NJ - Democrat Governor Corzine loses races to Republican Christopher Christie.
Virginia - Democrat R. Criegh Deeds loses to Republican Robert F. McDonnell
NY-23 - Democrat Bill Owens wins over Conservative candidate Douglas Hoffman.
Analysis/Spin:
From the New York Times:
How the Republicans campaigned - "Mr. Christie and Mr. McDonnell won after decidedly playing down their conservative views on social issues. Their relentless focus on jobs and the economy — voters in both states listed those as their top issues in exit polls —appeared to blunt the effort of Democrats to undercut the candidates by pointing to their history of conservatism on social issues."
The potential impact of the Conservative loss in NY - "The critical question after this setback is whether the conservative groups who had clearly signaled that they intended to press their advantage and challenge other Republican candidates they considered too moderate would now have the impetus or support to continue down that road."
White House view - “If there is a big backlash against Democrats, why did we just pick up a Democrat in a district [NY-23] that hasn’t elected a Democrat in 150 years?” asked David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Mr. Obama. “The real story here is, I think this thing is ambiguous. Yes, Democrats lost in New Jersey and Virginia, but if you look at those races, the factors were locals.”
The Headlines on the Results:
Los Angeles Times: "Votes Give GOP a Lift; Democrats a Warning"
New York Times: "A Year After Dousing, Republicans Hope Rekindled"
Wall Street Journal: "GOP Wins Key States"
Washington Post: "GOP Wins Reveal Cracks in Obama Coalition"
No comments:
Post a Comment