I've made some comments on other blogs having to do with yesterday's elections.  I have felt I had to comment as so much of what I've seen others write and so much of the TV noise has, in my mind, gotten it 180 degrees wrong.  So here is a quick and dirty of my view, should anyone stumble on this post.

Two gubernatorial races, New Jersey and Virginia, won by Republicans.  One particular special election in New York state (the 23rd Congressional) won by a Democrat, where the apparent Republican vote was split between right and way fuckin' Sarah Palin type right.  Somehow these races have all the goofy-assed Democrats and the blow dried pundits wringing their hands at what went wrong.  All in all, the question seems to be "Is the Obama mojo gone?"

Here's my take.  You can take it or leave it.  You know what they say about opinions.  My take is that yesterday was good news for Vertabrate Democrats.  Of course, they are listed in the new National Geo channel special "100 Heartbeats" about species that are down to perhaps 100 members on Planet Earth, but that's not the subject of this rant.

This is why.  New Jersey and Virginia typically go opposite in these off years regarding whichever party is in the White House.  New Jersey has the additional onus in this post-bailout year of running a governor who obscenely spent to keep his seat, and the money flowing out of his pockets flowed in there originally from Wall Street.  Sure Obama stumped for Corzine but Obama seems to have lots of Wall Street masters these days.  However, New Jerseyans for the most part are sick of seeing all their money flow across the Hudson to lower Manhattan.  And they are tired of being bought and sold like some cheap derivative by those greedy scumbags across the river.  Hell, even the New Yorkers, who had way more money (per voter) poured on them very nearly rejected their Wall Streeter.  That's saying something because short of the 3rd term, Bloomberg is popular.

Virginia should give the Democrats hope.  McDonnell ran as a centrist Republican and won big.  Now, no one north of the Mason-Dixon or west of the Mississippi (excluding Texas of course) gives the ol' south high marks for intellectual ability and what many of us see is the fact that McDonnell is not centrist.  He is a neo-con (why has that name been forgotten?).  So what the McDonnell victory (or Deeds defeat, as by all accounts he ran a lousy campaign) shows is that the right wing cannot get elected if they show their stripes!

Case in point, NY 23rd.  Palin and Pawlenty write off the republican nominee for being, well, what most republicans were before the rise of the Norquist mob; moderate, with a penchant for less governmental intrusion into the personal lives of ordinary Americans. [As an aside, I wonder where Jindahl was?  Is he still learning to tie his shoes and they wont let him out until he can?  So much for the great not-so-white hope of the neo-cons]  They throw their (considerable?) weight and charm behind a "Conservative" party candidate.  The republican drops out of the race and the democrat wins.  Why?  Because when the neo-cons (remember to use that name liberally, those who it applies to want it forgotten) run without their sheep's clothing, even the blind can see the wolves.

So ~ when you hear the TV types of all stripes questioning "Was this a referendum on Obama" you may answer a resounding NO.  Obama was a non-factor yesterday.  What happened was that a small piece of the electorate came out and said unequivocally "We are still tired of George Bush and the Can't Shoot Straight, but Will Shoot Anyway at Anything" crowd.  The Neo-cons.  Say it with me again.  The Neo-Cons.  Don't forget it.  They lost again yesterday, but that doesn't mean they went away.  They just got a reminder that says if they run unmasked, they lose.   Watch what they do in 2010.  They aren't stupid (well, except Palin).