George Harris Kansas City Star Reader Advisory Panel 2008

There may be a tendency to over analyze Tuesday’s election results or to extrapolate too far from any given outcome. But what the heck.

In gubernatorial contests, victories by Republicans in Virginia (Bob McDonnell) and New Jersey (Chris Christie) over Democrats could be seen as a referendum on President Barack Obama .

But the president’s approval ratings in both states remain above 50%, and exit polls indicate that the majority of voters said they were not influenced one way or the other by the president with respect to their gubernatorial choice.

Polls also showed that minority and youth voters did not turn out in the same numbers in the Virginia and New Jersey elections as they did for the last presidential election. At least it can be said that the vaunted Obama machine can’t pull the lever and get voters to the poll in just any old election.

In Virginia, McDonnell ran a strong campaign based on economic issues. His challenger Creigh Deeds went negative, blasting McDonnell for his masters degree thesis in which he proposed that tax incentives should be given to married couples (a male and a female) and not to “fornicators.”

Might not have been a good move for Deeds in a state that probably doesn’t like fornicators much.

In New Jersey incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine was widely seen as a Wall Street fat cat because, well, he is a Wall Street fat cat. Wall Street fat cats aren’t very popular these days, especially one who has failed to use his alleged economic skills to help his constituents. The president tried to convince voters Corzine was an ally who could help turn the economy around. No sale.

Corzine also went negative, ridiculing Christie for being fat. Probably not a good move when obese people approach being a majority in almost every state in the country.

Lesson to be learned? if you’re going negative, try not to insult the voters.

The race in upstate New York’s 23rd Congressional district was a doozy. Democrat Bill Owens won over Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman after the Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava was forced out, a result of Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Hoffman.

This result could be interpreted as an indication that Palin has limited influence on voters. But Hoffman didn’t even live in the 23rd district, and his social and political skills appeared deficient.

The rather narrow margin of victory for the Democrat hardly disgraces either Palin or a Conservative candidacy. But the result also shouldn't give Conservatives much confidence, unless their candidate is strong on economic issues, such as debt reduction.

The 23rd is a generally Republican district, and Conservatives who want to win need to find better candidates than Hoffman. See results in Virginia and New Jersey for reference.

A Democrat won a traditionally Democratic seat in California, so no surprise there.

Net result: Two Democrats to Congress. Two Republicans to the Governors’ mansions in eastern states with economic woes. No knockouts, no TKO’s.

Lessons: Voters are angry at Wall Street greed and government deficits. Candidates who do negative campaigning really need to avoid insulting voters. Neither Barack Obama nor Sarah Palin can control a local election. And if you're running for office, live in the district you want to represent.