Will Tuesday's Election Results Moderate the GOP?

Personally, I doubt that the Republicans will learn much from Tuesday's election results even though a number of the more extreme agenda measures of the Party took major hits such as the stunning repeal of the GOP's union busting tactics in Ohio. Instead, the loons in the GOP base will likely revert to the familiar mantra that had candidates been even more extreme, then they would have been victorious. Two races locally suggest otherwise because the challengers of Senators Ralph Northam and Mamie Locke could not have been much more extreme, especially Locke's opponent who used signs featuring dead fetuses. But then we're not talking about rational people when we speak of today's base of the GOP. The New York Times had an article that looked at some of the numerous GOP defeats across the USA. Here are some highlights:

Voters turned a skeptical eye toward conservative-backed measures across the country Tuesday, rejecting an anti-labor law in Ohio, an anti-abortion measure in Mississippi and a tightening of voting rights in Maine.

Even in Arizona, voters turned out of office the chief architect of that state’s controversial anti-immigration law. State Senator Russell Pearce, a Republican power broker and a former sheriff’s deputy known for his uncompromising style, was a hero to the Tea Party movement, and apart from his anti-immigration efforts, he had introduced numerous bills to nullify federal laws. Taken together, Tuesday’s results could breathe new life into President Obama’s hopes for his re-election a year from now. But the day was not a wholesale victory for Democrats.

[W]hile voters in Mississippi, one of the most conservative states, turned away a measure that would have outlawed all abortions and many forms of contraception, they tightened their voting laws to require some form of government-approved identification.

In Iowa, Republicans failed in their attempt to win control of the State Senate. Had they won a special election there, they would probably have been able to pass numerous measures, including a ban on same-sex marriage, that has been blocked by Democrats.

But in something of a surprise, an expensive effort by Republicans in Virginia to take over the State Senate — and thereby take complete control of the state government — appeared stalled by one unresolved race. The Republican candidate held an edge of just 86 votes, which will almost certainly lead to a recount, which could take weeks. If that Republican wins, the Senate will be split in a 20-20 tie with Democrats.

One of the biggest surprises of the night was Mississippi’s rejection of a far-reaching and stringent anti-abortion initiative known as the “personhood” amendment, which had inspired a ferocious national debate. . . . . Supporters, including evangelical Christians, said it would have stopped the murder of innocent life and sent a clarion moral call to the world. They said they expected that passage in Mississippi would have built support for similar laws in other states.

Here in Virginia I expect to see the GOP act as if it has a landslide mandate for its efforts to drag Virginia back into the 19th century. One can only hope that the over reaching will cause a backlash as early as a year from now.