The message to Democratic candidates from yesterday's GOP wins in New Jersey and Virginia should be loud and clear: they're on their own, writes Dan McLaughlin. Jon Corzine and Creigh Deeds tied themselves as closely to possible to President Obama and lost, demonstrating that the president's continued personal popularity isn't rubbing off on his fellow Democrats, McLaughlin writes at RedState.
Obama's popularity hasn't even crossed over to his policies, McLaughlin notes, and the youth and minority voters that made the difference for him personally last year failed to turn out in force yesterday. "The revelation that Obama cannot help other Democrats get elected" is certain to affect his ability to govern, McLaughlin argues, since Blue Dog Democrats will no longer be swayed by the president's promises to help them campaign next year.
(More election day November 2009 stories.)