- Corzine was an already-unpopular governor who was a.) in charge when the economy went in the tank, and b.) tied to Goldman Sachs, one of the villains of this recession. Anybody surprised that he lost?
- Deeds had already lost once to McDonnell in a statewide race for AG. He ran a lousy campaign focused mostly on McDonnell's master's thesis while McDonnell talked about jobs. Again, anybody surprised he lost?
- VA and NJ have, since 1985, consistently elected governors of the opposite party of whoever was holding the Whitehouse.
- Exit polls showed broad support (consistent with non-election-related approval polls) of Obama in NJ and VA.
- NY-23 showed two things- a.) that the tea-bagging fringe of the GOP is stronger than the moderates, and has the desire and ability to take out moderate candidates in primaries; and b.) moderate Dems will beat tea-baggers, even in conservative districts.
- In NY, a moderate Republican was replaced by a moderate Dem. In California (in the race to replace Ellen Tauscher, who's an Assistant Sec. State), a moderate Dem was replaced with a progressive Dem. Thus two seats in the House shift left, making it easier for Pelosi to get 218 votes for the public option.
The races last night will have some significant impact on policy in VA and NJ (and also, sadly, on Gay and Lesbian couples in ME), but nationally- this was not a "find a silver lining" night for Dems, because they lost where expected, and showed that they can continue to win by keeping a big tent while the GOP continues to devour itself.
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