Republicans lost the governorship of Kentucky and the state senate in Virginia last week. But the elections were not as bad as they looked for Republicans. Knocked down and trampled on by Democrats in 2006, Republicans are at least back on their feet in 2007 writes Fred Barnes in the Weekly Standard.
The Democratic trend in Virginia, especially in the suburbs of Washington and urban centers of Hampton Roads, was the most discouraging aspect for Republicans. It reinforced the likelihood that former Democratic governor Mark Warner will win the seat of retiring Republican senator John Warner next year and suggested the long Democratic drought at the presidential level might be ending.
The last Democrat to win Virginia was Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Bush won the state in 2004 by 8 points. “The right Democratic candidate can win Virginia,” Governor Tim Kaine said last week. “The wrong Democrat can’t.” Kaine, a Democrat, has endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Taking into account Republican Bobby Jindal’s election last month as governor of Louisiana and the strong (but losing) performance of Republican Jim Ogonowski in a special House election in a heavily Democratic district in Massachusetts, Republicans are in considerably better shape now than a year ago.
The Republican brand. It is a far from what it once was, particularly in Virginia, but it appears to be gradually regaining respectability. The most startling example was the upset victory of Greg Ballard as mayor of Indianapolis. Badly outspent and lacking strong name identification, Ballard knocked off a two-term Democratic incumbent.
Read more here: Republicans might be singing a happier tune