Psst…Republicans Lost Ground Last Night
It bugs me when either party peddles a false meme before a certain event, as was the case last night with the “GOP is making a comeback if we win anything” talking points.
And yet today the media is grabbing it hook, line and sinker.
But why?
Let’s look at the facts…
Republicans won the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. And hey, good for them. They ran good races. But Governors have little effect on the national agenda when it comes to policy. So while it may be a nice night for the GOP at the state level, it doesn’t really do much for their counterparts in Washington. Well, except give them a false meme to spread.
Virginians voted for Obama in 2008, but before that you have to go back to 1964 to find the last time the voted for a Dem for prez. And while they’ve had Dem governors in the past 8 years, that hasn’t been a hard and fast rule. Also, anybody watching that race knows that Creigh Deeds didn’t run a very impressive race, while Bob McDonnell ran an incredible campaign and could be poised for bigger things in 8 years if Dems are still in power on the national level (Although he could do with a little charisma injection).
In New Jersey, while many think it’s a Democratic stronghold, Christine Todd Whitman was Governor for 7 years (until she foolishly left to join the Bush administration in 2001). Plus, Corzine has been an ineffectual Governor (he bought his way in with his Goldman Sachs war chest), his approval rating has been low for quite some time now and there has been some pretty bad corruption scandals in NJ. So the fact that this swung back red isn’t a huge shock.
However, in the two Congressional races, Dems won BOTH and actually added to the number of Dems that are in the House.
Let me repeat that…Dems added to their majority in the House last night.
In California the seat was already Democratic, but in New York the Dems gained one.
Didn’t hear that particular nugget in today’s news? Only hearing about how Dems are nervous? How conservatives are rejoicing? How curious! It couldn’t be because the media wants something to talk about, could it? Nawww…
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…the only people that voters like less than Congressional Dems are Congressional Repubs. The gubernatorial pick ups were fine, but they mean very little when put in proper context.
Here’s the question: What Republican resurgence?
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Justin Gardner, Tweets Tube. Tweets Tube said: Psst…Republicans Lost Ground Last Night http://bit.ly/KkHDV [...]
Mr. Gardner,
Headlines that read “Nothing’s Changed” do not sell papers or generate web traffic, i.e. income. To put what happened into even sharper focus, this was an off-year election which traditionally bring out fewer voters, generally older and more conservative voters. NY-23 was every more atypical as it was a special election with an even more limited draw for voters. Of course Virginia has a very long conservative history, it did house the capitol of the Confederacy, so a conservative candidate has quite a leg up there. For the Democrats to win two HoR seats, with one net gain, under these conditions, is hardly a “defeat”. However, the news business is just that, a business. It is all about generating more revenue than expenditures and good headline goes a long way toward that goal.
David, you can call me Justin.