It’s odd that more people are talking about a special election to the House of Representatives in upstate New York than are talking about the governors’ races in New Jersey and Virginia. I guess it is because the special election has become symbolic of the larger battle going on between Democrats and Republicans, and within the Republican Party itself. Even before the returns are in, we can see that there are winners and losers.
When the Republican candidate dropped out of the race and endorsed the Democrat, it was a victory for the Democrats on a par with the switch of Jim Jeffords and Arlen Specter, or the presidential endorsement of Colin Powell. It’s a signal that the battle for moderately conservative voters continues to be won by the Democrats. The outcome of the election won’t change that, although a victory by the Democrat would give it extra resonance.
For the teabaggers, they successfully flexed their muscles and put the few remaining moderate Republicans on notice that they need to worry more about primary challenges from the right than general election challenges from their left. In the battle to keep the GOP unified against President Obama, they’ve scored a big victory that will have even more resonance if the Conservative Party candidate pulls out a victory.
But most of the damage is done regardless of the eventual winner.
