First of all, the reason TV pundits talk about off-year elections as referenda on the President is that it saves them (the pundits, not the Presidents) from having to actually spend time learning about the local issues that have the real impact on elections. When Jill Long beat Dan Heath in 1989 (for the Congressional seat formerly held by Dan Coats, when Coats was named Senator to replace Dan Quayle who spent four years a Heartbeat Away), it had to do with Republican dissatisfaction with Paul Helmke's annexation policies (not exactly a national issue) and the fact that Long ran a strong campaign. Regardless of whether you were disappointed that Bush had won the previous November, it was clear that Long's election was not a repudiation of Bush or Republicanism by the voters of the Indiana 4th Congressional District.
And so on to NY-23, where Democrat Bill Owens became the first non-Republican to be elected to Congress since, more or less, the Civil War.
I guess all it takes is a group of people to become so focused on ideology that they forget the reason we elect Members of Congress: to represent us in Washington.
Now that the Tea Party people realize that they can knock off a Republican but STILL lose an election, it will be interesting to see what happens next. (And by the way, Charlie Crist has the best hair in American politics, no question.)
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