In addition to tonight's election for mayor and City Council in St. Pete, there are the traditional governors race in this off year election being held in New Jersey and Virginia, and which political analysts invariably always say is a referendum in part on the leadership in Washington.
I never heard that said that often before this decade, but I'm willing to go for that ride.
In 2001, a year after George W. Bush (barely) took over the White House, voters in Virginia and NJ voted for Democrats for Governor, in Mark Warner and James McGreevey, respectively. What did that portend for the Congressional elections in 2002? Absolutely nothing, as it turned out, as the Republicans took more seats in the Congress.
Now it's true in 2005, that the Dems took both of those states again in governor's races (Tim Kaine and Jon Corzine, respectively), and then the Dems stunningly took back the House in Senate in 2006. But I think most of you would agree that there were a few things out there, like the increasingly unpopular Iraq war, excessive government spending on the behalf of Republicans both in Congress and the White House, and what was known as the "culture of corruption" (Jack Abramoff and Mark Foley, come on down!) that played a far greater role in why the Democrats were successful.
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2009.