In twelve years of covering elections for NR, no election result has surprised me more than this one. Nothing else comes close.
For Democrats, this is the political equivalent of Bill Buckner letting that ground ball bounce through his legs. (Memo to Martha Coakley: Buckner played for the Boston Red Sox in 1986.)
Remember when the death of Ted Kennedy was supposed to secure national health care? Democrats wanted to name the legislation after him as a memorial. Now it turns out that his death may have doomed national health care, or at least the current version of it.
There are no such things as sacrificial lambs in politics — or at least there shouldn’t be, for a party that aspires to lead the country. It’s important to nominate good candidates even in races that appear hopeless. Another recent example is Rep. Anh Cao of Louisiana.
One of last night’s big winners: Marco Rubio, GOP Senate candidate in Florida. Gov. Charlie Crist may want to think about quitting this race.
I hope someone calls Sam Tanenhaus, author of The Death of Conservatism, published just a few months ago, for a comment.