New Jersey Democrats, and Democrats in general, can rest assured last nights loss was not a referendom on President Obama but more a reflection on NJ's troubled economy and taxes, taxes, taxes. Would I have liked to see Corzine reelected, YES, but I will wish Christie luck and watch carefully to see if he can handle NJ's problems.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs today said that Republican gubernatorial victories in Virginia and New Jersey do not portend anything for President Obama, but the special election in Upstate New York has ramifications for the GOP. The Democrat Bill Owens' win is the important win!
In the New York race, Gibbs said, "we watched a party pick a candidate and then purge that candidate. And I think the result was an election (in which) that district sent its first non-Republican to Congress since before the Civil War."
Referring to tea party activists and other conservatives supporting Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, Gibbs said the result of the race "proves that anger can get you 45% of the vote."
I'm glad I missed Michael Steele on Morning Joe gushing about the rethugs wins, but
he also seemed to deliver a bit of a rebuke to potential 2012 presidential aspirants in his party such as Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, and Rick Santorum, all of whom immersed themselves in the NY-23 special House race with their endorsements and support for conservative Doug Hoffman who came up short last night.
"If you don't live in the district, you don't vote there, your opinion doesn't matter very much," Steele said while assessing the intra-party strife that resulted in a Democratic pick up of a seat held by Republicans since the Civil War.
GO SARAH,GO SARAH....
So, what's most important right now is Dems standing strong. Joe Biden is speaking out about the House seats in the 2010 elections. Republicans need to pick up 4o seats to take back control of the House.
Biden (who, BTW, did a great job in NY at a last minute rally while the pundits said he shoulda been in NJ helping Corzine!) said these House seats are Republicans “one shot” at breaking the Obama administration’s agenda, Democrats CAN NOT let that happen!
