bobbyw24
11-04-2009, 08:09 AM
An ebullient Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele asserted Wednesday that GOP victories in governors' races in New Jersey and Virginia demonstrate "a transcendent party" on the move again. Democratic Party Chairman Tim Kaine said that nothing about the election returns amounted to a repudiation of President Barack Obama.
"We're not crowing, we're just smiling," Steele said in a nationally broadcast interview. "I think it's a bellwether for the party ... You look at where we were nine months ago."
Steele said he believes Chris Christie's victory in New Jersey and Robert McDonnell's win in Virginia show that the GOP has "really found its voice again" after sustaining damaging losses last year.
Kaine, who will be succeeded at the Virginia statehouse by McDonnell, said he thought voter anxiety about jobs and the economy played heavily in the balloting and said the defeat of incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine in New Jersey and candidate Creigh Deeds in Virginia shouldn't be seen as a referendum on Obama. He said Obama "really retains a strong popularity among the voters."
Exit polls showed many independents who voted for Obama in 2008 voted for Republicans this time around, and Kaine did say in a CNN interview, "We're going to have to scratch our heads a little bit on that one." He said Obama continues to enjoy even stronger support among independent voters than he has in the past.
http://townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2009/11/04/steele_election_returns_show_transcendent_gop
"We're not crowing, we're just smiling," Steele said in a nationally broadcast interview. "I think it's a bellwether for the party ... You look at where we were nine months ago."
Steele said he believes Chris Christie's victory in New Jersey and Robert McDonnell's win in Virginia show that the GOP has "really found its voice again" after sustaining damaging losses last year.
Kaine, who will be succeeded at the Virginia statehouse by McDonnell, said he thought voter anxiety about jobs and the economy played heavily in the balloting and said the defeat of incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine in New Jersey and candidate Creigh Deeds in Virginia shouldn't be seen as a referendum on Obama. He said Obama "really retains a strong popularity among the voters."
Exit polls showed many independents who voted for Obama in 2008 voted for Republicans this time around, and Kaine did say in a CNN interview, "We're going to have to scratch our heads a little bit on that one." He said Obama continues to enjoy even stronger support among independent voters than he has in the past.
http://townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2009/11/04/steele_election_returns_show_transcendent_gop