CNN iReport

Republicans are pointing to this past Tuesday’s gubernatorial victories in New Jersey and Virginia as evidence of the GOP’s ‘ascendancy’. Democrats are downplaying the losses as well as trumpeting a House victory in NY23- the first since the Civil War.

Contrary to the spin, the losses are not proof that the right-wing worm has turned and that the Obama Administration is now on a downward spiral to demise. The party of the governorship has traditionally flipped in opposition to the party of the President and exit polls showed that Obama is held in fairly high regard and was not a factor in voters’ decisions.

The flip side, of course, is that Obama did campaign heavily for Corzine and Deeds and failed to excite voters to turn out on their behalf. Whereas the defeats may not be attributed to Obama, he certainly didn’t propel the candidates to victory.

The fight for the vacant House seat in NY’s 23^rd District may illuminate future problems for both parties. The Republicans- bowing down in abeyance to the far-right, used Rovian dirty tricks to destroy their own moderate Dede Scozzafava, replacing her with Conservative Doug Hoffman. Instead of a Sarah Palin-endorsed victory, Democrat Bill Owens, took the race, with the help of Republican moderates and Independents. Bad news for Dems is that they greatly outnumber Republicans in the 23^rd, and didn’t show at the polls. Despite voter apathy, Owens won, but not as handily as he could have.

That same Democratic voter indifference was evident in New Jersey and Virginia, where the large turnouts that elected Barack Obama in 2008 were nowhere to be found in ’09.

The pitfall for the GOP in 2010 could be whether or not the internecine warfare among conservatives and moderates will have the latter group abandon the party, adding their voices and votes to the Democrats, while the problem awaiting Democrats may be crippling apathy, allowing the GOP to triumph unchallenged.