Editorial: What GOP dominance?

Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005 | 8:06 a.m.

After Tuesday's election results, Republicans certainly didn't have much to cheer about on Wednesday. It was downright depressing for them.

Democrats, despite a scandal that forced the sitting Democratic governor in New Jersey to resign last year, held onto the office as U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine won. In Virginia, a state that voted decisively for President Bush in his re-election bid and which has two Republican U.S. senators, the Democrats held onto the governor's office as well, with Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine winning.

The so-called "political capital" that Bush crowed about having earned following his re-election last year sure had a short shelf life. If anything, a case could be made that Bush has become a form of political Kryptonite for fellow Republicans.

The president, on the way back from his Latin America trip, stopped Monday in Virginia to campaign for that state's Republican candidate for governor. The governor's race was viewed as a toss-up when Bush arrived. Bush's election eve appearance obviously reinforced negatively the link between the gubernatorial candidate and the president, whose job approval ratings are the lowest of his five-year presidency so far.

What this portends for the control of Congress in next year's elections is hard to tell this far in advance. Because of redistricting, most seats in the House have been drawn to significantly favor incumbents. And since the Republicans control the House, it will be very difficult for Democrats to win enough seats to gain a majority.

Prospects for Democratic gains are better in the Senate, as Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada hopes to recapture control. Higher energy prices and the terrible, sorrowful news out of Iraq are exacting a toll on this Republican president and GOP-run Congress. It certainly isn't out of the realm of possibility that the Democrats could catch fire and regain control of Congress.

Closer to home, Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was humiliated when four of the ballot measures that he championed went down to defeat. Nurses, firefighters, police officers, teachers and other groups fought the proposals, which included limiting how union dues were used for political purposes, a cap on state spending, restricting tenure for public school teachers and drawing legislative districts in a different way.

It also shouldn't go unsaid that voters across the nation approved more than $15 billion in bonds to pay for more schools, transportation and economic development. Bloomberg News reported that this amount was a record for an odd-numbered year when federal elections aren't held. It would seem, then, that the anti-government, anti-everything crowd, whose energy is stoked by the right-wing media, were the big losers as well.

The only silver lining for Republicans is that national elections weren't held Tuesday. If they had been, it would have been even more disastrous for them.