Under the headline “Va., N.J. Give GOP Reason to Celebrate,” USA Today‘s front-page election report (11/4/09) featured this quote from GOP strategist Frank Donatelli:
The warning is that if you’re in a moderate district, or you’re in a moderate-to-conservative state, you should think twice before you rubberstamp Obama’s agenda.
Well, there were two districts choosing representatives and two states picking governors yesterday. Both the districts, including the one generally described as “moderate,” went for the Democratic candidate, so it’s not clear what warning that sends about Obama’s agenda.
In both states, the Democrat lost the governor’s race, and one of them, New Jersey incumbent Jon Corzine, can fairly be described as politically close to Obama. But New Jersey, which has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1992, is not a “moderate-to-conservative” state; Corzine lost the race based on local issues involving corruption and property taxes.
In the state that can be described as moderate-to-conservative, Virginia, Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds went out of his way not to “rubberstamp Obama’s agenda”–coming out against allowing “card check” union certification, suggesting he would opt-out from a “public option” health insurance program, running ads touting his opposition to Obama’s climate change proposals, and declaring in the final debate of the campaign, “I’m not afraid of going against my fellow Democrats when they’re wrong.”
So of the four top electoral contests, only one fit Donatelli’s model of Democrats getting a warning about how they should appeal to moderate or conservative voters; in that race, the Democrat took Donatelli’s advice–and was soundly trounced, based on the Obama voters from 2008 staying home in 2009.
One is tempted to ask whether a source’s claims have to make any kind of logical sense to appear on the front page of USA Today. But given that “move to the right” is always the corporate media’s advice to Democrats after an election–whether they win or lose–it’s a safe bet that they thought Donatelli was making sense.
I’m utterly lost with the Repuglican hype (but, then again, I’m usually lost with that lot anyway). As I see it, it was 2 out of 50. I wouldn’t go around calling that a victory…I also wouldn’t go around screaming that the Earth is 6,000 years old and that’s where that math comes from: the deadly combination of Christianity and politics in the 21st century.
Jim — “”move to the right” is always the corporate media’s advice to Democrats after an election–whether they win or lose”. So very, very true!