This Is What Happened On Election Day

Virginia: For more than a generation the recently elected President’s party has lost the race for governor in Virginia. That is the trend in this election. Yes, the Democrats poured as much money as the Republicans did into the race. They had to do something to try to make it competitive. Yes, the President did campaign for Sen. Deeds. He is the head of the party and he wanted to do all he could to support the nominee. The voters in Virginia told the exit pollsters that the President was not a factor in this race. They told the exit pollsters that they held a higher opinion of the President yesterday than they did on the day they gave him their electoral votes. Sen. Deeds ran an awful campaign, he never told the people who he was or what he really believed in and he was more dull and bland than Michael Dukakis. Sen. Deeds never connected with the voters. The winner Mr. McDonnell was personable and charming; he was successful at keeping his more wing nut views away from the voters and talked about the issues that mattered to people the most, local taxes and local job creation. He had also served as Attorney General and was better known state wide and more experienced on the larger stage. Sen. Deeds was unable to connect with the new voters who last November were so critical to the Obama victory and they stayed home in droves. The Obama voters are Obama voters; I suspect we will see them return next year when the election is about national issues not state and local issues.

New Jersey: John Corzine deserved to lose. Not so much that he was a bad Governor but he was a bad leader. In fact he really did not lead at all. He was bland, colorless and seemed to lack any vision. He ran for governor because the last elected governor was forced to resign because he cheated on his wife with a male staffer. Corzine & the Democrats were never able to shake the stench left by L’ Affair McGreevy. Gov. Corzine only bold action was the disastrous attempt to save the radio career of Don Imus, we all remember him not wearing a seat belt while riding in the front seat of the speeding state SUV and almost losing his life when that SUV crashed all in an attempt to bring peace between a radio hack and the girl’s basketball team of Rutgers. This event showed where his priorities were and they were clearly not with the people of Warren County but with a millionaire disc jockey who lives in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Then came all the corruption charges brought against Democratic politicians and rabbis this summer. I am certain that Corzine is above petty corruption (too rich to bribe) but it was just another example of the corruption that defines so much of New Jersey politics and New Jersey politics has been dominated by a very dysfunctional Democratic Party as of late. Like the voters of Virginia the voters of New Jersey tend to clean the governor’s mansion every eight years. Also, like the voters of Virginia they told the pollsters they found the President personally very popular and a majority of voters said they were not taking the President into the voting booth with them. This election was about very local issues and no national trend can be found.

Congressional races: There were two House seats up for grabs yesterday and both were won by the Democrats. The one in California the result was expected. The other was in upstate New York. This seat has been held by the Republican Party almost as long as there has been a Republican Party. The first Republican was elected in the 1870’s; this seat has not been held by a Democrat in almost 150 years. This seat caught the interest of the two radio/TV personality leaders of the Republican Party with histories of addiction problems and the woman who failed in her obligation to the voters of her state by quitting rather than fighting for them, this seat that for almost 8 generations has been held by the party of Ronald Reagan, this most Republican of seats was won by a Democrat. The voters in the two areas of the country that had the opportunity to vote on national issues and decide on the person they sent to Washington, not Richmond or Trenton to represent them in the national debate and vote on the President’s agenda, voted for a Democrat. These were the only two races with national consequences and the Republicans and Conservatives were rejected.

So when you tune into the chattering classes over the next couple of days keep in mind that they are talking about themselves to themselves for the benefit of themselves and they know that no one will watch them unless they make mountains out of mole hills and stories out of thin air.

My review of the local election to follow.