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Originally Posted by noahath
I'm not sure how it will read actually. The NJ was more a referendum on the very unpopular Corzine (and the Dems knew they were going to fight a very tough battle with him as their candidate, at best).
Virginia will surely be a disappointment as it was trending blue in recent years, but it's one of the ironic subtleties of the state in that over the past few decades it has always elected a governor different to who was the Party in the White House. Once the primary was decided I don't think the Dems though they had a realistic chance, but were hopeful.
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Well, perhaps - but I think it takes a certain amount of wishful thinking to explain away these elections.
The Dems will make a serious mistake if they refuse to see this as a wake-up call.
The message appears to be: whoever wins the Independents will win most elections. The Democrats did quite well with that group in both 2006 and 2008; they did not do well at all in these elections.
What is the difference? The economy is now their responsibility. And there's no point at all in attempts by Obama, Pelosi, Reid and company to refuse to accept it. It has nothing to do with what they want. It is the reality of politics.
And the economy is a mess. The Dems have been focusing almost exclusively on Health Care, which remains a confusing and complex issue that no one really understands. They have wasted enormous amounts of time, effort and political capital on this, and have nothing at all to show for it at this point.
They may indeed produce a plan that may prove helpful.
But they are continuing to ignore the current reality: a deep recession, nationwide foreclosures, high and growing unemployment, and stratospheric deficits.
As long as they consistently misread the public mood - whether through genuine and sincere blindness, or arrogance, or ideology, or a combination - they will have a difficult time.