GOP Defeats Conservatives

Last night was a much better night for the Republican Party than the tea-baggers. Republican Chris Christie defeated incumbent Democratic Governor Jon Corzine in New Jersey by running as a moderate. In Virginia, Governor-elect Bob McDonnell couldn't be described as a moderate, but he certainly avoided discussing social issues. A Taxpayer Bill of Rights went down in defeat in Maine and another anti-tax, government spending initiative lost in Washington. But most devastating to the tea-baggers, Conservative Doug Hoffman lost to Democrat Bill Owens in New York's 23rd Congressional District. Tea-baggers should not be disheartened. After watching a bit of Hoffman's concession speech last night, I can understand why he lost. He is inarticulate. While voters might be angry about taxes and bailouts, Hoffman had to convince voters in a congression district in which he did not live to elect him over two qualified natives. If he can't string together a sentence without stumbling over his words, that task gets more difficult.

So what does this mean for our movement to nominate Marco Rubio? Nothing. By all accounts, the GOP Uncivil War is still on. This morning, a gleeful GOP Chairman Michael Steele dinged Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Alaska facebook blogger Sarah Palin for getting into a race in which they had no business meddling.

As any party chairman should, RNC Chairman Michael Steele took the opportunity this morning to crow about GOP victories in New Jersey and Virginia.

But he also seemed to deliver a bit of a rebuke to potential 2012 presidential aspirants in his party such as Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, and Rick Santorum, all of whom immersed themselves in the NY-23 special House race with their endorsements and support for conservative Doug Hoffman who came up short last night.

"If you don't live in the district, you don't vote there, your opinion doesn't matter very much," Steele said while assessing the intra-party strife that resulted in a Democratic pick up of a seat held by Republicans since the Civil War.

So the tea-baggers are angry and the GOP establishment is digging in its heels. For us, that means that Florida conservatives are still gunning for Charlie Crist. Despite the GOP victories in Virginia and New Jersey, Marco Rubio is still a better Republican opponent. While GOP moderates had some victories, tea party candidates and intiatives went down in defeat. As much as Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin scream about socialism and high taxes, voters weren't rushing to embrace the tea party movement. People aren't freaking out about higher taxes. They don't want government to stop doing things. They are sick of politicians who aren't getting it right. That is the reason Jon Corzine lost in New Jersey. That is the reason that Mike Bloomberg nearly lost in New York City.

So sit back, relax, pop some popcorn, and enjoy the coming battle for the heart and soul of GOP. And don't forget to change your voter registration to Republican and vote for Marco Rubio!