The Elections In New Jersey & Virginia

As expected, Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey won a resounding reelection victory, carrying 60% of the vote in a Blue State.  What is most important, Christie played well with all demographic groups, including women and minorities.  This will position Christie for the Republican nomination for President in 2016; though many Conservatives consider Christie a RINO.   Christie has done well in New Jersey; but it remains to be seen if he can win in Red State Republican primaries when facing candidates like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, or Marco Rubio, all Tea Party favorites.

The bigger discussion coming out of this election was what occurred in Virginia.  Wealthy Socialist Terry McAuliff, an old Clinton guy and Bundler barely squeaked by in Virginia, when he went into the election with a 10 point lead over Conservative Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.   Cuccinelli, supported by the Republican base and the Tea Party was able to narrow the gap to around 2 points by stressing his opposition to ObamaCare, which is very unpopular in Virginia, the same as is the case throughout the country.  

Most important, the Libertarian Candidate polled a little more than 6% of the vote, which is what really denied Cuccinelli a victory.   And, there was Obama Dirty Tricks in this deal as it was reported that the Libertarian Candidate was funded by Obama operatives.  As such, it would be totally incorrect to assume that the Socialists won in Virginia and or that the Tea Party is dead.  The reality is that Virginia is a very purple state where about 52% of Virginians voted Conservative and against Socialist McAuliff who won by around 48% to Cuccinelli's 46%. 

To win, McAuliff played the abortion card as Socialists always do to attract left wing, single women voters in Northern Virginia who put McAuliff over the top.  Cuccinelli actually did very well with most other demographic groups in Virginia.  Further, McAuliff, who is wealthy, was able to bring in significantly more money than Cuccinelli, from out of state, including Hollywood money, to run constant negative ads against Cuccinelli painting him as right wing nut.  This money proved to be the difference between winning and losing as it always does.  Had Cuccinelli had more money to combat those ads and had there been no Libertarian in the race, Cuccinelli would have won the election.   Of course, would of's and could of's in politics and life don't matter much.   What does matter is that Republicans draw the right conclusions from this election. 

Preferably Republicans that come from blue collar roots, that are well funded and stick to Conservative principles supporting free market capitalism, limited government, lower taxes and less regulation and nuanced positions on the social issues can win in most states and nationally.   And of course, it helps to have candidates that can connect with the people.  In addition, ObamaCare will still be a big issue in the 2014 and 2016 elections as this monstrosity hits the American people like a train wreck.  Further, Libertarians need to understand that if they are not in the Republican tent, they are helping Socialists gain power, which would have to be less preferable to them. To draw any other conclusions from the elections in New Jersey and Virginia would be a path to defeat for Republicans.