Election Rundown: Part One

Before we get into all the initiatives that passed and failed, I want to address something that the media and certain Democrats are saying. Yes, the Democratic Party scored two huge victories in New Jersey and Virginia, and the sound defeat of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ballot measures in California is great news. For those states.

The fact that President Bush has an approval rating of 37% doesn’t mean that the GOP is about to disappear. As much as we’d like to think that this is all part of a larger pattern that’s going to play out in the 2006 election, that simply isn’t the case. These were statewide races and don’t reflect upon the bigger picture. Just because we got lucky in Virginia doesn’t mean Democrats are going to get a majority in Congress by next year. We might see a few seats switch to our side, but it’s not going to be a landslide by any measure. And if they do switch, it won’t have much to do with this year’s election.

None of this will affect Washington. We’re going to be more affected by the issues facing the state, not national politics. If anything, I’m more worried about Washington state’s political future. The state is seeing signs of red, and that’s not good. By and large, the statewide initiatives would show that. We need to turn things back before they get any worse.

Tomorrow: Overview of initiative results, and what that means for us.