Repudiation Day

It's been something like nine years since a Democrat could go to bed happy on election night. We like the feeling.

Tuesday was an "off-year" election day across the U.S., with mostly state and local offices involved. But there was a pretty clear pattern of repudiation for Republicans, and specifically of G.W. Bush.

Beginning at the end, it's about 1:30a. on the West Coast, and about 90% of California's precincts have reported their votes on the Special Election initatives sponsored by Governor Schwarzenegger. They all are on their way to resounding defeat. None even has 48% of the vote, and they are all trending even lower.

As an additional indication of voter mood, it's not just the Terminator's propositions---they are all being defeated: a clear sign of disgust with a special election that cost this strapped state something like $60 million, and may have resulted in some $300 million spent by everyone involved.

On the East Coast, two highly contested races for governor were both won by Democrats:New Jersey Sen. John Corzine and Virginia Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine. The defeat for Republicans in Virginia was particularly bitter, since the state voted Bush in 2004, and Bush campaigned with the Republican candidate for two days recently.

Another election repudiating Bush: In St. Paul, Minnesota, the Democratic Mayor Randy Kelly had endorsed G.W. Bush for president last year. This year his own party ran another candidate against him, former City Council member Chris Coleman.

On Tuesday, Coleman defeated the incumbent Kelly by more than a 2 to 1 margin. It was the first time in more than 30 years that an incumbent mayor lost reelection in St. Paul, and polls indicated the overwhelming reason was his support for Bush.

There was even a school board election of special significance. The Dover, PA school board made international news by voting to require that Intelligent Design be mentioned in connection with Darwinian evolution in high school biology classes, which led to a court case that concluded last week. The judge hasn't ruled yet, but the people of Dover have. Every contested seat on the school board was won by an opponent of the Intelligent Design decision.

There were some bright spots for Republicans---especially the New York mayoral race, where an unbelievable amount of money was spent to return Mayor Bloomberg to office. And election reform measures failed in Ohio, of all the places that need them.

But there was one more repudiation--a CBS poll which asked registered voters which of the 2004 presidential candidates they would vote for today. Although there were slightly more 04 Bush voters than Kerry voters in the survey, Kerry would win by a margin of 5%.