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On the surface, it may not be much. But conservatives are hopeful it's a sign of things to come as they look to build momentum heading into next year's midterm Congressional elections.
"The election has some significance as we look at 2010. The question now is how much?" said Norman Provizer, a professor of political science at Metro State College of Denver. "The biggest thing, frankly, is how it's played in the media. You're going to get a number of days with stories talking about how the Republicans are back from the dead -- kind of the post- Halloween story, if you will."
But is the story true? Were voters in New Jersey and Virginia focused on local concerns and candidates, as exit polls indicated and the White House Wednesday asserted? Or do these GOP victories signal a turning tide of voters, collectively frustrated with the economy?
The answers to those questions, still a year away, may not be as important as the results themselves.
"I would agree with the pollsters who argue against reading too much into these election results," said Brad Jones, a commentator with the conservative think-tank Face the State. "But the amount of Republican intensity and support is growing nationwide and this will help fuel that fire. Your average conservative voter looks at this as fuel to their fire -- fuel in their tank to keep going over the next 12 months."
The chorus of Tea Party opposition and a rising tide of conservative push back against President Obama and a Democratic-controlled Congress doesn't appear to any more fuel, given their fervor at rallies and town hall meetings. But some wonder if that grass-roots movement will ultimately hurt the GOP's chances in 2010 more than it helps.
"I think the tea party extremists are a huge problem for Republicans in Colorado," said Michael Huttner, the founder of ProgressNow. "We've got people that want to send us back to the days of Marilyn Musgrave and Tom Tancredo and the extreme right wing crazies."
Huttner is hopeful that Colorado Republicans will be divided by looming primaries in upcoming races for U.S. Senate and governor -- just as conservative voters in New York's 23rd congressional district were Tuesday night, effectively handing a long-time Republican seat to a Democrat.
"That's the negative impact of the Tea Party folks," Jones said. "What you have is a groundswell of conservatives who are Republicans second to their ideology. The RNC's candidate wasn't conservative enough for them, so they put up their own candidate. And they ended up splitting the Republican votes so that a Democrat won the seat."
"I think they [Republicans run] the same risk here in Colorado," Huttner said. "A lot of Republcian candidates, Josh Penry and Jane Norton, are going to these events, hanging out with these extremists and think that's going to come back to haunt them."
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