GOP Victories Are Powerful Rebuke of Obama and Weaken His Political Power

The GOP win in NJ was a huge victory and a huge rebuke of Obama. Accordingly, this is an excellent time to recruit the next generation of conservative activists and political candidates.

Here’s my take on what these results in NJ and VA mean for President Obama.

First, it is clear now that Obama cannot help Democrats in tough elections. What ever influence Obama has over the voters cannot be spread over to benefit other candidates. This means that Obama’s political influence is weakening in line with his declining job approval numbers.

The White House is trying to make it look like Obama didn't even watch the election results. The reality, of course, is that Obama knows as well as I do that these elections were extremely important to his presidential power. Now, it is clear to the whole nation that Obama threw everything he had into electing Democrats in NJ and VA and couldn't make it happen. I watched some of Obama's passionate and emotional statements supporting Corzine and Deeds. He wasn't holding back at all. Obama placed his own administration's prestige on the line. Today, however, Obama looks like an empty suit...a loser...and a greatly weakened political leader.

Second, the suggestion that Obama was leading a massive realignment of our political system appears to be untrue. Reversals within the states he carried last year demonstrate that voters are not swept up with Obama’s radical, leftist agenda. Thus, Obama has lost the momentum and energy of his first year in office. As the voters learn the reality of his radical leftist agenda, they are turned off and eager to support anyone except Democrat party loyalists.

Finally, the newly emergent Tea Party movement appears to be more powerful and more energized than Obama’s base voters. The strength of this conservative, anti-Obama movement cannot be minimized any more by political pundits. This means that Democrat party over-reach will be punished in the upcoming mid-term elections. This is a great time to recruit the strongers Republican candidates. Next year will be a great time to be on the ballot.

John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.