memeorandum: The Obama magic has faded (Glenn Harlan Reynolds/New York Post)

11:00 AM ET, November 4, 2009

Top Items:

HOFFMAN CLOSING ON OWENS — Democrat ahead of Conservative by 2,512 votes — Democrat Bill Owens is leading in the 23rd Congressional District race. — The Plattsburgh attorney has 50,884 votes compared to Conservative Doug Hoffman, a Lake Placid CPA, with 47,166 votes.

Discussion: The Other McCain, The Daily Politics, Left Coast Rebel, the albany project, DaTechguy's Blog, PoliBlog, Open Left, Riehl World View, Swampland, Michelle Malkin, Talking Points Memo and Gateway Pundit

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:

In NY-23, Conservatives Win — The race has now been called for Democrat Bill Owens. — This is a huge win for conservatives. — “Whaaaa. . . ?” you say. — There are two big victories at work in New York's 23rd Congressional District. — First, the GOP now must recognize …

Discussion: TBogg, Washington Monthly, Pajamas Media, Sadly, No!, WSYR-TV, thedanashow.wordpress.com, American Spectator, Flopping Aces, Whiskey Fire, MyDD, Dump Dede, RedState, Comments from Left Field and Big Government

Glenn Harlan Reynolds / New York Post:

The Obama magic has faded — All politics is local, they say, and Tuesday's off-off-year elections certainly had their local angles. Jon Corzine has been a terrible governor even by the undemanding standards of terribly governed New Jersey. Creigh Deeds, though he looked …

Discussion: Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, Scared Monkeys, NO QUARTER, Joust The Facts, Betsy's Page, QandO and Runnin' Scared

Michelle Malkin:

The GOP elite's $1 million object lesson — and the message of NY-23 — Conservatives owe NY-23 candidate Doug Hoffman immeasurable gratitude. He overcame impossible odds (single digits just a month ago) to come within two points of defeating Democrat Bill Owens. Hoffman had zero name recognition.

Discussion: Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Cold Fury, No More Mister Nice Blog, Firedoglake, Right Klik, Wizbang, TPM LiveWire, And So it Goes in Shreveport and Sister Toldjah

David Weigel / The Washington Independent:

NY-23: Watertown Mayor: 'It's Over' — SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. - I caught Watertown, N.Y., Mayor Jeff Graham, who endorsed NY-23 Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman this weekend, looking very glum at Hoffman's election party. I asked him what happened in Jefferson County, where Watertown is located …

Discussion: Hot Air, Watertown Daily Times, The Daily Politics, The Hill, AMERICAblog News, DownWithTyranny! and Taegan Goddard's …

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Conservative Loses Upstate House Race in Blow to Right — SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. — Democrats won a special election in New York State's northernmost Congressional district Tuesday, a setback for national conservatives who heavily promoted a third candidate in what became an intense debate over the direction of the Republican Party.

Discussion: The Politico, Associated Press, Runnin' Scared, Newsweek Blogs, Wall Street Journal, American Street, Liberal Values, American Power and JammieWearingFool

Michael Patrick Leahy / TCOT REPORT 2009©:
Hoffman Barnstorms NY 23 in Plane

Discussion: Gathering of Eagles: NY

Elizabeth Benjamin / NY Daily News:
Democrat Owens beats Conservative Hoffman who Sarah Palin …

Discussion: The Latest Word, msnbc.com and The Other McCain

New York Times:

G.O.P. Wins Two Key Governors' Races; Bloomberg Prevails in a Close Contest — Republicans swept contests for governor in New Jersey and Virginia on Tuesday as voters went to the polls filled with economic uncertainty, dealing President Obama a setback and building momentum …

Discussion: WCBS-TV, Think Progress, The Politico, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, The Hill, Guardian, Washington Post, Washington Times, Politicker NJ, The Moderate Voice, Harry's Place, QandO, The Confluence, Prairie Weather, Libertarianism, from A to Z and msnbc.com

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

Gubernatorial contests serve as warning to Democrats — Off-year elections can be notoriously unreliable as predictors of the future, but as a window on how the political landscape may have changed in the year since President Obama won the White House, Tuesday's Republican victories in Virginia …

Discussion: CNN, Weekly Standard, The Moderate Voice, The Note, Virginian-Pilot, Wall Street Journal, Achenblog, Newsweek Blogs, Associated Press, PostPartisan, The Hill, Taylor Marsh, Althouse, Commentary and New York Magazine

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

GOP sweeps gov races; Dem wins N.Y. — Republican gubernatorial candidates racked up major wins for the GOP in Virginia and New Jersey Tuesday night as Democrats scored a single victory in a special congressional election in upstate New York. — Former Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell …

Discussion: The Swamp, New York Times, The Roanoke Times, Pajamas Media, CNN, Clusterstock, The Nation, Left Coast Rebel and And So it Goes in Shreveport

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

A Year After Dousing, Republicans' Hope Rekindled — WASHINGTON — The Republican victories in the races for New Jersey and Virginia governors put the party in a stronger position to turn back the political wave President Obama unleashed last year, setting the stage for Republicans to raise money …

Discussion: Democracy in America, The Plum Line, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Fix, NewsBusters.org, Associated Press, Washington Post and FiveThirtyEight

Washington Post:

Editorial: Lessons from Robert F. McDonnell's victory in Virginia — ROBERT F. MCDONNELL'S crushing victory in Virginia's gubernatorial election Tuesday testified to his skills as a politician and to his disciplined, focused and generally positive, issues-based campaign.

