What Last Night Meant by Adam Bitely

Wednesday, 04 November 2009

Last night, Republicans had stunning success in Virginia and New Jersey.

While the White House Communications Office, aka the Main Stream Media, is spinning the results as being unrelated to Obama's agenda, the people who voted yesterday know what this election meant. And it represented a swing away from drunken government spending and an overreaching power grab that has not been seen since the day's of Lyndon Johnson or Franklin Roosevelt.

Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post wrote today, "Advice to readers about the coming orgy of analysis about the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections: Ignore it. Disquisitions on The Meaning of It All for President Obama or the 2009 results as a harbinger for Congress in 2010 have scant basis in reality." I certainly hope she doesn't think that Obama, Pelosi, Reid and company should ignore what happened yesterday.

In Virginia, Conservatives, Republicans and Independents overwhelmingly delivered an electoral landslide to Bob McDonnell, the new Governor-Elect. His election was won due to a strong uneasiness amongst an electorate that feels Government is
doing too much. From spending to Health Care, these voters that delivered an 18 point win for McDonnell want Government to reverse course. That is what the exit polls said and what the results confirm.

New Jersey is a different story. In 2008, Obama carried the state with a 15 point margin. Last night, Republican Chris Christie carried the state with a little over 3 points against incumbent Job Corzine. That represents an almost 20 point swing in the course of a year. And don't forget, Obama campaigned heavily in the state leading up to yesterday's election. Mrs. Marcus, you still think that everyone should ignore what happened yesterday?

While the congressional race in New York 23 may not have gone the way that many activists on the right would have wanted, yesterday's election on a whole represented a shift in the electorate away from rubber stamping the government's solutions to problems. Voters are more concerned about the economy and jobs than a Health Care solution from congress. The results from last night prove that.

As the spin comes out today, remember, you can interpret the results however you would like. However, you better not fool yourselves into believing the spin as Lawrence O'Donnell seems to have done last night on MSNBC when he said: "Is it a stretch to suggest that the drop in support for Corzine in NJ and apparently the drop in support for Bloomberg in New York has something to do with their Wall Street histories…that this was not the year to be on the ballot with Wall Street on your previous resume?” Mr. O'Donnell, people were upset that Washington and Democrats have been bailing Wall Street out.

The results were conclusive. Americans aren't enamored with Obama and Congress. Americans want less government. And that's all you should take away from last night.