Sitting On The Fence

Last week, the conservative movement had something to smile about. If you had asked me earlier in the year if I thought this was in the cards, I would have said no. However, voters never cease to amaze me. Last Tuesday, in the New Jersey and Virginia governor races, republican Chris Christie knocked off incumbent Jon Corzine (D) in New Jersey and GOP nominee Bob McDonnell pummeled state Senator Creigh Deeds (D) in Virginia with a 17 percentage point victory. What does this mean for 2010 and our chances to win back the House and Senate? Let's review the current
circumstances:


New Jersey: This is a troubled state. It made the list of the top 10 troubled states in the country. NJ is plagued by years of mishandled funds and spending more than it collects in revenue. Residents are riddled with an exceptionally large tax burden and owns an unemployment rate that hovers around the same as the national average of 10.2%. Christie won over Corzine by 4 percentage points last week - that's the largest victory by a New Jersey Republican in nearly a quarter-century. Why?


Virginia: This laundry list will read much like my own home state of PA. Virginia has a budget deficit and is facing even higher taxes. The state's Rainy Day Fund has been raided and run dry. VA has shorted K-12 education and it's own retirement system by billions. The state's gimmicks and short term fixes that robbed Peter to pay Paul are coming back to haunt Virginia. McDonnell won the governor's position by nearly 59% of the vote. How did this happen when Obama was the first Democratic presidential candidate to win in Virginia since 1964 just one short year ago?


It all came down to the Independent vote. The same voters that helped Obama carry the presidential election by large numbers, fled the Democratic party to vote for the Republican candidate. But still...the question is WHY? Could it be that voters are starting to become nervous about the amount of spending by the Obama administration? I know I am. When you look at all the legislation that could be coming down the pike such as Health Care, cape and trade, climate change, and the war in Afghanistan combined with the monstrous stimulus bill passed earlier this year...It becomes more than a little daunting. How can we afford all the tax dollars this is going to cost with a national unemployment rate of 10.2%? By the way, wasn't the stimulus bill suppose to keep that number in check? Something like under 8%? Yet, I digress..


There's much to consider here. How will this sit with moderate Democrats who sit precariously on the fence on such issues as listed above? As they say, time will tell but it has to have them thinking. And don't get me wrong...just because McDonnell and Christie were elected doesn't mean they still don't have to prove themselves. If they don't contain spending and turn their state's problems around, they should be held accountable. However, if they are able to make progress, the 2010 elections should prove to be very interesting. We'll be keeping a close eye on this one and I'm sure the Independent voters will be too.