Tuesday’s US Gubernatorial Elections
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)
The Virginia and New Jersey elections attracted national interest, why they got mine, along with how anti-Trump sentiment might affect them.
State and local races are largely off my radar, except in my own state and city, especially Chicago politics, among the nation’s worst, hugely debauched like in Washington.
Undemocratic Dems, governing like Republican neocons, win every time. GOP candidates might as well not show up.
The party’s last mayor was “Big Bill” Thompson, serving three terms, the last one ending in 1931. Dems ran the city from then to now - Richard J. Daley from 1955 through 1976, dying in office on December 20 that year.
Son Richard M. served from 1989 through May 2011, the Daley dynasty ending at that time - unless a future Daley political aspirant resumes it one day.
Current Mayor Rahm Emanuel, former investment banker, congressman and Obama chief of staff, is an unindicted war criminal.
He’s notoriously pro-war, anti-labor, anti-public education, anti-progressive, neoliberal and pro-Israel, his abrasive style earning him the nickname “Rhambo.”
Virginia’s gubernatorial race pitted Dem. Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam against Republican Party of VA chair/former RNC head, GW Bush counselor, current lobbyist Ed Gillespie.
Northam won by a landslide, defeating Gillespie by a 53.6 - 45.2% margin. Trump’s public backing of Gillespie, along with most Americans opposing his agenda, gave the race extra importance.
Following his defeat, the president distanced himself from Gillespie, tweeting: “Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for.”
Putting on a brave face, he claimed Republicans “will continue to win, even bigger than before!”
Despite a negative campaign, Northam, a physician, said “I’m a neurologist, so I’m used to dealing with a lot of different minds.”
The race was seen as a referendum on Trumpism, Dems hoping to maintain control of the only southern state Hillary won last year, along with gaining momentum ahead of 2018 mid-term congressional elections.
Northam’s decisive triumph was the first for Dems this year - along with former Wall Street banker Philip Murphy winning New Jersey’s gubernatorial race on Tuesday.
He defeated Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno by a 56 - 43% margin, ending neocon Chris Christie’s eight-year tenure.
He’s notorious among other reasons for calling Henry Kissinger his influential tutor, supporting torture, demeaning Muslim orphans of war, and claiming Iran is more dangerous than ISIS.
Dems winning two gubernatorial races decisively on Tuesday suggests a voter backlash against Trump’s agenda - pro-war, pro-Wall Street, pro-other corporate favorites, hugely anti-progressive.
Exit polls showed voter majorities in both states opposing his policies, saying he’s why they voted for Dem. candidates.
It’s common for out-of-power parties to gain congressional seats in mid-term elections.
Anti-Trump sentiment, along with GOP support for ending Obamacare and wanting tax cuts for the rich, could give Dems control of both houses in January 2019, maybe by large margins.
It’s a long time from now until next November. Lots of unknowns could affect the political landscape in the interim.
Whichever party triumphs in federal, state or local elections, continuity follows, dirty business as usual, privileged interests served exclusively, the rights and needs of ordinary people increasingly spurned.
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My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
