Yesterday's gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey were nothing short of a whipping for Democrats, and the White House's attempt to downplay the results by saying that "the President isn't watching them" didn't play. The message out of both States from voters was "Yes We Can-give the White House a big black eye."
The President's tired media pitch man, David Axelrod, is attempting to put a brave face on it by pointing to the Democratic victory in the special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District. What Axelrod didn't bother to point out, of course, was that the Democrat only won there because the Republican nominee had been chosen by county party chairmen rather than by Republican voters in a primary, causing both anger and frustration on the part of Republicans and an undue amount of outside influence (both of which were pointed out correctly by Mississippi Governor and former Republican National Chairman Haley Barbour). A closer look at the results in NY-23 shows that the withdrawn Republican, Dede Scozzafava, still received 5% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Doug Hoffman, nerely pulled off a historic upset.
The Virginia results were what were most telling, because entire counties that went for Obama last year, some, such as Prince William County, by double digits, went by double digits this year for the Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell.
Local issues did play the primary role in these races, with the corruption of the Jon Corzine administration being the primary factor in the election of moderate Republican Chris Christie in New Jersey, while the need to lower taxes and reduce regulation to boost Virginia's stagnating economy contributing to the McDonnell victory. Where the discontent with Barack Obama could be felt is in the scale of the victories, which might have been higher for Christie were it not for the presence of independent Christopher Daggett, who received 5.7% of the New Jersey vote. Republicans won in a virtual blowout by comparison in the Old Dominion.
So how does all of this play for Tennessee in 2010? The Tennessee Republican Party has a historic opportunity to capitalize on what might be termed as the Season of Our Discontent. These campaigns proved-especially in Virginia-that conservative candidates can win and address the local issues that need to be addressed without having to compromise conservative values. That winning formula could be what gains seats for the GOP in the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2010.
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