Re: Republicans strike back
It will be interesting to see what the parties do with this. It would be easy for the GOP to view this as an indictment of Democratic policies -- or an embracing of their own -- but I don't think that either is necessarily accurate.
Turnout amongst Democrats, particularly in Virginia, was really weak, which says as much about the democrats' gubernatorial candidates in VA and NJ as it does about the GOP candidates. Deeds, in particular, turned off a lot of far left dems by running a very centrist campaign, and they didn't turn out for him. Also, the exit polling doesn't show a huge correlation between voters' feelings about Obama and their votes here. Sure, the love-in is over, but there isn't really data to support the idea that I suspect we'll hear that this was some sort of wholesale backlash against Obama.
NY-23 is really interesting, and highlights why the GOP ought not be doing too much back-slapping about voters embracing the more conservative views of the party. A Democrat was elected there for the first time since the Civil War era. The more moderate republican candidate stepped out of the way at the behest of Palin, et al to pave the way for an ultra-conservative candidate to hold the seat, but voters said no deal. The divide between the more vocal wingnuts that can't get elected and the more moderate Republicans that can is still alive and well.