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The Democratic Unraveling Began With Schools — Republican Glenn Youngkin's victory in Tuesday's Virginia gubernatorial election was about schools. It wasn't about Donald Trump, or inflation, or defunding the police, or Medicare for All, or President Joe Biden's infrastructure agenda.
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Post, Townhall, The Federalist, Bloomberg and HotAir
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New Jersey Election Results — In New Jersey, the headline matchup is between Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, and his Republican challenger, Jack Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman. The entire State Legislature is also up for election, and there are two ballot questions. Read more »
Discussion:
HotAir, Sacramento Bee, The Daily Caller and RedState


A sobering reality hits Democrats after Tuesday's elections losses — Democrats awoke Wednesday to a sobering reality. A year after celebrating victory in the 2020 elections, their slender congressional majorities are now even more at risk than they feared, and it is not clear that President Biden …
Discussion:
Fox News, USA Today, Bloomberg, The Daily Wire and Florida Politics


Virginia Results: Giving Up on Rural America Is Proving a Nightmare for Democrats — Margins matter. — About a year ago I wrote about the big “trade” that had taken place in our politics. Democrats were picking up former Republican “red dogs” who live in the suburbs.
Discussion:
Fox News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, HotAir, The Hill, Washington Examiner, National Review and Townhall


POLITICO Playbook: Let the Democratic freakout begin — DRIVING THE DAY — THE NAIL BITER — New Jersey's gubernatorial race is still too close to call as you wake up this morning. With 88% of the expected vote in, incumbent PHIL MURPHY is trailing Republican JACK CIATTARELLI by just over 1,000 votes.
Discussion:
New York Post, Washington Post, The Bay State Banner, New York Magazine, Fox News, WTOP, The Daily Beast, ABC News and Instapundit


Takeaways from Tuesday's elections: Bad omens for Democrats — The off-year elections for governor in Virginia and New Jersey tend to receive outsize attention, and the results are mined for deeper meaning about what they portend for the midterm elections the following year that determine which party controls Congress.


Terry McAuliffe Bet on Voters Hating Trump. Turns Out They Dislike Democrats More. — The Republican Party — populated with cranks, crooks, clowns, bigots and deranged conspiracy theorists — has spent five years alienating women, minorities and young voters.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Deseret News, The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, Bloomberg, NBC News and One America News Network


How McAuliffe Lost Virginia — An uninspiring candidate with no big ideas and terrible messaging. — Going into the 2021 gubernatorial election in Virginia, a state that Joe Biden won by ten points, former governor Terry McAuliffe likely reasoned that he had a good chance of repeating his remarkable feat from eight years earlier:
Discussion:
Washington Post, Virginia Mercury, CNN, Associated Press, Breitbart, Townhall, KTLA, Washington Examiner, The Guardian and Mother Jones


Democrats Need to Face Up to Their Public School Problem Education should be helping Democrats, not hurting. What happened? — Election reaction statements by politicians and interest groups may be the most robotic genre in the messaging business. Every outcome proves everybody was right all along.
Discussion:
The Liberal Patriot, Washington Examiner and CNN


The Next Democratic Reckoning — Ten months into Joe Biden's presidency, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that we are living in a new political era — and that we have been for half a decade. — Tuesday's numbers, especially in Virginia and New Jersey, made the new pattern clear …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Reuters, BizPac Review, One America News Network and Vanity Fair


Glenn Youngkin Defeated Terry McAuliffe Because Democrats Betrayed Parents — While former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's loss to Republican challenger Glenn Youngkin was cemented very late on election night, in practice the day that he forfeited the gubernatorial race was September 28.
Discussion:
Fox News, We Love Trump and RedState


Trump: Youngkin ‘would have lost by 15 points without MAGA’
Discussion:
Fox News, POLITICUSUSA and IJR

Exit poll results from the 2021 election for Virginia governor
Discussion:
Common Dreams, FiveThirtyEight, New York Post, Joanne Jacobs, TheGrio, Reason and ABC News

Who is Glenn Youngkin and How Did He Win the Virginia Governor's Race?
Discussion:
Washington Post, HotAir, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Forbes

5 takeaways from Republicans' big win in Virginia and the shocker in New Jersey
Discussion:
Washington Post, Newsweek, New York Times, HuffPost, ABC News, Washington Examiner, The Hill and National Review

Democrats Started Knifing Each Other Even Before Virginia Defeat Was Official
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Politico, Washington Post, Townhall, New York Magazine, Denver Post, Fox News, Real Clear Politics, Rolling Stone, WFXRtv, New York Times and WWLP-TV

4 takeaways on Virginia, New Jersey and Election Day 2021
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Examiner, The National Interest, Washington Times, CNN, Fortune, Wall Street Journal and New York Post

