have an alternative,” he told CNN’s “Larry King Live” on Tuesday night.

Rubio told his supporters that Crist and Meek would be the candidates for voters who already “like the direction that America is headed.”

“If, on the other hand, you are unhappy with the direction that Washington is taking America … then there is only one person running, there is only one campaign in Florida in 2010 that is offering to stand up to that agenda,” Rubio said.

Florida’s Democratic primary for Senate and the Republican primary for governor were two races in which two deep-pocketed political novices came virtually out of nowhere this spring, but managed to transform a pair of primaries into two of the most outlandish contests of the 2010 cycle.

Meek, a Democrat from Miami, Florida, had a clear path to his party’s Senate nomination until April, when Greene decided to fund his own bid.

Both campaigns quickly trained fire on one another, with Meek dubbing Greene a “Meltdown Mogul.” Greene linked Meek to an indicted Miami real estate developer and questioned Meek’s commitment to Israel, a weighty charge in a state with a large population of Jewish voters.

Republicans also were grappling with a divisive primary in the governor’s race between McCollum, a former Congressman backed by the state’s party establishment, and Scott, a millionaire former health care executive.

Scott spent $50 million of his personal fortune since joining the race in April, mostly by blanketing Florida’s expensive television and radio airwaves with advertisements questioning McCollum’s conservative bona fides. He eventually stumbled on the campaign trail as he faced questions about his management of two health care companies that went on to face legal problems.

Arizona’s GOP Senate race also was bitter, with Hayworth insisting that after running to the right in the primary, McCain would seek to build his legacy by cutting deals with President Obama and the Democrats if re-elected.

Fights over immigration fueled the race, as Hayworth and Tea Party activists challenged McCain’s previous efforts at reform, which called for tougher border security, but included a pathway to citizenship for some undocumented workers.

But McCain defended Arizona’s new immigration law, State Bill 1070, and went on a six-stop statewide tour with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, whose signing of the bill earned her wide praise from conservatives, and made her the symbol of opposition to amnesty.

On Tuesday night, McCain told supporters he was convinced that Republicans will regain majorities in both the Senate and the House.

“And when we do, we will stop the out of control spending and tax increases and repeal and replace Obamacare,” McCain said. “We will keep families in their homes, we will create new jobs and we will allow our businesses to grow without Washington interference. We will secure our borders, defend our nation and bring our troops home from Afghanistan with honor and victory.”

Other races:

– Republican Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona easily won her party’s gubernatorial nomination Tuesday night, according to a CNN projection. Brewer captured 87 percent of the vote in the GOP primary election, according to early unofficial vote returns from the AP.

– In Alaska, incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, with one of the best-known political names in the state, is pitted against an unknown challenger. But attorney Joe Miller’s campaign picked up the support of the Tea Party movement and the backing of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

In a last-minute robocall for Miller, Palin went after Murkowski saying, “Lisa Murkowski has voted with the Democrats more than any Republican up for re-election this year. She waffled on the repeal of ObamaCare, co-sponsored cap and trade and voted for TARP.” But some think that endorsement of Miller is at least partly personal. Palin had tangled with Murkowski’s father Frank and defeated him in the 2006 governor’s race.

The Tea Party made its support known again in the final hours, promoting the more than half-million dollars it put into Miller’s campaign.

– Also in Alaska, voters decide on gubernatorial nominees. Gov. Sean Parnell, who replaced Palin when she resigned last year, faces two challengers in the GOP primary. Two Democrats are battling for their party’s nomination.

– Longtime Republican Gov. Jim Douglas is retiring in Vermont, giving Democrats hope of competing for the seat. Five Democrats are running in what’s considered a tight race. The winner will face GOP Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie.

– In Oklahoma, two U.S. House Republican nominations will be decided in a runoff. In the 2nd District, Republicans think they have a chance for a pickup this fall against conservative Democrat Dan Boren. And two Republicans are battling to likely replace Rep. Mary Fallin, who’s running for governor.

– A 10-way Republican primary in the Arizona 3rd Congressional District race to replace retiring Rep. John Shadegg has attracted national attention because Ben Quayle, son of former Vice President Dan Quayle, is one of the candidates. The winner will face Democrat John Hulburd in the fall in the heavily red district.

CNN’s Peter Hamby, Steve Brusk, Rachel Streitfeld, Jeff Simon and Mark Preston contributed to this report.

McCain fends off Hayworth challenge

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(CNN) — Voters across the country go to the polls Tuesday night for party primaries.

Here are three things to watch.

1) Can you buy an election?

Of course not — that’s against the law. But two wealthy Floridians are pouring part of their personal fortunes into primaries: Billionaire real estate investor Jeff Greene hopes to grab the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination from U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek and millionaire former health care executive Rick Scott is running against Bill McCollum, the state’s attorney general.

Three other largely self-funded candidates have already secured a place in the November general election with scads of their own money: Linda McMahon, whose family built World Wrestling Entertainment into a multibillion-dollar business, is the GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. Meg Whitman, former eBay president and CEO, is the GOP nominee for governor in California. And Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard CEO and AT&T executive, is the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in California.

Funding your own campaign is generally a bad investment — of 51 self-funded millionaires who ran for office in 2008, about 40 percent didn’t get past the primaries and 37 in all dropped out or lost, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

2) Will ‘the maverick’ return?

Sen. John McCain proclaimed himself a “maverick” when he ran for president and he had the credentials to prove it, often breaking with his party in the senate and forging alliances with Democrats. But facing a stiff challenge for his Senate seat in Arizona’s Republican primary, McCain embraced the GOP conservative brand in an effort to fend off a challenge on his right from former Rep. J.D. Hayworth.

Video: Billionaire candidates spending millions

Hayworth is telling fellow Republicans not to fall for McCain’s shift to the right. Hayworth described McCain as a “shape-shifter,” who will lurch back to the left after he wins the race. Speaking of lurching left and right, McCain used to tell a joke on the presidential campaign trail: He resented that people said Congress was “spending money like a drunken sailor,” he would say, because he had once been a drunken sailor himself.

3) Worst in history?

It’s hard to stand out when you’re one of 10 candidates running for a seat in the House, even if you’re name is Quayle. But Ben Quayle, son of former Vice President Dan Quayle, called President Obama the “worst president in history” and got free, national publicity by making the rounds of cable talk shows and interview programs.

Quayle got even more attention over rumors he contributed to a website called DirtyScottsdale.com, which detailed nightlife in the Arizona city and was apparently devoted to showing how little clothing you could wear while partying there. The site’s owner said Quayle used the alias “Brock Landers” in his posts. Quayle denied using the alias, but admitted he wrote a few innocuous posts.

He was, he said, the victim of a “smear campaign.”

Three things to watch in tonight’s primary races