Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Has the Politics of Division...
Run out of Steam?!
Interesting election results from yesterday, with Corzine and Kaine winning gubenatorial elections in NJ and VA. A slap to President Bush? Maybe, but more importantly is that one of the underlying factors in both wins by Democratic candidates seems to be the GOP overplayed its hand with negative ads. In Virginia, Kilgore pushed the bounds of decency with his "Kaine wouldn't execute Hitler" ad, which turned off voters. In New Jersey, a similar ad by Republican Forrester used quotes from Corzine's ex-wife to tell votes, "He'll disappoint you too."
What I make of all this is that the electorate, at least in NJ and VA, wants direction and answers, not hysterical reasons not to vote for a Democrat. In VA, Kaine was helped by current governor Warner, who's focused his energies on fiscal prudence (VA has a budget surplus), education and transportation. Kilgore's focus, from what I saw, was that he was more in touch with Virginia's 'values', of course that message was under cut by his "Hitler" ad. Perhaps too votes in Virginia noticed that under the leadership of Warner, Virginia, unlike the GOP controlled federal government, is focused on keeping its fiscal house in order, improving education and finding solutions to traffic problems. Most telling was that Kaine carried Eastern Loudon County (Near Dulles Airport), Loudon is the epitome of an x-urban county and should have been an easy win for the GOP.
Does this portend the future...Probably not, considering that on a national level the Dems still are in a state of drift. But is does tell us that the electorate may be tired of the politics of division and want candidates (left or right) that focus on issues of governance (roads, schools, budgets) rather than fringy social issues.
Interesting election results from yesterday, with Corzine and Kaine winning gubenatorial elections in NJ and VA. A slap to President Bush? Maybe, but more importantly is that one of the underlying factors in both wins by Democratic candidates seems to be the GOP overplayed its hand with negative ads. In Virginia, Kilgore pushed the bounds of decency with his "Kaine wouldn't execute Hitler" ad, which turned off voters. In New Jersey, a similar ad by Republican Forrester used quotes from Corzine's ex-wife to tell votes, "He'll disappoint you too."
What I make of all this is that the electorate, at least in NJ and VA, wants direction and answers, not hysterical reasons not to vote for a Democrat. In VA, Kaine was helped by current governor Warner, who's focused his energies on fiscal prudence (VA has a budget surplus), education and transportation. Kilgore's focus, from what I saw, was that he was more in touch with Virginia's 'values', of course that message was under cut by his "Hitler" ad. Perhaps too votes in Virginia noticed that under the leadership of Warner, Virginia, unlike the GOP controlled federal government, is focused on keeping its fiscal house in order, improving education and finding solutions to traffic problems. Most telling was that Kaine carried Eastern Loudon County (Near Dulles Airport), Loudon is the epitome of an x-urban county and should have been an easy win for the GOP.
Does this portend the future...Probably not, considering that on a national level the Dems still are in a state of drift. But is does tell us that the electorate may be tired of the politics of division and want candidates (left or right) that focus on issues of governance (roads, schools, budgets) rather than fringy social issues.
