Much has been made about how an estimated 30 percent of white evangelicals voted for Democrats this election. But that’s only slightly better than the 28 percent who voted for Democrats in 2004, the New York Times reported. And despite the prediction that disillusioned white evangelicals might stay home on Election Day, they made up about 24 percent of those who voted, up from 23 percent in 2004. However, there were a few states — such as Ohio and Pennsylvania — where a shift in these voters did help Democrats. Also, liberal Christians were much more active this election and helped defeat anti-evolution school board candidates and pass ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage.
So the good news for Republicans is that their white evangelical base held firm, despite the political scandals. But the bad news is that the GOP lost anyway.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Democrats weren’t the only big winners Tuesday; so were women. Though it’s still far from representative, women now have 70 seats in the U.S. House, 16 Senate seats and nine governorships. And, of course, Nancy Pelosi (in photo) is set to become the first woman speaker of the House.
One possible factor influencing the gains, other than the quality of the candidates: Vivian Eveloff, director of the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life at the University of Missouri, told National Public Radio that voters tend to regard women as an antidote to corruption.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Columnist George Will offered three reasons why conservatives should temper their despondency about the election results:
“First, they were punished not for pursuing but for forgetting conservatism. Second, they admire market rationality, and the political market has worked. Third, on various important fronts, conservatism continued its advance Tuesday.”
On the first point, Will wrote: “They are guilty of apostasy from conservative principles at home (frugality, limited government) and embrace of anti-conservative principles abroad (nation-building grandiosity pursued incompetently).”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Paul Morrison’s win over Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline was part of a Tuesday tide for such races, which saw Democrats pick up two attorneys general offices for a total 31. It’s highly unusual for incumbent attorneys general to lose re-election. The Web site Stateline.org made an excellent point that Kline didn’t emphasize enough in his campaign: “The nature of the office — locking up bad guys, going after corrupt businesses and alerting consumers to fraud — generates a steady stream of positive news for incumbents to campaign on.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Maybe Iraq and GOP corruption explain the power shift at the U.S. Capitol. But what to make of the Democratic gains of governorships? They took 20 of 36 races Tuesday night, including in swing states Ohio, Pennsylvania and Colorado, and broke long-held GOP grips on the jobs in Massachusetts, New York and Arkansas. That means 28 of the nation’s governors will be Democrats come January, the same number as have been Republicans. The winning Dems, of course, include Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, the first woman governor to win re-election in Kansas and the first Democrat to get two terms since John Carlin in 1982.
New Mexico’s Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson, who was re-elected Tuesday, credited the party’s changed profile: “Now we’re a more centrist, national party who can show victories across the country.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Tuesday was also a victory of sorts for Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Bill Gale, whose credibility had been on the line after reducing the county’s polling places from 208 to 64. There were anecdotes about problems with machines and poll workers, but the election came off with a 49 percent turnout in the county — in the ballpark with the 2002 and 1998 nonpresidential elections. Maybe Gale knew what he was doing after all — though even the person who hired him, Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh, had said Gale’s cutbacks “went deeper” than he would have recommended. Tuesday’s experience bodes well for the spring municipal and school board elections. And the nonpartisan Sedgwick County Voter Coalition plans to review the election and make recommendations, as necessary. But what about 2008? If county turnout is anything like 2004′s 74 percent of registered voters, the disaster might still be coming.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
