GOP Gov Candidates Shun Palin as Polarizing

Majorities say president has no influence on vote

(NEWSER) - President Obama seems to have been a minimal factor in gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, at least according to early exit polls. In Virginia, where Republican Bob McDonnell won, 55% said Obama wasn’t behind their vote; that figure was 60% in New Jersey, where the race was too close to call an hour after polls closed, CBS News reports. More»

Get ready for a permanent tea party as voters seek leaders

(NEWSER) - In the GOP upsets in Virginia and New Jersey, Daniel Henninger doesn't just see Obama backlash, he sees a voter rebellion from both parties, with independent Americans behaving like stampeding cattle. That independents would within one year swing from Obama enthusiasts to backing decent-to-weak Republicans in Virginia and New Jersey is “simply astonishing,” writes the Wall Street Journal opinion editor. “The American voter is absolutely, totally, unremittingly disgusted with both political parties.” More»

Polling guru gives a post-mortem on last night's elections

(NEWSER) - The numbers are in, now it's time to make sense of them. Nate Silver breaks down last night's election results:

• Don’t blame Obama; Creigh Deeds and Jon Corzine were probably just weak candidates. In New Jersey, 57% of voters approved of Obama, but 27% of those supporters voted Republican anyway. In Virginia 20% of those who approved of Obama voted GOP.
• Democrats had turnout problems in Virginia; the voters who came out last night supported McCain 51-43 in 2008, a mirror image of that year's margin.

GOP's chances looking good in Gov races as fallout builds

(NEWSER) - America's dissatisfaction with Democratic rule just 9 months into the Obama presidency will be crystal clear after next week's elections, writes Karl Rove . Republican Attorney General Bob McDonnell looks set to defeat Democrat Creigh Deeds in Virginia's gubernatorial race on the back of anti-Washington, anti-Obama sentiment, Rove notes in the Wall Street Journal. The victory will be a warning to many Democrats that backing Obama's policies isn't a winning strategy, he adds. More»

Deficits were the rallying cry for yesterday's winners

(NEWSER) - "Conservatives have supposedly gotten their groove back," Peter Beinart writes about the results of yesterday's state races, "but it's not the same old groove." The candidates who won—or almost won—downplayed social issues and focused on the economy, which Beinart calls the “new culture war." Sure, a “jihad against deficit spending” isn’t a particularly coherent position when spending and stimulus are keeping the country afloat. But “economic fury” brings in votes, and it’s something the entire country can understand. More»