Tuesday Proves Obama Victory Was a Fluke

The outcome of Tuesday's elections dispel the myth of a great political re-alignment supposedly heralded by the election of Barack Obama last year, writes Charles Krauthammer. Believers swore young and minority voters would establish a new liberal majority and bury the GOP. But Republican victories in Virginia and New Jersey show that Obama’s victory had more to do with his personal appeal, and the dissatisfaction with George Bush, than any great political shift.

Because Obama and the Democrats misinterpreted 2008 as handing them a grand liberal mandate, they managed to drive voters to above-average conservatism. In Virginia 4 years ago, Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell ran a virtual dead heat for attorney general. “Run them against each other again when it's Obamaism in action and see what happens,” writes Krauthammer for the Washington Post. “What happened was a Republican landslide.”
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