The results of yesterday's election were clear. Without question, the results were a rejection of president Obama and of the big government liberal policies of his party. Democrats lost big. They lost at least a net of seven seats in the senate, and it seems most likely that the total will ultimately climb to at least nine once the final races are decided. In the house, the Republicans ended up with more seats than at any time in the last 70 years. Even in the governors' races, Republicans did well, picking up multiple seats.
Democrats had nearly nothing to provide them solace. They did win the governor's race in Pennsylvania, but the loss to the Republicans in Illinois offset that. They won one seat from a Republican in the House, but appear to have lost about sixteen other to the Republicans. The Democrats did not take a single senate seat from the Republicans.
A few of the spins that one heard about the outcome in advance have proven completely wrong. First, this was not an anti-incumbent election. Many on the left used that claim as a talking point to "prepare the ground" for some of the expected losses by Democrats to Republicans. The reality of the results is that Republican incumbents did just fine. Only Democrat incumbents lost. Second, the vaunted get out the vote machine of the Democrats totally failed to provide them any advantage. The groups that the Dems were supposedly going to get to the polls (blacks, youths, and single women) did not turn out in any higher numbers than usual for a midterm election. Third, money was not the decisive factor in the result. The Democrats and their allies outspent the Republicans and their allies by a substantial margin, but they still lost.
The main blot on the results as far as I am concerned was the failure of the Republicans to win in Connecticut. The race for governor has still not been called, but it looks likely that Malloy will win. The local congressman, Democrat Jim Himes, held on in a very close race. Too bad!
The truth is, however, that America won big yesterday.
Democrats had nearly nothing to provide them solace. They did win the governor's race in Pennsylvania, but the loss to the Republicans in Illinois offset that. They won one seat from a Republican in the House, but appear to have lost about sixteen other to the Republicans. The Democrats did not take a single senate seat from the Republicans.
A few of the spins that one heard about the outcome in advance have proven completely wrong. First, this was not an anti-incumbent election. Many on the left used that claim as a talking point to "prepare the ground" for some of the expected losses by Democrats to Republicans. The reality of the results is that Republican incumbents did just fine. Only Democrat incumbents lost. Second, the vaunted get out the vote machine of the Democrats totally failed to provide them any advantage. The groups that the Dems were supposedly going to get to the polls (blacks, youths, and single women) did not turn out in any higher numbers than usual for a midterm election. Third, money was not the decisive factor in the result. The Democrats and their allies outspent the Republicans and their allies by a substantial margin, but they still lost.
The main blot on the results as far as I am concerned was the failure of the Republicans to win in Connecticut. The race for governor has still not been called, but it looks likely that Malloy will win. The local congressman, Democrat Jim Himes, held on in a very close race. Too bad!
The truth is, however, that America won big yesterday.
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