Andrew Sullivan writes today that: "RIORDAN WOULD HAVE WON: Can anyone doubt that now? Bush would have a friendly governor in California in 2004 if the California Republican party hadn't allowed itself to become captive to the hard right. The Dems are not the only people to learn lessons from last night. The Republicans need to internalize the fact that religious right conservatism, especially in places like California, is poison."
I don't know what he meant by "especially in California." The Republicans lost the Kansas governorship, too. Kansas forpetessake. Kathleen Sebelius becomes the first Democrat to win an open gubenatorial race in the Sunflower state in 65 years (eight years ago, she became the first Democratic Insurance Commissioner in over 100 years). Kansans, even in rural areas, voted for Sebelius over the hard right Tim Shallenburger. If a Republican can't win a state-wide race in Kansas, there must be something wrong with that Republican and there was with Shallenburger. Moving to the far right is bad no matter where you are -- California or Kansas (or Oklahoma where Steve Largent also lost his bid for governor). For their sakes, I hope the Republicans don't repeat what they did after their victory in 1994 and take the midterm election as an excuse to press a far right agenda.