DON'T FORGET THE OTHER RACES – AT 9:02 A.M. ET:  In a presidential year we sometimes forget the other races.  And, for some reason, governorships become minor items in some reporting.

But governorships are critical.  The states are great laboratories for developing domestic policies.  And running a state has proved to be fine experience for presidential candidates. 

Even the AP concedes that Republicans will do well in gubernatorial races next week:

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Republicans are in position to extend their recent gains among governors as they compete for seats they haven’t won in a quarter-century.

Of the 11 states with gubernatorial elections in November, eight are now led by Democrats, and each of the most competitive races is a GOP pickup opportunity. The numbers suggests that Republicans soon will claim 30 to 33 governorships after holding just 22 a few years ago — an advantage not reflected in the divided Congress or competitive presidential race.

“It says that when people are choosing the government closest to the people, they’re choosing Republicans,” Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, said in an interview. “They realize the CEO of the state has got to be someone who’s fiscally conservative and is going to focus on jobs.”

North Carolina, the most likely state to flip, is trending toward a Republican governor for the first time since 1988. In Washington state, which hasn’t chosen a GOP governor in more than three decades, new polls show a toss-up.

COMMENT:  I like the idea of our side controlling state machinery.  And Scott Walker's spectacular work in Wisconsin shows what a true competent conservative can do.  Ditto for Mitch Daniels in Indiana.  And then, of course, there's Democratic Illinois, bordering both Wisconsin and Indiana.  A mess.  A supreme mess.  Going under fast.  Maybe voters around the country are getting the message.

October 30, 2012