As I pointed out, it wasn't just the NJ and VA Governor's races. The ballot initiatives in Washington State and California were important too, and those went poorly. If you don't think that had anything to do with the mood of the country, I think you are being naive, especially considering NJ and VA.
it WAS a thwacking in the VA gov race and in the CA referenda. IF we don't recognize that, we are facing a very nasty '06. But, I don't think the '06 elections are a lost cause.
There's an underlying unhappiness among the voters, tied into relentless media bashing of Bush and the war in Iraq. Folks aren't too happy, either, about gas prices, even tho they've gone down. That always reflects badly on the party in power in elections.
The VA race was Kilgore's to lose, and he did. He was not a bad candidate, but the campaign itself was godawful. Three heavily populated counties that not long ago were fairly solidly Republican went Democrat. However, there's been scant attention paid to the Republicans apparently picking up one statewide office (Lt.Gov). Lost only one net) delegate seat. (for whatever good having a GOP majority did in Richmond, kinda hard to tell the difference between the R's and D's)
In CA it was a total wipeout from the people who held a special election a year ago claiming they wanted reform .. until it was offered. Everyone wants to go to Heaven, but no one wants to die.
Telling ourselves this wasn't so bad after all is not going to help next year