According to a new poll by Winthrop University, Southerners overwhelmingly support government programs to create jobs and assist cash-strapped states. With the unemployment rate at 10.2%, the highest rate since April 1983, Southerners, like all Americans, see the economy as their main worry. Southern Democrats strongly favor government-backed initiatives to spur economic growth, with 94.5% favoring such actions. Interestingly, 53.4% of Southern Republicans also support such actions.

Democratic Lt. Gov. John Garamendi is heading to Washington, D.C., today to be sworn into Congress after beating four other candidates in a special election to fill the Congressional seat vacated by Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Walnut Creek. ...Garamendi defeated Republican David Harmer in the 10th District by a wide margin, with Green Party candidate Jeremy Cloward, American Independent Jerome Denham and Peace and Freedom candidate Mary McIlroy even further behind. ...While conservatives sought to portray victories in gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday as a referendum on President Obama's administration and a harbinger of voter attitudes for the 2010 midterm elections, Garamendi's resounding victory kept the Bay Area Congressional delegation uniformly Democratic.

I appeared on CNN American Morning yesterday to discuss today's highest profile elections. You can watch the segment here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiqxDgb94TA - I tried to make the point that while these elections are important, and while the Democratic Party certainly has its problems right now, these contests do a better job of illustrating severe Republican weakness than anything else right now. Karl Rove and the Beltway Punditburo are busy trying to tell us all why the three big elections today - the Virginia gubernatorial, the New Jersey gubernatorial, and the New York special congressional election - are a referendum on President Obama and the progressive agenda, and a bellwether for future elections. While Chris is absolutely right in saying that the national Democratic Party clearly has some issues it needs to work through, the idea that these three races are big-time commentaries on progressivism itself is is just plain moronic - even for a Washington chattering class that is made up mostly of morons.