Republicans surged to victory in two governors' races Tuesday, wresting control from Democrats and delivering a blow to President Barack Obama heading into next year's congressional elections.

The victories in Virginia and New Jersey were triumphs for a Republican Party looking to rebuild after being booted from power in national elections in 2006 and 2008.

In both states, Republicans won the votes of independents who had been crucial to Obama's victory last year.

In the traditionally Democratic state of New Jersey, Gov. Jon Corzine, a billionaire former Wall Street executive, was defeated by Republican Chris Christie.

In the other race, Bob McDonnell won a resounding victory over R. Creigh Deeds in Virginia, a state that was once a Republican stronghold but elected Democrats in the last two gubernatorial races and also backed Obama last year.

The outcomes of the two races were watched closely for hints about the attitudes of American voters and whether the diverse coalition that sent Obama to the White House remains intact.

GOP: 'Clear signal'
The Republican victories could energize a party that has lost back-to-back national elections, just as it seeks to raise money and recruit candidates to prepare for next year's election.

The Republican Party, through party chairman Michael Steele, was quick to describe the Virginia results as "a clear signal that voters have had enough of the president's liberal agenda."

Still, Tuesday's impact on Obama's standing and on the 2010 elections can be overstated. Only two of the 50 U.S. states were holding gubernatorial elections. Voters often were focused on local issues and local personalities. Indeed, most people in Virginia and New Jersey said their ballot choices were not based on their feelings about Obama.

Yet national issues, such as the economic recession, clearly were a factor, with voter attitudes shaped to some degree by how people felt about the state of their nation.

It also was difficult to separate Obama from the outcomes after he devoted much time working to persuade voters to support Deeds and Corzine.

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Definitely a big win. Hopefully Hoffman can pull off a win in NY-23.

Jack

.....is what effect, if any, this will have of health care reform legislation. Earlier today, this appeared on the Christian Science Monitor website, under the title Election Day November 2009: Five Things To Watch

2. How will the results affect healthcare reform?

It depends. For nervous Democratic moderates in Congress, if the election ends in a wash – for example, the Republican wins the governor’s race in Virginia and the Democrat wins in New Jersey – then they can relax a bit.

“But if there’s a Republican sweep, then the task of getting a healthcare bill through becomes tougher,” says Norman Ornstein, a political analyst at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

In the midterm elections a year from now, the “inclination is to get a little distance from the president, a little insurance, to move against the grain,” Mr. Ornstein says. “That gets amplified if you have a mid-midterm that looks bad. It will not be as big a problem if there’s a split.”

Harry Reid has already signaled that health care reform legislation for 2009 is probably dead, and tonights GOP sweep will make it even harder to pass in 2010.........

I think this cinched it; the Pelosi –Obama version of health care is not just sidelined, it’s been euthanized. We will still probably see some health care reform, but it’s not going to be a government take-over or theft of a large portion of the free enterprise the Democrats had hoped for. These Republican wins will ¨Bill Clintonize¨ Obama – in my judgment he will be heading to the middle of the road in politics, where America feels most comfortable.

The ¨I WON¨ attitude got a big whole blown in it.

TickleBob:

I think this cinched it; the Pelosi –Obama version of health care is not just sidelined, it’s been euthanized. We will still probably see some health care reform, but it’s not going to be a government take-over or theft of a large portion of the free enterprise the Democrats had hoped for. These Republican wins will ¨Bill Clintonize¨ Obama – in my judgment he will be heading to the middle of the road in politics, where America feels most comfortable.

The ¨I WON¨ attitude got a big whole blown in it.

How do you want your CROW cooked? rare? med?well done? how about raw like your parties ass after loosing a republican stronghold for over a century and another seat in congress?Two govenors that have absolutly no impact in congress?BIG FUCKING DEAL!!! On beat an upopular incumbent that was going to leave anyway.Big deal

A little touchy, aren't you? It is always interesting to see liberals dismiss elections when they go against them, yet absolutely DEMAND that elections they win be interpreted as absolute mandates that "alter the political landscape forever". You are too funny, hypocrite.

And we'll see how long you keep NY-23 (a year is my bet, when the 2010 Obama-caused Democrat election debacle occurs) and how "unimportant" the NJ and VA governorships are in 2010 and 2012.

Oh, and the "unpopular incumbent who was going to leave anyway" spent over 30 million of his own money to "leave". What a dumbass.