No blues for GOP in Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. | Until recently, Wisconsin seemed to be a Democratic strategist's lock - a blue state getting bluer. Its two senators were well-established liberal Democrats. The governor's office and both houses of the legislature were in Democratic hands. And President Barack Obama won the state in 2008 by 14 percentage points, one of his largest victory margins anywhere.

But something went awry on the way to the permanent Democratic hegemony.

A conservative insurgency - headed by a Republican candidate who actively courts, of all things, the "tea party" - is now making a strong bid for governor. And across the state, Democrats suddenly find themselves fighting to hold seats they once took for granted...