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.

It is official – Scott Brown has won. CNN projects the same, finally.

Let’s see what games Reid/Obama & Co. will play to get their health care nightmare rammed into law.

Scott Brown is still in the lead with 53% of the vote, with 69% reporting. CNN is surprisingly quiet with only one article on the matter and no projections as of yet.

53-46 at 69% should be good enough for some projections…

UPDATE:

If Scott Brown were to get elected tonight, he would be the first Republican Senator from the Bay State since Edward Brooke lost his seat to Paul Tsongas. Brooke was the first African-American ever to be elected by popular vote to the U.S. Senate. Ted Kennedy’s seat was last held by Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., who lost to JFK in 1952.

Either of those are very big boots to fill for anyone.

Not Making Anyone Happy

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee feels betrayed by Rahm Emanuel on the health care issue. The group claims:

There’s nobody in Washington, D.C. who caves at the slightest hint of a fight with corporate interests more than Rahm Emanuel … We’re making clear to Rahm that when he undermines progressives and the overwhelming will of the American people on issues like the public option, he will pay a political price back home

PCCC will not support Emanuel if he decides to run for office ever again and has put out a petition for the cause.

Conservatives should sign up too – there’s no reason we would vote for Emanuel any way.

It’s been 35 minutes since the polls closed in the special election to replace Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts.

With 21% reporting, Brown leads Coakley 53-46 as of 5:40 PST.

Here’s to hoping against hope.

Despite the hype surrounding Scott Brown’s recent rise in the polls, Martha Coakley will take Teddy’s seat in the Senate.

I’d be very surprised, otherwise.

In the latest poll numbers published by the WSJ, President Barack Obama’s job approval has hit a new low of 47%, apparently the steepest 1-year drop among recent presidents.

The drop in support for Democrats has not coincided with a concurrent increase in favor for the GOP. The time might just be right for a strong third party to emerge. Our political system has been dominated for too long by two parties, neither of which represent the views and opinions of the majority of Americans anymore.

Chuck DeVore is trying another to pull another Doug Hoffman on the State of California. We have a mainstream Republican candidate, a moderate female, Carly Fiorina, who is trying to unseat Barbara Boxer, but, DeVore is begging for attention by situating himself on the far right, possibly too far right for a blue state like California.

Looking at his position on a number of hot button issues, he seems like a candidate who could win in Alaska or Mississippi, maybe, but not in California. Read on »

As of 9:51 p.m. EST, with 64% of the precincts reporting, Christie is still ahead of Corzine:

Red NJ?

UPDATE: Red NJ indeed! Christie has won!

As of 10:07 p.m., with 71% precincts reporting:

	Christie, Chris	GOP	877,888	50%
	Corzine, Jon (i)	Dem	774,167	44%

The final count with 99% reporting does seem to place Christie just under 50%:

	Christie, Chris	GOP	1,140,134	49%
	Corzine, Jon (i)	Dem	1,040,404	45%

But still a sweet victory for the GOP in a deep blue state.

Is it merely a coincidence that the GOP has captured the Governor’s mansion in both VA and NJ after nearly a decade long exile?

According to premature results, Republican Chris Christie is leading incumbent Democrat Governor Jon Corzine…

UPDATE: As of 8:51 EST, Christie is still ahead, with 14% of precincts reporting…

WaPo and CNN are reporting Bob McDonnell will be the new governor of Virginia. Creigh’s deeds weren’t good enough.

UPDATE: As of 5:27 p.m., McDonnell is ahead 60-40, despite losing Alexandria and Arlington by margins of 30 points. The map of Virginia looks like the red state that it should:

As of 5:27 p.m.

Joe Biden is taking on Sarah Palin (again)…

Of Ms. Palin, Mr. Biden said: “I like her. I really do – not a joke.” But later he recalled the chant that used to surround her in campaign crowds: “The fact of the matter is Sarah Palin thinks the answer to energy was ‘drill baby drill.’ No. It’s a lot more complicated, Sarah, than drill baby drill.”

Palin is also campaigning for Bob McDonnell in Virginia. Biden, however, is probably not going to stump for Deeds, as Lord Obama has thrown him under the bus.

People are finally around to realize that it’s really politics, and not much else, that decides Nobel laureates, especially in fields such as peace, literature, and even economics now, as with Paul Krugman (what did he really do to deserve one?)

According to a Rasmussen poll, 58% of American “adults now believe that politics plays a role in the awarding of the Nobel Prize. That’s an 18-point jump from 40% a year ago.”

Can you complain?

Kennedy Motorcade Arrives in Boston

Spencer

I just listened to another of Robert Spencer’s cliched speeches, this time at the Young America’s Foundation’s 2009 conference.

I don’t think he’s ever made a reasonable argument about anything. Much like Brigitte Gabriel and others of their ilk, Spencer never has anything to say that hasn’t been said a hundred times before.

And, he never has anything to say that would sound even half-way reasonable to any sensible, educated individual. Read on »

NRA’s campaign against Sotomayor is having little or no effect, even amongst the s0-called conservative Democrats and some Republicans:

Voting “yes” [on Sotomayor] will include A-plus-rated and NRA-endorsed Democratic Sen. Max Baucus and his fellow Montanan, A-rated Sen. Jon Tester, as well as A-rated and NRA-endorsed Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, the only GOP leader to break with the rest of this party to back Sotomayor…

Some Democrats who have high NRA ratings, including Alaska Sen. Mark Begich and Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, are on the fence.

Still, the NRA’s threats seem to hold less potency on this vote. Asked whether he was worried about ruining his perfect NRA score and endorsement by opting to vote for Sotomayor, Nelson paused and said with a smile, “I’d probably have a good rating regardless.”

Has the NRA picked the wrong battle?