Obama suffers blow in Republicans poll win

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama, still struggling to devise an Afghan strategy, suffered a double blow Tuesday when the Republicans secured stunning victories in the first electoral test since he won the White House a year ago.
The Republicans celebrated a comeback that reverses a trend of Democratic victories stretching back to 2005, winning the governorship of Virginia, the state where Obamas victory last year in the presidential race was one of the high points of his campaign. But the surprise of the night was their ousting of the incumbent Democratic governor in New Jersey, traditionally a Democratic bastion.
Although Democratic officials insisted the elections had not been a referendum on Obamas presidency, any lingering Democratic euphoria from his win last year has now disappeared.
Exit polls showed widespread unhappiness with the continuing weakness of the economy, in particular job shortages, and, to a much lesser extent, concern about Obamas proposed healthcare reform.
The White House, anticipating that it would not be a good night for the Democrats, attempted to play down the significance of the elections, saying that Obama, who had campaigned in both Virginia and New Jersey last week, was not even planning to stay up to watch the results, and hinting he was going to watch sport on television instead.
But Michael Steele, the Republican national chairman, hailed the results. The Republican partys overwhelming victory in Virginia is a blow to President Obama and the Democrat party, Steele said, speaking before the New Jersey result came through.
Virginia and New Jersey were the two most high-profile elections on a night that saw hundreds of contests across the country for vacant congressional seats, governorships, mayors, and referendums on single issues, in particular same-sex marriage rights.
Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate in 50 years to win Virginia last year. But the Republicans not only took the governorship yesterday, they did so with a lead of 18pc.
The Republican victories will lift a party that has been demoralised since Democratic gains in the 2006 congressional elections and provide a rallying point ahead of next years mid-term elections, when a third of the Senate and all members of the House of Representatives will be on ballots.
The wind is now blowing in a different direction, David Gergen, the political scientist and former White House staffer, told CNN.
In Virginia, Bob McDonnell, a former conservative state attorney general, easily defeated Creigh Deeds to become the states first Republican governor in eight years. The state, once a Republican stronghold, had elected Democratic senators in 2006 and 2008. McDonnell won with nearly 59pc of the vote.
In New Jersey, the Republican Chris Christie, a former federal prosecutor, narrowly defeated the incumbent Democratic governor, Jon Corzine, who suffered in part because of hostility towards his background as a billionaire Wall Street executive.
Corzine spent millions of his own money to try to save the governorship. Christie won by a margin of 49pc to 45pc. In both states, independent voters who had been crucial to Obamas victory last year voted overwhelmingly for the Republican candidate.
In the mayoral races, Michael Bloomberg won a third term in New York City. In spite of having spent an estimated $100m on re-election, the result was tighter than polls had suggested. With 99pc of votes counted, Bloomberg had 50pc to his Democratic rival William Thompsons 46pc.