Election Day 2013 tells us little about 2014 and even less about 2016
This was an election night that should have been sponsored by the Acela, Amtrak’s premium train running from Boston to Washington. This was politics Thirteen Original Colonies-style where most of the voters in key races live within an easy drive of the Atlantic Ocean. The obsession to find national meaning in the results is like betting the rent money on a crooked roulette wheel because it’s the only game in town.
The two governor’s races on the docket (New Jersey and Virginia) came out as expected, but less definitively than the pre-election buzz suggested. In Virginia, former national Democratic Party chairman Terry McAuliffe eked out a narrow win over state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in a vitriolic race that made many voters wish for a none-of-the-above line on the ballot. As a measure of disaffection, Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis picked up 7 percent of the vote and, according to exit polls, garnered 16 percent support among voters under 30.
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The truth is that there is no automatic formula for running for president. Christie — who defies every bland-is-better and svelte-is-swell dictum of modern politics — would be a formidable 2016 contender no matter what his victory margin was over Buono. Christie’s 2013 vote totals will be about the 812th most important factor that will determine whether the New Jersey governor corrals the 2016 Republican nomination.
http://news.yahoo.com/mcauliffe-christie-election-2013-2014-2016-new-jersey-virginia-obama-102709375.html
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It's driving me nuts. We shouldn't even be having this conversation for another year. Obsession, obsession, obsession.... 
