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Voters show they want results
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share thisVoters in New Jersey and Virginia demonstrated Tuesday that they still are deeply worried about the economy and that the electorate still is in a mood for change.
Whether the election of Republican governors in those states signals trouble down the road for President Obama remains to be seen. They were state elections that focused on state issues and the individual candidates, after all.
A better barometer of the national mood will be next year's congressional elections, when all 435 House seats and at least 36 Senate seats will be on ballots. Usually a third of the Senate runs, but special elections will be conducted in Delaware and New York to fill the seats vacated by Vice President Joseph R. Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which are held by interim appointees.
Tuesday, a special election to fill a seat in New York's 23rd Congressional District was as heartening for Democrats as the gubernatorial elections were for Republicans. And, in terms of national politics, it might have been more telling.
The seat, which had been held by Republicans since 1872, was open because Obama appointed Republican Rep. John McHugh to be secretary of the Army. New York state Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava, a moderate Republican, was forced from the race over the weekend under pressure applied by Sarah Palin, Fred Thompson and other national-level hard-right Republicans. They backed Conservative Party candidate Douglas Hoffman.
Democrat Bill Owens won, raising the question of whether the ideological purity sought by the GOP's far right wing helps Republicans or Democrats. Scozzafava received 6 percent of the vote even after withdrawing, while Hoffman received 45 percent and Owens, 49 percent.
Overall, the scattered results from Tuesday's election indicate concern about the economy and the rising power of independent voters who increasingly want results. The nation's season of political change continues.
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