It's a start

Wow. Despite Republicans' best efforts to steal elections yesterday, especially in Virginia, where numerous voters reported votes for Tim Kaine coming back as confirmed for Jerry Kilgore, yesterday was a fairly resounding "Just Say No" to the madman in the White House and his insane policies.

Republicans can point to Michael Bloomberg's re-election in New York City against a feckless opponent, the failure of reform in Ohio, and the passage of an anti-gay marriage amendment in Texas that may invalidate ALL marriages as victories -- and not a whole lot else. Voters resoundingly defeated ALL of California's Governator's initiatives

An ebullient diarist at Kos has the lowdown on Virginia, where Tim Kaine has a 52/46% victory over Jerry Kolgore with 99% of the votes counted. Look for Republicans to spin this as "not a mandate". No, it isn't a mandate, and is largely attributable to the popular outgoing governor Mark Warner, who was prevented by law from running again and now becomes a major contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, but it is definitely a smack in the face to Jerry Kilgore's tactic of branding Kaine a coddler of criminals who would have allowed Hitler to live because he cites his Catholic faith in his opposition to the death penalty.

In New Jersey, Jon Corzine won a decisive, if narrower victory than he should have. With 97% of the votes counted, Corzine had 53% of the vote vs. Doug Forrester's 44%. Corzine should have wiped the floor with this guy, and I think Forrester's linkage of Corzine with McGreevey, hack crook George Norcross, and the general rot in the state's Democratic party hurt. I'm not optimistic about Corzine's ability OR willingness to do anything about that, but I'm breathing a sigh of relief, for I think Forrester would have been a fiscal disaster for this state. Let's hope Corzine has a half a brain in his head and appoints the acting governor Richard Codey, to his vacant Senate seat. Codey is squeaky-clean, and right now he's the most popular politicain,
across party lines, in New Jersey.

In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg soundly trounced the feckless Fernando Ferrer, for whom the die was cast when he attempted to appeal to wingnut voters by agreeing with police about the police murder of Amadou Diallo. His 20-point margin is a new record, though less than the 28-point margin he had in late polling.

That this most Democratic of cities can't seem to come up with a palatable mayoral candidate continues to be a mystery. Wingnut Republicans may say that Bloomberg is really a Democrat, but his financial support for the Republican party is what really talks.

But perhaps the most joy this morning should be reserved for the town of Dover, Pennsylvania, where voters ousted eight Republican Christofascist Zombie Brigade (^TMMarc Maron) school board members who had ordered a statement on so-called intelligent design read in biology class -- a case that resulted in a landmark federal trial.

Yes, it's a start towards rescuing our country from the bloodthirsty despots who currently run it...but we have a long way to go. Republicans are in the unaccustomed position of being on the defensive, and when a mean dog is cornered, it gets even meaner. So watch for more attacks, more swiftboating -- and let's put our money and our efforts behind candidates we know will fight back.