Thursday, November 05, 2009

WSJ: Voters fear that liberal policies are endangering economic recovery

Will Obama and his fellow liberal Democrats change their ways? I doubt it, because as you'll read in the below post, Senate Dems in the Environment and Public Works Committee voted to advance cap and tax this morning.

Here's what the Wall Street Journal says:

Tuesday's GOP gubernatorial sweep revealed an electorate deeply anxious about jobs, the state of the economy and the wider Obama agenda. We realize we sound like St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, but if the Democratic establishment wants to avoid a repeat in 2010 they'll dump their current ambitions and start over.

In New Jersey and Virginia, the Republicans campaigned on lower taxes and more disciplined government as a way to boost growth and jobs. With unemployment brushing up against 10% even as gasoline is nearing $3 a gallon, voters were obviously sending a message about Washington's Great Reflation bet. This was particularly true for independents, who voted in droves for President Obama but broke for the GOP this year by more than two to one in both states. Suburban voters, too, went for Bob McDonnell 55% to 44%, and 51% to 43% for Chris Christie, according to exit polls.

These elections should signal Defcon 2 for the 49 Democratic Congressmen who come from districts that John McCain carried in 2008, as well as Senators like Arkansas's Blanche Lincoln and Indiana's Evan Bayh seeking re-election in 2010. New Jersey's budget, with its surging taxes and structural deficits, looks remarkably like Mr. Obama's—and even the President's all-out "Weekend at Bernie's" campaign to prop up Jon Corzine couldn't save the former Goldman Sachs executive despite a huge Democratic voter-registration advantage.

In Virginia, which has been trending leftward and Mr. Obama took handily, voters in the Washington suburbs of Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties all went heavily for Mr. McDonnell on their anxiety about high taxes and the expanding federal government. The former state attorney general played down his social conservatism in favor of a bread-and-butter economic message.

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1 comment:

  1. Unknown9:11 AM

    I think one thing that is being missed as people speculate what the VA win means for democrats is this: Deeds was not a great candidate; last fall, the party threw its support towards the most conservative of dem contenders, but did not necessarily choose the best of the nominees. McDonnell on the other hand is much more polished and I think appeals to more people. As a democrat, I still couldn't bring myself to vote for Deeds. While I'm not familiar w/ the NJ race, I am not sure if the results in VA are so much a revolt against dems as a refusal to vote along party lines when they do not offer the best choice.

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