Dems' winning Gov in VA and NJ points to Dem victory in 06

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 12:28am

Burn baby burn!
Disco inferno!!

[BrendanStryker]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 7:20am

Virginia already had a Gov. that is a Democrat. In fact, they lost the Lt. Gov position to a Repblican. Not sure victory laps for '06 are in order. But, better than going the other way, I suppose. I can't say that the two party system in this country excites me very much. Our choices are pathetic.

[Plum]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 7:25am

Same goes for NJ, but like that state, VA isn't overwhelmingly for one party or the other, so the results of these races are worth noting.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:06am

Corzine's win by almost 10 pts is interesting, because he wasn't a very popular candidate here among Dems (I live in northern NJ, close to NYC), with a backlash attributable to a justifiably cynical response to the the nature of the race -- two rich white men slinging mud, using wives as the ultimate cheap shot in the last week. I really thought they'd be much closer, so Corzine pulling ahead invites analysis.

[RobbO]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:21am

my analysis: apparently money CAN buy love.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:24am

Did the proposition to create a Lt. Governor position in NJ pass or fail?

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:25am

It passed! Thank goodness.

[RobbO]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:25am

passed. it will happen in 2009.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:26am

Woo-hoo!
Yay for my home state!

[Plum]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:26am

Yeah, I think the succession issue this term was more than enough persuasion. :)

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:27am

PalJoey's analysis: The Republican hegemony was shortlived.

(I just like using that word.)

So we won in Virginia and New Jersey and lost in Texas.

But a new Pew Research poll shows that 79% of Americans believe the indictment of Cheney's Chief of Staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby is important to the country.

So, yes, the Republican hegemony is over.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:31am

I expected that we would lose in Texas. But I'm very pleasantly surprised that Maine came through for gay rights. I wasn't expecting that.

[Plum]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:31am

But the downfall will take a while. I'm still thinking it'll be 20 years before we get a powerful Democratic President.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:34am

I'm thinking it will be 3.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:35am

Six months ago, Plum, I thought the same as you. I'm usually very negative about such things. But I really think a tide has turned. It's now up to the Democrats to show REAL leadership and not kowtow to the neo-fascist Republican agenda.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:37am

From the AP article:

Democrats said the results were the first steps toward bigger victories next year — when control of Congress and 36 governors seats are at stake — and for the 2008 presidential race.

"I believe national Republican politics ... really had an effect in Virginia and California," said Democratic Party Chairman
Howard Dean. Voters "don't like the abuse of power, they don't like the culture of corruption. They want the nation to go in a different way."
Democrats Win Elections in NJ, Va., Calif.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:39am

Maybe Mark Warner/Barrack Obama in 2008?

[Plum]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:41am

By "powerful," I mean era-changing powerful. Jackson, Lincoln, FDR, and Reagan were the last 4, and I'd be surprised (right now) if the next FDR came along next term. The pattern with those guys is that they always followed a decidedly unsuccessful, weak President of the opposite party.

Bush has done horrible things, but he was effective at it, so I can't put him in the same category as John Quincy Adams, Buchanan, Hoover, and Carter. No, what we're seeing is the splitting of the Republican power base- neocons vs. fundies- kind of like the Taft vs. Teddy Roosevelt split way back when. But it still took a few terms of successively weaker Presidents to finally hit the low of Hoover and bring the termendous FDR into power. So I think we'll have to wait as the Democrats slowly build power; this stuff doesn't happen overnight.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:52am

I agree with Plum. No realignment elections will happen any time soon.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 8:58am

It's our time. Breathe it in:
Worlds to change and worlds to win.
Our turn, we're what's new,
Me and you, pal!
Me and you!

Feel the flow.
Hear what's happening:
We're what's happening!
Long ago,
All we had was that funny feeling,
Saying someday we'd send 'em reeling,
Now it looks like we can!
"Someday" just began...

[Plum]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 9:06am

Let's pretend there's no dramatic irony to that song choice. :)

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 10:30am

Well, if the Dems don't have a strong Presidential candidate with a TRUE platform (not the "he's stupid and I'm not" one) then 2008 could turn out to be the same deal. It's a shame that campaigning these days is all about how much mud you can sling and/or avoid versus what you are actually going to bring to the role. Could you imagine going on a job interview and spending the entire time talking about how bad the other interviewees are and no time on what you can bring to the job?

[KMF_NYC]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 10:45am

I certainly hope this is a point to the mid-terms, but have to remind us all the difference a year makes -- lord knows I want this admin to go down in shame, but let's not get too excited too soon!

OK -- maybe a little excited!

[ckeaton]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 11:49am

Not much of a shift up this way.

I was hoping there would be a shift back towards the center. That's where I like things to be.

[BrendanStryker]

Posted: 11/9/05 at 12:25pm

A Warner/Obama ticket could get my vote. How likely is that ticket do you think?