Cynical Nation

...Democrats last night seized control of the White House and both houses of Congress, appointed nine new justices to the Supreme Court and ratified a new Constitutional amendment outlawing Republicanism forever.

Or at least that's what you'd think from reading the media coverage. Actually, I thought it looked like a status quo election to me. "Night of the Democrats" was really more like "Night of the Incumbent Party."

As I've said before, I think the Republicans will need to suffer a significant electoral spanking if they are to be jolted out of their current malaise. Last night, however, wasn't it (although it might have been if there were more significant races at stake.) I guess we'll have to wait until next year for that.

But for now, a few comments: New York voters have finally convinced me that they understand, once and for all, the impossibility of returning to a pre-Giuliani style of "governance." Mark Green was smart enough to understand that, and he almost won. He would have won, in fact, had fate not intervened with 9/11 and Giuliani endorsement of Bloomberg. Ferrer, by contrast, doesn't get it. He would have happily returned to the city to the glory of the Dinkins era, and voters wisely and soundly rejected him.

In New Jersey, Slimeball A defeated Slimeball B. No surprises here. I never bought the story of how Slimeball B "closed the gap" in the election's final days. That's pretty much status quo here too, although it did serve the useful function of removing Slimeball A from the U.S. Senate. (Note to the New Jersey GOP: Can we please get another candidate to represent Republican interests in New Jersey besides Slimeball B? Please?)

Virginia was the GOP's biggest disappointment last night, not because it represented a turnover, but because the Republican candidate frittered away a substantial lead and suffered defeat in a solidly red state. Given the strong Republican victories in the lieutenant governor and attorney general races, I'd say the gubernatorial race was probably more attributable to Mark Warner's personal popularity than to any intrinsic GOP weakness in the Commonwealth, however.