What to make about last night....

Big wins for the GOP last night. The win in Virginia has to sting Team Obama considering all the talk about that state being a Democrat strong hold after the One's huge victory there last fall. Team Obama is trying to blame it on the poorly run campaign of Creigh Deeds. But let's get real---you don't lose an election by almost twenty points because of a poorly run campaign. You lose that bad when you lose the issues debate. New Jersey has to be the ultimate defeat for Team Obama though. The President and John Corzine were personal freinds and every Democrat has to think that NJ is in the bag. The President campaigned in NJ five times and even sent out "robocalls" to NJ residents making the case for John Corzine. What does the Corzine defeat reveal about the political scene right now? It shows the public that the Obama charm and charisima of last fall has vanished. It shows that the Democrats are not leading on the issues. It shows that the President has lost a substantial amount of his standing with independents and was not able to deliver a victory. It shows that the large turn out among young voters and minorities may have been a one time deal---even heavy campaigning by President Obama couldn't bring them out. What does this mean for the 2010 races? I think it shows conservatives that they can still compete in the era of Obama. It shows that they don't have to be afraid of running against him or standing up to him. The victories also will make it harder for Nancy Pelosi to hold the line in the House and Harry Reid to deliever anything substantial in the Senate. You can bet that the Blue Dogs got the message last night that they are vulnerable in the age of Obama---something they thought impossible just a year ago.

You know what this race really reminds me of? It may be cliched, but it reminds of Rocky IV. During the fight Rocky battles the evil, Russian boxing machine. He'd never been beat and was thought to be invincible. And no matter how hard Rocky hit the Russian just wouldn't go down. But then all of a sudden Rocky catches the Russian with a right hook and cuts his eye. As the round ended, Rocky's trainer tells him, "You cut him...you see he's not a machine, he's a man. Now go get him." Last nights victory shows that Obama is not a machine, that he can be beat. Now the only question is how will the GOP fight the next rounds?