Republicans have been winning elections lately, including the governor’s mansions in New Jersey and Virginia, but neither of those victories really represented an Obama backlash. Many deep blue states have elected Republican governors in tough times, in the midst of scandals, or in years with terrible Democratic candidates. The red camp is also helped if the candidate is a moderate, a so called RINO, or just very charismatic.
Hawaii elected Linda Lingle in 2002 and then re-elected her, Mitt Romney won in Massachusetts – in fact, moderate Republicans held on to the governor’s mansion in Boston for 16 years from ‘91 to ‘07 – New Jersey has had several Republican governors over the past twenty years. Vermont loves Jim Douglas.
So winning statewide elections for executive-level positions does not always relate to national issues. But, elections for the U.S. Congress are an entirely different matter.
Scott Brown’s election to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, a deep blue state that voted for Obama 62-36, signals a clear change. It also shows that the Republican loss in the Congressional election for NY-23 was a minor blimp, caused by unnecessary in-fighting among conservatives, led by Limbaugh, Palin, and other stupid Republicans.
Obama’s magic also failed to salvage Coakley’s sinking campaign. He claimed:
Martha’s opponent already is walking in lockstep with Washington Republicans
That seems to be the way to go right about now.
