I see. So the six recalls they pursued were against Republicans in safe GOP seats, they left the Republicans in swing districts alone.
That's a really smart strategy.
No, although that is what they want you to believe. Every one of these senators was in a district that Obama carried by significant margins in 2008. They assumed there were enough Dems and independents to make the difference.
If you look at the 2 seats they actually did win back, in one district, Obama carried the 2008 vote by over 20%. In the other district, the GOP senator was recently caught cheating on his wife with a 20-something staffer. While that would not be a negative for a Dem, GOP voters have a higher moral standard, and voted him out (but only by 1100 votes). Also, this district was made more GOP friendly in the recent redistricting, so the GOP will get it back in 2012.
Au contraire. All of these Republicans up for re-election yesteday were in iffy Districts. All were in districts that elected Obama in 2008 (except — perhaps — Alberta). Since Alberta Darling’s district combines several Assembly districts, some of her district went for Obama and a small part elected McCain!