Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Holding Serve...
Democrats retain governorships in Virginia and New Jersey.
Michael Bloomberg wins handily here in New York City (though not by the 30-pt. margin of the various polls).
So, as usual, most of these things come down to internal state dynamics -- with little to do with national trends.
That said, it wasn't exactly smart of the White House to do an 11th-hour campaign jaunt in Virginia with GOP candidate Jerry Kilgore. It just gives greater salience to the Democratic talking point of this being a repudiation of Bush personally.
But, that's the breaks.
Congratulations to the winners -- and a tip of the hat to those on the other side for their contributions to democracy.
UPDATE. A Virginia Republican e-mails: "Kilgore should never have run away from Bush in the first place. Bush's Virginia was quite pissed off at Kilgore for turning away from the President until his clearly contrived 11th hour death bed conversion. Republican candidates swept all state offices that were down ticket (Lt Governorship and Attorney General) in Virigina. So, Kilgore's defeat wasn't a lack of Republican Party appeal (or President Bush appeal). It was caused by a lack of Jerry Kilgore appeal."
Fair point. One sure rule in politics: Bad candidates tend to make all external factors null and void.
UPDATE II: Karol has a much more comprehensive take on yesterday's results -- infused with the passion of someone who was involved with a local campaign.
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Michael Bloomberg wins handily here in New York City (though not by the 30-pt. margin of the various polls).
So, as usual, most of these things come down to internal state dynamics -- with little to do with national trends.
That said, it wasn't exactly smart of the White House to do an 11th-hour campaign jaunt in Virginia with GOP candidate Jerry Kilgore. It just gives greater salience to the Democratic talking point of this being a repudiation of Bush personally.
But, that's the breaks.
Congratulations to the winners -- and a tip of the hat to those on the other side for their contributions to democracy.
UPDATE. A Virginia Republican e-mails: "Kilgore should never have run away from Bush in the first place. Bush's Virginia was quite pissed off at Kilgore for turning away from the President until his clearly contrived 11th hour death bed conversion. Republican candidates swept all state offices that were down ticket (Lt Governorship and Attorney General) in Virigina. So, Kilgore's defeat wasn't a lack of Republican Party appeal (or President Bush appeal). It was caused by a lack of Jerry Kilgore appeal."
Fair point. One sure rule in politics: Bad candidates tend to make all external factors null and void.
UPDATE II: Karol has a much more comprehensive take on yesterday's results -- infused with the passion of someone who was involved with a local campaign.
