If All Politics Are Local . . .

There was an election in my small neck of the southern backwoods the other day. It is a purplish area that leans mildly to the right. We have perennially had Democrats on our county commission, and the occasional Democrat mayor. And the Democrats on our Commission have not done a bad job. I have been generally pleased with the local government.

Usually, in local elections, once when gets elected to the commission, its is a virtual certainty that they will retain the seat for a long time, at least unless they do something stupid and end up on the scandal sheet in the local dinosaur media. Even in tough times, incumbents have a very strong advantage.

Not this year. Republicans just swept the field. They won the mayor's spot and unseated the three Democrat incumbents on the county commission. One of those unseated was in my very small District, where we elected a black Republican to unseat a multi-term Democratic incumbent.

The people in my county are on the warpath. They are hunting anyone with a D next to their name. There is no doubt in my mind that this was not so much a local election as it was a referendum on our national political leadership. This of course does not mean anything for the rest of America, but I will be surprised if this does not play out similarly on a nation-wide scale come November. The Dems have every right to be scared.