A few things I think I learned from last night’s election returns:
* It’s never over till it’s over.
* Gerrymandering saved the Senate Democrats from a debacle of epic proportions. Conversely, House Republicans used it to pump their caucus up to record levels. How will this color the usual bleatings for non-partisan redistricting?
* Brandon Bell spent hundreds of thousands of Democratic dollars, had Sen. Mark Warner campaign on his behalf and still got thumped, again, by Ralph Smith. In a different district, no less. Once again, vanity takes it on the chin.
* We won’t have Ward Armstrong to kick around any more (unless he carries out his plan to run statewide in 2013). Not all of the money he could spend, nor all lies he could weave were capable of saving his career. Good riddance. Look for the next House minority leader to be from Northern Virginia.
* The Henrico GOP was too clever by half. Jettisoning its nominee for Commonwealth’s Attorney in favor of an independent bid from former Del. Bill Janis split the Republican vote and delivered the win to Democrat Shannon Taylor. Now that’s some first class strategery…
* Senator-elect Tom Garrett proved to be a stronger candidate than my sources indicated him to be (save Scott Lee, who never had a doubt).
* Roscoe Reynolds will now have to do crossword puzzles on his own time, rather than on the people’s dime in Senate Finance committee meetings.
And lastly, that the people here – contributors and comment writers alike – are the best in the state. And a special shout out to Jim Hoeft, for making, and keeping, this forum possible.
So. Who’s up for some 2012 action?