What Youngkin's Win in the Virginia Governor Race Means for Democrats
Discussion:
Fox News, NBC News, Bloomberg, NPR and Washington Post


Trump campaign payments for ‘command centers’ at D.C. hotels could undermine executive privilege claim in Jan. 6 investigation — It was a month after the 2020 presidential election, and Bernard Kerik was starting to panic. The former New York City police chief and his friend Rudolph W. Giuliani …
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and Crooks and Liars


Dem disaster: Did they lose ... *New Jersey*? — Joe Biden won New Jersey by sixteen points one year ago. Polls had incumbent Democrat governor Phil Murphy ahead outside the margin of error. Challenger Jack Ciattarelli jumped out to a lead in early vote counting, but everyone knew Murphy …
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N.J. election 2021: N.J. governor race still too close to call. Murphy, Ciattarelli waiting for all votes to be counted.
Discussion:
New York Post, NorthJersey.com, Associated Press, Washington Post, UPI, Breitbart, Fox News and Twitchy

Shocker in New Jersey: Governor's race a nail-biter
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, New York Post, The Daily Wire, The Dispatch, WTOP, BizPac Review, CBS New York, Bloomberg and Power Line


U.S. Blacklists Israeli Cyberarms Firms NSO, Candiru for Harming ‘National Security and Interests’ — NSO Group and Candiru developed and supplied spyware ‘to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and embassy workers,’ the U.S. Commerce Department said in a statement
Discussion:
Washington Post and The Times of Israel, more at Techmeme »


Dear Colleague on Moving the Build Back Better Act Forward — Last Thursday, House Democrats proudly put forth our Build Back Better legislation. While it was a reduction in dollars from the original $3.5 trillion package, it was not a reduction in values.
Discussion:
Insider, The Hill and POLITICUSUSA


The Threat From the Anti-Woke Right — America is confronting two powerful illiberal movements. Where you stand on their relative threats depends on where you live. … Late last week, my friends Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt published an important piece in the online journal Persuasion that contained a startling statistic.
Discussion:
The Dispatch
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Republicans Schooled the Left in Virginia
Discussion:
Reason and New Republic


Eric Adams Hangs With CEOs, Rappers in NoHo After Win — Handler, Novogratz, Ja Rule parties with Adams at private club — Mayor-elect promises ‘reset’ with city's business community — After a dance troupe performed and bartenders served $14 mixed drinks (cash only) …
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Eric Adams's Victory Tour Is Underway
Discussion:
New York Post, HotAir, Fox News, Politico, Washington Examiner and ABC News


Why hundreds of QAnon supporters showed up in Dallas, expecting JFK Jr.'s return — In rainy Dallas with temperatures dipping into the low 60s, hundreds huddled with umbrellas, flags and signs to wait for history to be made on Tuesday. Some even brought folding chairs.
Discussion:
The Hill, VICE, Newsweek, Insider, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, Dallas Morning News, Digby's Hullabaloo, Forbes, Mediaite, D Magazine, Althouse, Rolling Stone, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns & Money, POLITICUSUSA, WGN-TV, Texomashomepage.com, Raw Story, Vanity Fair, Slate and Gizmodo


Byron Brown's write-in gambit apparently worked — The former state Democratic Party chair worked with the GOP to seemingly defeat socialist India Walton. — Byron Brown at his election night party on Nov. 2. — When India Walton won the June Democratic mayoral primary for Buffalo mayor …
Discussion:
Fox News, Buffalo News, New York Post, Democrat and Chronicle, New York Magazine, American Greatness, WIVB-TV, Forbes and Washington Examiner
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Walton failed to broaden support beyond her primary base
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo


Minneapolis police ballot question rejected by voters — Minneapolis voters reject Question 2, choose not to replace police department — MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minneapolis voters struck down a proposed charter amendment that would have eliminated the city's police department and replaced it with a public safety agency.
Discussion:
Power Line, Summit News, IJR, Fox News, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Townhall and Just The News
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Merkley Statement on Rahm Emanuel Nomination — WASHINGTON, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement regarding the nomination of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Japan:
Discussion:
Washington Post and Mediaite


Military Coups in Africa at Highest Level Since End of Colonialism — Attempted or successful coups in Africa are occurring more frequently as democratic states buckle under pressure from Covid-19 — On the day before launching the coup that halted Sudan's democratic transition last month …
Discussion:
Al-Monitor


Widespread Coronavirus Infection Found in Iowa Deer, New Study Says — The analysis by Penn State and Iowa researchers strongly indicates that deer are getting the virus from humans, worrying experts about a deep wild reservoir for the virus. — A new study of hundreds of white-tailed deer infected …
Discussion:
bioRxiv and New York Post