What do these 2009 elections mean?

Last week, voters in several states went out to the polls for a handful of off-year elections. Although most of these elections were at the local level and revealed little about the current political climate, three key races reveal a lot about the current mindset of voters.

I am referring to the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, both of which were victories for the GOP, and the special election for a long-time Republican house seat, which Democrats won back on election night. Some politicians and White House officials are rushing to the airwaves to declare that these elections mean nothing and they are in no way a referendum on Barack Obama or his policies. Unfortunately, this is just the typical jargon expected after suffering such heavy losses. I mean, even the special election in New York, which was a loss for the Republicans, can be seen as a growing trend in favor of the GOP.

Last November, the Commonwealth of Virginia overwhelmingly voted for Obama in the presidential election. In fact, Obama garnered 52 percent of the vote in Virginia, just four years after Bush carried Virginia with 53 percent of the vote. Also, during Bush's eight years, Virginia elected two democratic governors, and after last year, Democrats now hold both U.S. Senate seats.

Looking at these statistics, the odds should have been piled high against Bob McDonnell, and the election should have come down to just a few thousand votes. As it turned out, this didn't happen, and on election day, Virginians elected McDonnell in the largest landslide the state had seen in decades.

White House officials have asked that we look at history and come to the realization that Virginia has never elected a governor from the same party as the president, and that this election simply followed a trend. I can only imagine how hard it was for Robert Gibbs to utter this ridiculous statement during his daily briefing. Had the election been close, no, it would not have mattered. Unfortunately, McDonnell won by an 18-percent margin. This is something that is almost unheard of in today's political world.

The fact is that these results do worry White House officials and force them to realize that without Obama on the ballot, the chance for Democratic success, especially in purple states, is something that will be nearly impossible.

Even in Democratic strongholds such as New Jersey, Tuesday proved to be a resurgence of the GOP, which many political analysts called "a dead party" a year ago. In this race, Jon Corzine, the Democratic incumbent, outspent his opponent 3 to 1 in television ads and even received three campaign visits from Obama - two of which were during the week before the election - and Democratic registration is 750,000 people more than that of the party's opponents. Even with these clear advantages, Republican Chris Christie managed to pull off a huge upset, showing once again that the apparent Democratic surge is over in just a year.

What is most fascinating about the New Jersey election is that Christie did not try to run as a moderate. This is a man who is pro-life and against gay marriage, yet the people were able to look past this and elect him by a significantly large margin (48 percent to 44 percent). Again, this loss forces the DNC to face the tough reality of its situation: It's not as cool as it thinks it is. The New Jersey election has proven that most animosity toward George W. is gone, and that people are willing to trust the GOP once again (and this is only after a year - imagine after four years) and just in time for next year's elections.

The most exciting race of the night was definitely the special election in New York's 23rd congressional district. After the local Republican organization selected Dede Scozzafava (who, by the way, is merely a liberal playing the role of a Republican) to be its candidate, conservative candidate Doug Hoffman decided to run for the Conservative Party. Even after Scozzafava dropped out and endorsed the Democrat, Hoffman still ran a very respectful campaign and wound up getting 45 percent of the vote. Although he did not win, the idea that a man running for the Conservative Party can win nearly 60,000 votes in New York foreshadows many upsets to come.

The GOP is no longer concerned with selecting moderate candidates, because, as it turns out, moderation doesn't matter, and it is free to select candidates who can stir up the base like never before. At this point, it is safe to say that Republicans will win big in 2010. The only question remaining is: How big?