CNN: Humiliating Defeats No Referendum on Obama; SFGate: 'Bill Owens Beats Doug Hoffman, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh'

You just have to chuckle the spin coming from the left this morning. After crushing defeats in both New Jersey and Virginia, state-controlled CNN weakly claims losing two states Obama won handily in 2008 has nothing to do with Obama.

Victories in New Jersey and Virginia Tuesday provided a major shot in the arm for the Republican Party heading into the 2010 elections, but the Democratic losses of these two governorships should not be interpreted as a significant blow to President Obama.

While the economy and jobs were the chief concern for voters in both states, 26 percent of New Jersey residents said property taxes was also a major issue, while another 20 percent mentioned corruption, according to CNN exit polling. In a similar CNN survey taken in Virginia, health care was the most important issue for 24 percent of the voters, while 15 percent named taxes and transportation was mentioned by 7 percent.

Further proof that this election was not solely focused on Obama, 56 percent of Virginians said that the president was not a factor when it came down to their vote. In New Jersey, that number increased to 60 percent of the people who went to the polls on Tuesday.

Perhaps this was the problem for Virginia Sen. Creigh Deeds and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine.

Neither Democratic candidate was Obama; neither was a great spokesman for "change;" and Democratic strategists and grassroots activists said each candidate failed to give independents a reason to support them.

Still, in the coming days a storyline will develop that this was a referendum on Obama and his policies.

Yes, but not at CNN, that's for sure.

Meanwhile, some crackpot at the San Francisco Chronicle calls the Democrat win in NY-23 a defeat for Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin. You can't make this stuff up.

The Right Wingnuts led by Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and Michelle Malkin lost their self-selected signpost election the 23rd Congressional District in New York. The ultra-conservative Republican candidate Doug Hoffman conceded to Democrat Bill Owens just about a half-hour ago.

Owens gained 49 percent of the vote, versus 46 percent for Hoffman, and six percent for Dede Scozzafava, who's name was still on the ballot, even though she dropped out of the race.

That the 23-rd District of New York is Democratic country didn't seem to phase these Couch Potato Conservatives.

This race saw the original Republican challenger Dede Scozzafava back out of the race under extreme pressure from within her own party and the Right Wingnut fringe. They - led by media pundits Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and Michelle Malkin - hand picked Doug Hoffman as the man who would save them. With their withering communications drumbeat, Hoffman rose from nowhere in the polls to the point of being considered the front runner before tonight's election.

The New York Times picks up this baton and runs with it.

The White House became closely involved in the efforts to boost Mr. Owens’s candidacy in the final days of the campaign. They orchestrated an effort that persuaded Ms. Scozzafava to endorse Mr. Owens. Vice President Joseph R. Biden rolled through the district on Monday to support Mr. Owens.

So it's a win for Obama there, I guess. But losing NJ in humiliating fashion has nothing to do with him although he'd essentially taken up residence here the past couple of week.s

I'm sure Limbaugh will address the spin this afternoon. Meanwhile, Malkin has her analysis.

I wonder what kind of spin the SF Chronicle will have on the gay marriage referendum in Maine?

In perhaps the lamest spin ever, the White House pretended Obama wasn't even watching elections results last night.

Sure.

The only race Democrats won was the minor House race in upstate New York, where Bill Owens defeated a third-party candidate, Doug Hoffman.

Obama never set foot in the district and some critics had recently suggested the only reason the president associated himself with the contest at all was to grab an easy win to pad his record.

The White House made a loud and clumsy effort last night to say the president was not watching the election results.

Yeah, right. Obama and his political team are watching the results very carefully to see just how much power they have squandered in 12 short months.

Glenn Reynolds says the Obama magic has faded.

Is this a death blow to ObamaCare? We can only Hope. JPod calls it the Audacity of 'Nope'.