Are the Republicans on the Rise?

November 4: two Republicans won the Governor's seat in states carried by President Obama in the presidential election. The results of these elections has generated different responses on both sides.

The Republican party says that these elections are proof that people have become disenchanted with the President's agenda. The fact that a Republican is going to the Virginia's Governor's Mansion for the first time in a decade is causing a lot of celebration, as it should. Are these elections, however, significant to a national trend?

Many Democrats says no. They say that this has little to do with the public's opinion of President Obama. The Democrats have cited the recent polls that show that Obama is still widely supported and insist that the elections do not change the president's agenda.

The fact is that as politicians, they are taking their stances to the extremes to promote their own ends. Both have merit in their arguments, but the elections are neither as significant as the Republicans claim, nor as insignificant as the Democrats claim. Obviously several people are becoming more disenchanted with the President's agenda. There is still a lot of controversy over his stance on Afghanistan (or lack there of) and his continuing struggle to remake the nation's health care system. Many people would also rather the government spend its efforts on the economy. Republicans are continuing to strike every element of Obama's policies, making people more wary of the government's actions.

The Republican's, however, are not giving Robert McDonnell the credit he deserves. He had a hard fought campaign and earned the votes of the people of Virginia. Virginia decided that McDonnell was the better candidate, and his own party is saying that he won more because of President Obama's faults than because of his effort. McDonnell promised to give the people what they wanted: more jobs, and a revitalized economy, something the Democrats (especially President Obama) would do well to notice.

Essentially, the elections show a lot. They show how desperate the Republican party is to jump and show that no one agrees with Obama, as well as the Democrats' desire to ignore that most people simply don't want what is being shoved down their throats. McDonnell won, and yes that has some to do with people disagreeing with the Democratic party, but it doesn't necessarily show a change in the national trend. The evidence for that will come with the midterm elections.