Centerfield

In the Minnesota House, Republicans lost 13 seats and went from a very comfortable majority to a 2 seat majority.

Trends such as this should be weighed against the fact of GWB doing substantially better in 2004 in blue states than he did in 2000.

It's possible that this is a manifestation of blue states turning inward, and it may well be a negative development for centrism. I despise my state's one party dominance. If blue state politics and red state politics devolve into echo-chamberism, there's bound to be less purple understanding, to speak in shorthand.

Mitt Romney and the MA GOP did fail in their efforts to gain ground in making MA a two-party state again. But IMO, the failed because they deserved to...instead of making a case for a more moderate view, they went dog-dirty radical red. Every mailing I got for a GOP candidate spent most of its time smearing the democratic candidate with things that I knew were partisan-spun nonsense, things like vague suggesting that the democrat wasn't trying hard enough to protect people from child molesters and porn. They made me feel more favorably towards democrats.

Is it fair to say that states with stronger liberal bases better got out the votes than states where those bases had to be built, like Ohio? Mass. isn't even a question... It will always be blue. Oregon is not that suprising, Liberals in Eugene and Portland probably where mobilized enough to sway the election, but I don't know if this is evidence that the state is more blue or that the Democrats just did better under the momentum of the anti-Bush movement which will probably subside by 2008. Don't the Republican's still control the House there and didn't a very Conservative candidate for Governor almost beat a Democrat two years ago? The Congressional elections there don't tell me much because Wu has voted for most of Bush's agenda and Hooley is more moderate than liberal also. I assume both of them won with Republican votes, Wu more than Hooley.

On the other hand some states are a little more red... Washington State now has three maybe four elected official's state wide, depending on the Governor's race where the Republican has closed the gap to less than a half of a percentage point; four years ago there was just one Republican statewide. The GOP kept all the open seats, and the eighth district which was supposed to be taken over by the Democrats this year, went for Bush and elected a Republican Sheriff, by a wider margin than expected, to replace Jennifer Dunn. In the east, in another election that was supposed to be an upset for the Democrats according to Carla, the Republican State House Minority Leader won the Congressional seat with about 60% of the vote. U.S. Senator Patty Murray also won re-election by a smaller margin than she did six years ago.

In Indiana they replaced a Democrat with a Republican for Governor and beat a Democrat incumbent for Congress. In Missouri they also elected a Republican Governor to replace a Democrat and Bush beat Kerry there by a wider margin than he won four years ago. Bush also came closer in Minnesota than he did four years ago and they have a Republican Governor there and U.S. Senator that where elected in the mid-term elections to replace Democrats. Not to mention Iowa and New Mexico which went for Gore the last time around, and look at Hawaii that was so close and has a Republican Governor.

I think this country is deeply divided, but it is more Republican than it was four years ago clearly, and it tilting even more so in some states. The Democrats are becoming dangerously close to being a regional party, not a national one, and if Giuliani is the nominee the next time around they may lose the northeast, or if it is McCain they may lose the West. Let's not blow smoke about what political party is in trouble in this country. and which one is clearly in power.

Mathew:

You're completely ignoring the gains made in red states for Democrats at the state level. And they were significant as I outlined at PK.

Indeed...let's not blow smoke. The Democrats definitely need new leadership and direction at the national level. But at the state and local levels they're doing exceptionally well.

Ignoring it won't make it go away. And incidentally, this is one of the ways that conservatives regrouped after the 1964 Goldwater debaucle.

Also keep in mind, last Tuesday wasn't as bad as Bush and the press like to paint it for the Democrats. They lost only 3 House seats and considering the gerrymandering in Texas, that's significant. If you take out the South, they gained a seat.

The Bush people like to tout that he received more votes than any President in history. What they're neglecting is...so did Kerry.

Btw..Bush did worse in Oregon than he did in 2000.

They where noticeable Carla... Not significant.