Winners and Losers from Last night’s Elections

In Virginia, New Jersey, and New York, there were three elections last night. There were, of course, winners and losers in the actual elections themselves, but let’s take a look at who the winners and losers were that were not on the various tickets. First of all, a recap of last night’s festivities…

The Governor’s race in Virginia went big for the GOP. This wasn’t a surprise as Virginia always seems to have a Governor from a different party than the one in the White House. New Jersey kicked out an incumbent Democrat in favor of the GOP candidate. This was more of a surprise because it’s, well, NEW JERSEY. (Democrat motto borrowed from Chicago machine: Vote early and vote often).

The third race I found interesting was the NY-23 in which a Conservative Independent narrowly lost to a Democrat. Here’s how I saw this race: Democrats nominate their candidate, obviously a liberal leftist. Republican machine nominates a “moderate” (who happens to be more liberal than the Democrat). An unknown conservative sees what’s happening and decides to challenge for the seat as the only conservative in the race. The national parties throw gobs of money at each of their candidates while the Conservative languishes in obscurity. Along come a couple of national conservatives like Sarah Palin and Tim Pawlenty. With thirty days to go before the election, their endorsement causes the Republican candidate to fall so much in the polls that she drops out and endorses the Democrat. Even with that, the conservative comes within 4 % of winning.

Who are the winners and losers?

Loser: Dede Scozzafava. She will never again be able to run as a Republican and will never be trusted by enough voters to run for office again.

Winner: Doug Hoffman. While losing the election, he becomes a kind of folk hero to conservatives around the country that are tired of both parties taking us for granted. His entry into the race caused the wolf in sheep’s clothing to drop the sheep’s clothing and endorse her kindred spirit on the Democrat side.

Loser: The national Democratic Party (And all local Republican Parties). The national Democrats threw everything they had into NJ and came away empty. They practically had two candidates running in NY-23 and even with one of them quitting and endorsing the other, they only squeaked out a win. The local Republican Party was more interested in having someone with an “R” next to their name than what that person actually stood for. This election puts “politics as usual”, local machines on notice that they had better pick true conservatives of risk killing the party.

Winner: Grass root, Tea Bag, Conservatives. We now know that we are a force to be reckoned with. We are our own political force and if the Republicans can’t deliver what we want, we will find another way to have our voices heard.

Loser: Blue Dog Democrats. If they were just a little worried about Cap & Tax, nationalized Healthcare and the unionization by intimidation Card Check, think about how they feel now. They just saw a big wave of the public switching back to the conservative side of the spectrum. Independents went 2 to 1 in favor of Christie in NJ. Reality check!

Winner: Blue Dog Democrats. Yes, they lose and win. With such a clear message from the voters, they don’t have to wonder anymore if it would be suicide to follow their Democratic leadership over the cliff. They Know! They can now vote what they feel is right and tell Pelosi and Reid to pound sand.

Loser: Party Politics. This is a wakeup call to the parties. Quit putting the party above what we believe in. I think we will see a stop to the insane idea that Republicans just need to be more like Democrats to be elected. On the other side, we are liable to see more centrist Democrats as even the rank and file of that party are getting sick to the tax & spend socialist wing of their own party.

Winner: Ideals. Instead of trying to find moderates that stand for nothing, we may now find candidates that stand up for their principals. Instead of focus groups deciding what word sounds best, we may find candidates standing up to special interests. (Then again, I am an optimist)

Loser: Pelosi, Reid and Obama. It took less than a year for the shine to wear off. More and more Americans are tired of where they see this country going. They will have a hard time (If not impossible) getting any of their socialist agenda through.

Winner: American people who now may not have to deal with the government takeover of our lives. I have been very pessimistic about our future lately. I’m still worried, but for today, at least, I see a small ray of sunshine.