Vitter. Primary. Over.

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

And candidates who attack an opponent's perceived vulnerability in a given issue area are wise to check first to make sure they have no vulnerabilities in that same area.

Just ask Chet Traylor, the retired Louisiana state Supreme Court Justice whose last-minute entry into the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by David Vitter roiled what had theretofore been expected to be a smooth sail to renomination.

Thirteen days ago, Traylor filed his papers just minutes before the deadline for the August 28 primary. What made Traylor's filing particularly interesting was the fact that he was accompanied by consultant Roy Fletcher, the strategist behind former Governor Mike Foster's breakthrough victory in 1995, which was at the time only the second statewide victory for a Republican candidate in Louisiana since Reconstruction.

Traylor campaign manager Lev Dawson -- reprising the role he played in Traylor's 1996 campaign for the state Supreme Court seat he won and held for 12 years -- made clear that Traylor would not have challenged Vitter were it not for the Senator's perceived vulnerabilities on the personal scandal front. Said Dawson to Politico: "I believe that Justice Traylor, who was a Supreme Court Justice, has a record of ethical behavior that is beyond reproach and he will use his experience to better reflect the ethics of the average Louisiana Republican voter."

In a second interview with another newspaper, Dawson said of the contrast between Vitter and Traylor, "I don't think there's a difference politically."

Said Traylor himself, "If Senator Vitter was in good shape, I wouldn't be running."

Traylor, in other words, would offer Louisiana's conservative GOP primary voters Vitter without the baggage. By ceding that there was no difference between the two on the issues, Traylor declared that the personal ethics front would be the terrain on which his primary campaign strategy would rest.

The only question, it seemed, was whether or not Traylor would be able to raise the funds necessary to compete with Vitter in a six-week primary campaign. Given the size of Vitter's warchest -- he reported $5.5 million cash on hand at the end of June -- that was a tall order.

But whatever chance Traylor may have had disappeared like bayou fog earlier this week, when Traylor's own ethics were called into question.

It seems the former state Supreme Court justice is carrying some Samsonite of his own.

State Rep. Noble Ellington says Traylor has had affairs with two married women -- first, with Ellington's wife, and then with Ellington's son's wife.

According to Ellington, a Democrat, Traylor helped break up his marriage to Peggy McDowell a decade ago, then married her himself. Ellington told the Monroe Star-News on Monday that Traylor was "significantly involved" in the demise of his marriage to McDowell, saying he was "certainly part of the reason" for their divorce.

Then, a few months after McDowell passed away last year, Traylor took up with Denise Lively, the estranged wife of Ellington's son Ryan.

Not surprisingly, Traylor denies any involvement in the breakup of Peggy McDowell's marriage to Noble Ellington, and he insists that Denise Lively and his stepson Ryan Ellington were separated before he began his relationship with Lively.

 "I've done nothing I'm ashamed of," says Traylor. "I've done everything I've done in the open."

Further complicating Traylor's claim to moral superiority is a lawsuit filed by Ryan Ellington, who alleges that Traylor is withholding information on McDowell's estate. McDowell left no will, and her son -- the husband of the woman with whom Traylor is now involved -- claims Traylor won't share relevant information.

Over the course of my career in politics, I've run across candidates who were believed to be harboring secrets about their sex lives. To a man, they all seemed to think they were invulnerable -- that is, they believed no one would find out. Being found out, they apparently believed, was for other candidates.

Some apparently believe that cuckolded husbands are so embarrassed by the episode, feeling that it is somehow their fault, that they will remain silent, and no one will be the wiser.

Moreover, in the case of Traylor's paramours, there is a he said/he said element to the story. Traylor simply denies the timeline laid out by the senior Ellington.

So I can understand how Traylor could make the calculation that it was okay to go forward with a challenge to Vitter on the morality front. The Ellington men, he might have reasoned, would probably keep their mouths shut, and if they kept their mouths shut, no one would ever know.

It was a bad calculation, a wrong calculation, but understandable, if we presume Traylor falls into that camp who believes they are invulnerable.

What I cannot understand is how he thought news of the lawsuit filed against him would remain a secret.

He's a former judge, for goodness' sake. He knows lawsuits are public documents. And he knows there are reporters who do nothing but hang around the courthouse all day, waiting to see who files suit against whom.

And if he had any brains at all, he'd know that the moment he announced his challenge, the first thing a good editor would do is make sure his courthouse reporter scoured the files to see if he'd been on the receiving end of any lawsuits.

So by any reasonable assessment, it was clear the lawsuit filed by Ryan Ellington would become public knowledge in a matter of days, if not hours. And what do reporters do when they get their hands on a lawsuit? They call the guy who filed him to get background information.

Is it possible Chet Traylor believed a reporter could call his stepson and not learn of his affair with his stepson's wife? And is it possible Traylor could believe his stepson's claims would not lead to an interview with the stepson's father?

Louisiana's GOP voters may not care about Traylor's moral lapses, if there are any. But they're likely to care a good deal about his poor judgment.

Game over.