One of the two gubernatorial races this year has turned into a real contest. Chris Christie is now only about three points ahead of Governor Corzine in the polls. It is, after all, New Jersey. But this one is too close to call.
In Virginia, Republican McDonnell is well ahead of Deeds, and this one is probably in the bag.
Another interesting bit of news is that in Delaware, Republican Mike Castle is entering the race for Joe Biden's Senate seat. Castle has been in politics for 40 years and has never lost an election. He is favored to win. Slate puts it this way:
Castle's announcement gives some serious momentum to the GOP, Marc Ambinder writes at the Atlantic: now "it's possible—not probable but possible—that the seats formerly held by Barack Obama ... Hillary Clinton ... Harry Reid and Joe Biden could all be in jeopardy in 2010."
I wouldn't count on Republicans winning all those senate seats. But it does look a lot better for Republicans than it did a few months ago. Unless something changes, the Democratic advantage in Congressional strength that Obama currently can rely on will be a thing of the past after November 2010.
After losing the last two gubernatorial races, both Senate seats, and the majority in the congressional delegation over the last eight years, the Republican party has a winner in Bob McDonnell. He is a good cadidate and has run an excellent campaign. There's a lesson to be learned here. The "adults" are back in charge of the Republican party in Virginia. To get to this position they removed the vocal but ineffective wingnut elements from leadership positions in the state party organization and Bob McDonnell has wisely focused on issues important to the electorate (jobs, education, taxes) rather than a referendum on social issues (abortion, gay marriage). It certainly seems to be working.
Posted by: GeneK | Thursday, October 08, 2009 at 10:18 AM