Is it my imagination or is the Washington Post editorial board getting "more stupider" (as my nephews used to say when they were really young) by the day? Check out this drivel:...Republicans who won last [sic] night, governors-elect Robert F. McDonnell of Virginia and Chris Christie of New Jersey, ran as center-right problem-solvers. We don't agree with all of their ideas -- our differences with Mr. McDonnell are a matter of record. But there is no denying that their approach worked with the voters. There is a lesson here for Republicans, and perhaps also for Democrats: The results in Virginia and New Jersey may or may not represent a repudiation of the Obama presidency; we tend to think they do not. But they did signal to Democratic members of Congress -- especially those who represent Republican-leaning states -- that voters are getting nervous about the size and indebtedness of the federal government. If that fortifies centrist lawmakers and makes them more likely to insist that any health-care reform come with a credible plan to pay for it, then that, too, would be a welcome consequence of Tuesday night.My god. "Teh stupid, it burns!!!" Seriously, where to begin with this idiocy? First off, message to Washington Post: Creigh Deeds ran as the "centrist" of all "centrists." He ran away from anything that even hinted at progressivism, let alone the dreaded "liberalism." He said he was not an "Obama Democrat." He spent an inordinate amount of time roaming around "red" Virginia. And he got his ASS KICKED by almost 20 points by a guy we call "Pat Robertson's Manchurian Candidate" (because that's exactly what he is), a guy who slickly did a fundamentally dishonest election year makeover as a supposed "moderate suburban soccer dad." He also headed up what's arguably the most far-right-wing statewide ticket in Virginia history, with Ken Kook-inelli preparing to implement his radical, right-wing views once he becomes Attorney General under PatBob McRobertson. That's "centrist?" If so, what do you consider "right wing?"
Second, do you have any evidence at all - exit polling, for instance - that McDonnell beat Deeds not because he ran an infinitely superior (if fundamentally dishonest) campaign to the completely inept Deeds campaign, not because Virginia for 30 years has always voted for a governor of the opposite party as the one in the White House, not because Deeds never gave anyone a good reason to vote for him rather than just against Bob McDonnell, not because there was no way for Deeds to run as "Tim Kaine Part II," not because hundreds of thousands of Obama voters stayed home this time around (for a lot of reasons, the last of which is that they've suddenly gotten "nervous about the size and indebtedness of the federal government"), etc., etc., but because "voters are getting nervous about the size and indebtedness of the federal government?" Have you guys been taken over by the Moonie Times editorial board?
Finally, if your theory is correct, then why didn't voters reject Republicans from 2001 to 2005 when they were racking up trillions of dollars in debt, turning huge budget surpluses under Bill Clinton into huge budget deficits as far as the eye could see? And why, when voters finally did start rejecting Republicans in 2006 and 2008, did it have everything to do with the Iraq war, corruption scandals (Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff), sex scandals (Mark Foley), and total incompetence (epitomized by the Hurricane Katrina disaster/debacle - "heckuva job, Brownie!") than about "the size and indebtedness of the federal government?" Do you people have any clue whatsoever? My god.
P.S. Oh, and as for NY-23 -- hello, Washington Post? A freakin' TEA BAGGER knocked the moderate (aka "centrist") Republican out of the race, then came within a hair of winning a seat in Congress (he lost 49%-45%) to a Democrat who immediately assured Nancy Pelosi that he'd vote for her health reform, the one you probably hate because it's "too expensive" or whatever). Wow, what a resounding victory for "centrism!"
UPDATE: In contrast, Gail Collins has a brain, and a snarky-good one at that! :)
Although there is no way to deny that New Jersey and Virginia were terrible, horrible, disastrous, cataclysmic blows to Obama’s prestige. No wonder the White House said he was not watching the results come in. How could the man have gotten any sleep after he realized that his lukewarm support of an inept candidate whose most notable claim to fame was experience in hog castration was not enough to ensure a Democratic victory in Virginia?
New Jersey was even worse. The defeat of Gov. Jon Corzine made it clear that the young and minority voters who turned out for Obama will not necessarily show up at the polls in order to re-elect an uncharismatic former Wall Street big shot who failed to deliver on his most important campaign promises while serving as the public face of a state party that specializes in getting indicted.
