Wednesday, November 7, 2012

A Bad Night

A rough night last night to be sure. While I’d like to put a good spin on it and say that at least we came closer than 2008, the fact is we lost and as they say close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades. At the Presidential level Obama carried Virginia 50 percent to Romney’s 47 percent. And Kaine beat Allen 52 percent to 47 percent. Allen got nearly 30,000 fewer votes than Romney - more ticket splitters than I would have thought.

In going through the numbers from the state board of elections I noticed a couple of things. While Allen lost Fairfax by 60-40 and lost Alexandria and Arlington, which is no surprise, in Republican counties the margins he needed to win failed to materialize. For example, Allen won traditionally Republican Chesterfield County by just 51-47. And he also lost, albeit by a tiny margin Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. In Henrico County, which I grant you has been trending Democrat, he barely broke 41 percent. And in Albermarle County he lost 58-41.

Tough night to be sure, but we will be back.

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