AND NOW THE BRILLIANT ANALYSIS - AT 8:12 A.M. ET:  The 2009 mini-election is over.  The profound analyses are about to begin.  My suggestion is to ignore most of them and start thinking about 2010.  There's nothing as old as yesterday's election.

A few points about elections:  First, the only thing that counts is who wins.  There are no prizes for second place.  So, in New York City, there are substantial ahems this morning over the fact that challenger Bill Thompson lost to Mayor Mike Bloomberg by only five points, when a larger gap had been expected. 

That's nice.

Mike Bloomberg will take the oath.  Bill Thompson will not.

In New York's now-fabled 23rd Congressional District, insurgent conservatives can gloat that amateur politician, and personality-deprived Doug Hoffman, almost defeated the Democrat, Bill Owens.  But Bill Owens is going to Washington, Hoffman goes back to accountancy.  And it isn't even tax time.

Second point about elections:  There are lessons, but they may not apply next year.  We certainly learned that Barack Obama's coattails have been neatly removed by the great electoral tailor known as the American people.  He tried desperately to help Jon Corzine in New Jersey, and, indeed, we'd expected a long count on election night.  It was over in a few hours, ending in a GOP triumph.  (We'd also expected cries of "fraud" from Republicans.  But, when you win, you don't have to cry anything.)

Third point:  There are no permanent victories.  Nothing looked sweeter to Dems a year ago than the Commonwealth of Virginia.  Now the Dems are secretly thinking that the state is back in "Gone With the Wind" days.  They probably expect to see Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable on the streets of Richmond.

Conditions will change over the next year.  Today the voters are angry, they aren't listening much to the wit and wisdom of Barack Obama, and the mainstream media can't tell them how to vote.  They may have taken a swing toward the exotic in the 2008 presidential election.  But last night they elected an evangelical Christian as governor of Virginia, and, in the heart of blue country, a disturbingly overweight basic Republic as governor New Jersey.

As the great political scientist, V.O. Key, once observed, the voters aren't idiots.

October 4,  2009