What I took from last night's election results.
The biggest thing I took from it is that the electorate hungry- hell make that starving- for any politician who they perceive is a "moderate". Why else would so many democrats and self-labeled liberals vote for Christie? He's a right winger but he has successfully coated himself with a thin but glittering layer of moderation and bi-partisanship. Highlighting the cognitive dissonance of these voters, was NJ voting to raise the minimum wage which Christie is vehemently opposed to.
I don't take much from the VA elections: Two candidates who were both perceived by the voters to be deeply flawed and one who is a total wingnut case. Hard to extrapolate much on a national level from that race.
Corporate money has a huge impact on our elections. duh. In Washington state, agribusiness spent $22 million to defeat GMO labeling. And they did.
In Colorado, an initiative to raise taxes for education, heavily supported by the Governor, got whomped. Taxes will remain a big issue. This will harden resolve of repukes in DC- as if they weren't already firmly resolved.
Bill de Blasio has an opportunity to become this country's Progressive leader and voice. I think he'll rise to the occasion.
The tea party may be weakened but it's not out for the count. In a way that's not bad news. Internecine fighting in the repub party is good for dems. It's been ugly and odds are that it will get uglier.
All in all, it was a good night for dems but it wasn't some enormous victory and it's hard to see what exactly election day 2013 portends regarding election day 2014.