From Scott Sumner

In this election Romney destroyed Obama in West Virginia, winning by around 27 points, his biggest margin east of the Mississippi.  A swing of 42 points from the 1996 election.  And Romney didn’t just win West Virginia, he swept the entire Appalachian region.  Meanwhile Obama won Virginia for the second time in a row.

West Virginia symbolizes the future of the GOP, while Virginia symbolizes the future of the Democratic Party.  Which party has a brighter future?

PS.  Thank God for the voters of Colorado.  For the first time in American history a state voted to legalize marijuana, and not just “for medicinal purposes.”  Maybe I should retire there, instead of California.

The link is here.  Scott and I are both market liberals, and we both basically know that the GOP needs to start all over again.  That process could start with a recognition of demographics.  I don’t however expect our point of view to have any more influence in the short run.  Someone should elevate Reihan Salaam to something or other, as soon as possible.

GMOs won handily in California, a victory for science and common sense.  In how many races last night did “demonization” win?  Bad night for the demons, or good night perhaps, depending on your point of view.  Like Gideon Rachmann, I still think Romney would have been fine as a President, but the broader array of interest groups, to support the real Romney, comes from another time and place.  In any case America still has the most enviable set of problems in the world and let’s build on that.  Now that the election is over, maybe the quality of discourse in the blogosphere will rise a bit too.

I am looking forward to the year to come, and as always thank you all for reading.

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