Outcome of Virginia and NJ Elections Tied to Health Care

This week's Wall Street Journal Report on Fox, underscores just how significant the upcoming elections in New Jersey and Virginia are in curtailing the Obama legislative agenda. Real Clear Politics average of recent polling data shows Christie with a 3.8 point lead over embattled incumbent John Corzine. Christie's lead has narrowed as the election draws nearer and as you will see from the following clip the White House has invested fully in the Corzine campaign:


Dan Balz reports in today's Washington Post, the race most likely to show a clear referendum on the Obama administration is the Virginia race:

Virginia may be a better barometer of the public mood than New Jersey, given the commonwealth's significance in Obama's election last year and the absence of an incumbent in the race. Although both races are focused largely on state issues, the New Jersey contest has been all about the embattled incumbent.

McDonnell maintains a 7.2 point lead over Creigh Deeds according to Real Clear Politics' average of polling data. Democrats seem willing to pull out all stops to assist the candidacy of Creigh Deeds. Red State reports efforts are underway to undercut the impact of military absentee ballots:

The Virginia State Board of Elections argued in their most recent filing that they have no legal obligation to send out military absentee ballots in a timely manner. Restated, the State of Virginia has argued in a federal court filing that they can legally send out absentee ballots to active duty soldiers the day before an election. Restated again, theDemocratic Chairwoman of the Virginia State Board of Election (appointed by the Democratic National Committee Chair Tim Kaine, in his capacity as Virginia Governor) Jean Cunningham just claimed a legal basis for massively raising the barrier to voting for soldiers at war.

Look for Democrats to pull out all the stops in these two important elections. Their importance to the Obama agenda cannot be overstated. As Kim Strassel noted in the video above, the administration has placed enormous significance on getting health care passed before these two elections take place. With clear majorities in both the House and the Senate, the outcome of these two races may be all that stands between success or failure to pass health care legislation.