“Obviously, we’re disappointed in the outcome of key legislative races. But we’re not surprised given Sen. John McCain’s unusually muscular performance in Tennessee. At first glance, his 15-point win here appears to be the strongest since President George Bush won over Michael Dukakis in 1988. For Democrats running in otherwise competitive legislative races, that level of inertia was tough to overcome.
“Regardless, there were silver linings. We’re proud of candidates like newly elected state Rep. Ty Cobb, who won a decisive victory over his Republican opponent in Columbia. And we look forward to great things in the future from candidates like Nathan Vaughn, who came just 326 votes shy of winning re-election in a county that McCain carried by more than 26,000. And Roger Byrge, who came within 400 votes of claiming a Republican seat in a district that McCain carried by more than 7,000. Our Party has a deep bench of talent. Now, we need to spend time working in the off-season figuring out how to convert those almost-wins into real victories in 2010. Make no mistake: The race to take back the House and Senate begins today.”
