By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Tuesday's exit polls, while far from an exact science, showed that nearly 80 percent of those who turned out to vote in both Virginia and New Jersey cited the economy as a major concern. New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine's mishandling of his state's economy certainly played a significant role in his ouster while Republican Bob McDonnell's "jobs, jobs, jobs" campaign clearly resonated with voters in Virginia.

If there is a message for the national politicians buried somewhere in the elections returns it is that Washington's handling of the economy needs to change, and quickly.

By all accounts, however, the Obama administration continues tacking to port, and at full speed. Not only is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi trying to rush a healthcare bill through Congress, the administration—despite the new 10 percent unemployment numbers—continues to hint that another stimulus package is in the offing, the first one having proven to be so successful.

By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

The Democrats' efforts to enact a bill that would fundamentally change the American healthcare system are continuing despite considerable evidence that the electorate is turning against it.

More than 25,000 citizens and voters answered the call of U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann to come to Washington to lobby against the bill. These ordinary Americans, who came to the capital city by train, by car, by plane, and by bus Thursday at the invitation of the Minnesota Republican, arrived united and vocal in their opposition to the bill being pushed through Congress by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who remains intent on bringing it to the floor in two days during a rare Saturday session of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Pelosi's insistence that the bill come up for a vote is creating something of a desperate situation for moderate Democrats in the House, who reportedly have been told they must vote for the bill or risk losing the backing of the party for the 2010 elections. Pelosi is creating a climate of fear among moderate Democrats who, according to several well-placed congressional observers, have been on edge following the better-than-expected performance by the Republicans in Tuesday's elections.

By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Not quite a tidal wave but something more than a ripple on the water, the Republican victories in the 2009 elections demonstrated that, despite the fondest wishes of many supposedly objective political analysts and pundits, the Grand Old Party is far from kaput.

Of particular interest is the apparent resurgence of the suburban Republican and the Republican-leaning independent, cohorts that even two years ago were thought to be a dying breed. Tuesday, they turned out to be the balance of power in important places like New Jersey, where Republican Chris Christie ousted incumbent Democrat Gov. Jon Corzine by about five points.

By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

President Obama's deliberations over U.S policy toward Afghanistan are not helping the American electorate maintain confidence in his leadership. A new Rasmussen Reports national survey indicates that only 34 percent of American voters say the United States and its allies are winning the war on terror, a decline of nine points since October and 21 percent since January, when Obama was inaugurated.

Rasmussen also found that 29 percent of those surveyed "believe terrorists are winning that war" while 31 percent say it is a draw. "As recently as April," Rasmussen said, "28 percent said the terrorists were on top, but numbers consistently at that level haven't been seen since late 2007. The belief by 31 percent that neither side is winning is the highest such finding in at least three years."

By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Anyone who follows U.S. politics now accepts as fact the idea that the Republican victories in the off-year elections of 1993 set up the 1994 GOP landslide. According to almost all the analysis, the first real signs that Bill Clinton was much weaker politically than the national media was reporting were the elections of Republican governors in Virginia and New Jersey and Republican mayors in Los Angeles and New York City, hardly hospitable territory for candidates of the Grand Old Party.

Jumping forward 16 years, with a similar set of elections having rolled around, both parties are trying to set up the spin on next week's results. The Republicans will argue that any positive results, like winning the Virginia governorship, mean the GOP is on the comeback trail, with how far along they are being dependent on how many victories they post. The Democrats will argue that the re-election of New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, if it happens, or any other good news, means the party remains strong.

By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

The instant analysis of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's healthcare bill shows that not much has changed since Congress broke for the August recess.

The plan Pelosi unveiled Thursday, if passed into law, would generate higher taxes, higher premiums, Medicare cuts, and a decline in the quality of the American healthcare system. According to the pro-taxpayer group Americans for Tax Reform, a simple word search of the Pelosi bill uncovered the word "tax" 87 times, "taxable" 62 times, and found 10 instances of the phrase "excise tax." What she and her fellow Democrats are offering is not "free healthcare"—it is an illusion.

By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

For a president who promised his inauguration was the beginnings of a period of post-partisanship, the level of Barack Obama's permanent campaign activities is somewhat surprising.

Obama was the victim of the perennial cheap-shot earlier in the week when bloggers pointed out he was playing more golf than his predecessor, George W. Bush—who gave up the game because he believed it was inappropriate for him to be seen on the links while U.S. troops were in the field. And, with healthcare reform moving forward and a string of otherwise favorable coverage in the bank, the White House political team was probably feeling pretty good.

So it must have been quite a shock Wednesday when the Washington Times gave its readers the insider's view of how the White House wines and dines its most prominent and lucrative supporters.