Spring Break
Elections kind to centrists, ideologues left out in the cold
Neale Hutcheson
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: Commentary
In the media age, every news story has to be historic. So after President Barack Obama won last November's election, every pundit endorsed the victory as emblematic of a whole new American politics. For democratic activists like James Carville and Michael Lind, this was to be a whole new era. It was to be an era in which Democrats built a permanent, or at least a 40-year, majority over Republicans. They saw Obama's victory as a mandate from the American people to redesign the country, enact vast new entitlement programs and usher in a new age of government spending.
But this vision was contrary to the very platform that Obama ran upon. Obama ran not as a man of the left but as a man of the center. He ran as a Bill Clinton updated for the new millennium. Therefore it should be no surprise that Tuesday's elections ran as a referendum against ideologues in both parties in which the American people called for moderation once again.
The first key referendum was in Virginia. In Virginia, Republican Bob McDonnell defeated Democrat Creigh Deeds in a long campaign. This in itself was not very newsworthy; Virginia tends to elect governors from the opposition party during mid-term elections. What was significant about this election was that it demonstrated the weakness of Democratic power.
Since 2001 the Democrats have controlled the governorship of Virginia as well as almost all other state offices. Obama carried the state with an impressive margin in 2008 and both the state's senators are Democrats. Given these things it was likely that Creigh Deeds would be able to pick up the governorship and in doing so, cement the Democrats' control of the state.
Then in April, the poll numbers began to diverge, according to an average by Pollster.com, and McDonnell began to gain a more commanding lead. This coincided with a corresponding drop in Obama's approval rating within the state. Independents began to shift away from the Democrats and support the Republican candidate and on Election Day 68 percent voted for McDonnell according to the exit polls reported in "Commentary Magazine."
But this vision was contrary to the very platform that Obama ran upon. Obama ran not as a man of the left but as a man of the center. He ran as a Bill Clinton updated for the new millennium. Therefore it should be no surprise that Tuesday's elections ran as a referendum against ideologues in both parties in which the American people called for moderation once again.
The first key referendum was in Virginia. In Virginia, Republican Bob McDonnell defeated Democrat Creigh Deeds in a long campaign. This in itself was not very newsworthy; Virginia tends to elect governors from the opposition party during mid-term elections. What was significant about this election was that it demonstrated the weakness of Democratic power.
Since 2001 the Democrats have controlled the governorship of Virginia as well as almost all other state offices. Obama carried the state with an impressive margin in 2008 and both the state's senators are Democrats. Given these things it was likely that Creigh Deeds would be able to pick up the governorship and in doing so, cement the Democrats' control of the state.
Then in April, the poll numbers began to diverge, according to an average by Pollster.com, and McDonnell began to gain a more commanding lead. This coincided with a corresponding drop in Obama's approval rating within the state. Independents began to shift away from the Democrats and support the Republican candidate and on Election Day 68 percent voted for McDonnell according to the exit polls reported in "Commentary Magazine."
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