I try not to make a habit of quoting news articles with little commentary, but I don’t have an overabundance of time today, so that is what I have been doing. The Washington Post asks, Are Democrats Riding a National Wave?
But there’s plenty of data to suggest that Democrats are overstating the importance of Tuesday’s results. An Election Day survey by the Associated Press and Ipsos showed that only 20 percent of New Jersey voters cast ballots in favor of Corzine to demonstrate opposition to Bush. And congressional Democrats have an approval rating that rivals Bush’s (according to the latest nonpartisan Pew Research Center poll, Bush and congressional Democrats approval rating was tied at just 36 percent).
It’s also difficult to make the case that the results in California, where voters soundly defeated four initiatives backed by Schwarzenegger, are a sign of a national wave. California is already in solid Democratic territory. And few consider Schwarzenegger and Bush to be closely allied through friendship or ideology. The California vote was the result of what happens when the bright lure of celebrity begins to take a back seat to actual governing. Californians appear to have tired of Schwarzenegger just as they tired of Democrat Gray Davis before him.
But the Kaine victory may have had as much to do with the changing demographics of Northern Virginia, the state’s most populous area, and a backlash against GOP gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore’s negative ads than anything having to do with Bush.
The fact that Democrats failed to make inroads in the state’s GOP-dominated legislature, and that Republicans appear to have won the two other statewide races (Republican Bob McDonnell holds the tiniest of margins over Democrat Craigh Deeds in the attorney general race, and Bill Bolling claimed the Lt. Governor’s office) seem to undercut the major trend theory. The fact is, Virginia is an odd state that continues to elect Democratic governors even as it votes for Republican presidential candidates decade after decade.
Answer: No
3 Responses
November 10th, 2005 at 7:49 pm
Thus all closet Republicans may breathe safely in their close confines. It’s ok, boys, don’t worry; we’re really winning.
November 17th, 2005 at 8:06 pm
Do you ever get tired of politics? Another question are you planning to vote when you turn 18.
November 18th, 2005 at 8:42 am
Yes and Yes.
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