Republican gubernatorial wins in New Jersey and Virginia mark a troubling turn for “The Great One”, whose personal efforts couldn’t stop the fall of Democrats facing a voter backlash over the economy and a notable uptick in the government’s would-be role in people’s lives.
His 2008 victory in Old Dominion had marked an historic breakthrough for Democrats who hadn’t won Virginia’s electoral votes since 1964. The fight in the Garden State was more grueling than usually accompanies Democrat campaigns in the reliably blue state of New Jersey.
So the setbacks demonstrate the difficulty of his left-wing presidential leadership following a campaign built on empty promises of unity followed by divisive policies and a relentless campaign approach toward big legislative issues like the stimulus and health care bills.
“What this is tonight, this victory here tonight, is a warning shot, and it says to the moderate Democrats in the House that they ought to think twice about continuing to pursue the socialist policies of this White House and (Mouse Squeaker) Pelosi,” said Virginia Republican Rep. Eric Cantor.
In Virginia, Republican Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell roundly defeated Democrat R. Creigh Deeds while GOP Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling won a second term and Republican Ken Cuccinelli was elected attorney general. It was the first time the GOP took the top three spots since 1997.
“We have really had a run of wins and we got used to winning and that makes it tough,” said outgoing Virginia Democrat Gov. Tim Kaine. “We have to give credit where credit is do they ran a great campaign.”
“You guys are making this tougher than this has to be,” a resigned Deeds told the still chanting audience at his “victory party.”
In New Jersey, Republican Chris Christie pulled off a stunning upset over incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine, who was facing a backlash over property taxes and other economic issues. Independent Chris Daggett also pulled about 6 percent of the vote.
In New York’s 23rd Congressional District, an unexpected turn of events put Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in direct competition with Democrat Bill Owens for the seat held by former Republican congressman and current Army Secretary John McHugh. Owens was winning the vote tally but Hoffman’s upstart showing demonstrated that voter anger is not resigned to one party or another.
As if hoping to avoid the outcome, the White House issued a statement after the GOP win in Virginia saying the president was not watching election returns and for once would not be making any remarks on the results from his teleprompter prepared lecture.