Post-Election Results: What Does It Mean?

What happened last night? Losing in Virginia was particularly tough given the way Obama took it just one year ago. The Dems failed to energize their base, and the Independents evidently revolted. But, what does it mean?

Here is my first take. The only race with national implications happened in NY23 (I hate media politic-speak) where uber-conservative candidate Doug Hoffman and the far right pushed the original Republican choice out of the race saying she was really a liberal. Well, in a precinct that has been characterized as pretty conservative (and has been Republican since the Civil War and has not sent a Democrat to Congress in nearly a century) and with a candidate in Hoffman who theoretically represented this angry base (much more so than gubernatorial candidates McDonnell and and Christie), the Democrats won.  In other words, the one race which really turned on Health Care, environmental regulations, the war in Afghanistan -- or, what could most closely resemble a referendum on Obama -- was a Dem victory. That is, the Democrats added one more vote to their overwhelming House majority.

Governors, in case you forgot, do not vote. And, based on the last few years it is also plausible they do little to nothing: Pawlenty of Minnesota is never home and always campaigning; Sanford from SC has been flying to Argentina quote a bit; Schwarzeneggar is basically useless. Palin quit and saved us the nonsense, while Bobby Jindal (Louisiana) seems to genuinely care about his job. Spin the elections however you like, but keep in mind the Democrats one another seat. It also may serve as a repudiation of the intensification of conservatization of the GOP. Of course, off-elections typically tell us little to nothing about the next year.

Some other articles that might shed light on your early morning political deliberations: (Here); (Here)