Associated Press:
Steele: Election Returns Show ‘Transcendent’ GOP

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:
'09 Exit Polls: Voters Approve of Obama, Wary of Economy

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Fix, MyDD, Blue Virginia, Daily Kos, CNN, The Big Picture, Outside The Beltway, YID With LID, Big Government, Firedoglake, George's Bottom Line, Pundit & Pundette and Commentary

Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
Ruth Marcus on empty harbingers in Virginia and New Jersey

Discussion: Slate, Washington Wire, Time, Newsweek Blogs, Economist, NewsBusters.org and PostPartisan

The Politico:
Dems, incumbents get wake-up call

Discussion: Gothamist and The Sarah Palin Blog

Mark Preston / CNN:
Analysis: Elections not a referendum on Obama

Discussion: New York Post and Riehl World View

CBS News:
Exit Polls in Va. and N.J.: The Obama (Non) Factor?

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Hotline On Call, CNN, Joust The Facts, Real Numbers and Other Musings, JammieWearingFool, The Strata-Sphere, Power Line, Hot Air, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!, The Hill and The Opinionator

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Morning Fix: Sorting through the numbers in Va., N.J., and N.Y.

Discussion: TQIA, Ben Smith's Blog and Ezra Klein

Dave / Media Matters for America:
Media in 2001: Off-year elections have little national significance

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Hullabaloo

Wall Street Journal:
Republicans Win Key States

Discussion: Brendan Nyhan

Daniel Stone / Newsweek Blogs:
Why Creigh Deeds Lost Virginia

Discussion: Associated Press and Macsmind

Abby Goodnough / New York Times:

Maine Voters Repeal Law Allowing Gay Marriage — In a stinging setback for the national gay-rights movement, Maine voters narrowly decided to repeal the state's new law allowing same-sex marriage. — With 87 percent of precincts reporting early this morning, 53 percent of voters had approved the repeal …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, theblogprof, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Baseline Scenario, The Daily Dish and La Shawn Barber's Corner

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

What Happened and Why? — The outcome of all seven contests that we were tracking tonight appears settled, or very nearly so: — Virginia Governor: Republican Bob McDonnell wins by 17 points, toward the upper end of the range predicted by the pollsters, although not to anybody's great surprise.

Discussion: Boston Globe, The Moderate Voice, Top of the Ticket and The Mahablog

Susan M. Cover / pressherald.mainetoday.com: Mainers vote down gay marriage law

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:
Maine Voters Overturn Gay Marriage Law

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Scared Monkeys and Politics Daily

Wall Street Journal:

Iranian Police Clash With Protesters — DUBAI — Iranian authorities battled with opposition protesters in Tehran Wednesday, after demonstrators used the 30th anniversary of the storming of the U.S. Embassy as cover for their first significant protest in weeks.

Discussion: BLACKFIVE, The Washington Independent and ATTACKERMAN

BBC:
Iran police clash with protesters

Discussion: Guardian, Times of London, CNN, QandO, Informed Comment and The Majlis

New York Times:
Iran Clashes on Anniversary of Embassy Takeover

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and The Page

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

Yesterday's Overwhelming Historic Republican Victory Makes Democratic Health Care Reform Just A Bit Easier — Most of the commentary about last night's elections has centered around Republican pickups in the New Jersey and Virginia statehouses. But what's gone largely unnoticed …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and TalkLeft

Joe Garofoli / San Francisco Chronicle:
Garamendi beats field for Tauscher's seat

Discussion: The Nation

Tim Alberta / The Politico: Democrat wins Calif. special election

Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing:

Secret copyright treaty leaks. It's bad. Very bad. — The internet chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty whose text Obama's administration refused to disclose due to “national security” concerns, has leaked. It's bad. It says:

Discussion: QandO and The Moderate Voice

Gwen Hinze / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Leaked ACTA Internet Provisions: Three Strikes and a Global DMCA

Discussion: Michael Geist Blog, The Huffington Post and PC World

New York Times:

Bloomberg Wins 3rd Term as Mayor in Unexpectedly Close Race — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg pulled out a narrow re-election victory on Tuesday, as voters angry over his maneuver to undo the city's term limits law and his extravagant campaign spending provided an unexpected lift …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, New York Post, Media Decoder, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Runnin' Scared, CNN, The Daily Politics, Indecision Forever and Michael Calderone's Blog

Mickey Kaus / Kausfiles:

Election 2009: Some Winners, Losers, — Winner: Robopolls. Rasmussen's final poll, showing a 46-43-8 Christie win, was pretty damn accurate. Polls using conventional human operators tended to show Corzine ahead. They were wrong. ** ... If you have a choice between Rasmussen and …

Discussion: Megan McArdle and Daily Pundit

Joe Arnold / WHAS:

Survey USA: Rand Paul surges for GOP, Mongiardo maintains lead in Dem. race — The Republican party in Kentucky has never seen anything like it. — Bowling Green eye doctor Rand Paul has no political experience, but with the support of the same people who backed his Dad, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, when he ran for president.

Discussion: Scorecard's Blog and The Washington Independent

Carly Fiorina / Orange County Register:

Why I'm running for Senate — Our most pressing problems today are too few jobs for Americans and too much spending in Washington. — CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE FROM CALIFORNIA — Recommend — Admittedly, I have not always been engaged in the electoral process, and I should have been.

Discussion: The Hill

Erick Erickson / RedState:

Is Americans For Tax Reform On Our Side Still? Its Tax Policy Director Clearly Is Not. — Dede Scozzafava, the has been former Republican candidate for NY-23, voted for tax increases in the New York legislature 198 times. But, when Dede wanted to get in good with the Republican …

Discussion: Campaign Trail