Spin Watch: Which Party Is Framing Election Results Better?

There’s nothing more characteristically Washington than a heaping helping of spin the morning after an election. It makes sense: both parties have face to save or unearned points to claim. It turns out that the weeks both parties spent trying to attach national significance to several regional elections has made for some pretty good spin.

Now, before we go to the tape, keep in mind several constants here. For one, both parties are looking at the same election results. That is, victories for the GOP in Virginia and New Jersey and a Dem win in a single, yet spotlighted, congressional district in upstate New York. And secondly, for the sake of consistency, we pulled the statements of both de facto party leaders, DNC head Tim Kaine and RNC Chairman Michael Steele—both of whom hold the same position in their parities and, we can reasonably speculate, would probably swap statements if the results were reversed.

That said, let’s start with the GOP’s Steele, who seems to go all-in on the Obama referenda implication, even though his party sang the exact opposite tune in 2001 after it was the victim of unfavorable election results:

“The Republican Party’s overwhelming victory in Virginia is a blow to President Obama and the Democrat Party.” And later on: “In a state [New Jersey] that overwhelmingly voted in favor of President Obama, this stunning defeat of Corzine sends a clear message to Democrats across the country. Americans have grown sick and tired of big government and reckless spending, and this vote is a sound rejection of the far-left policies that are hurting our nation.”

And how does Kaine respond? Well, by completely glossing over the fact that his party lost two races that it reasonably could have—and, some would say, should have—won, chalking it up to a historical impossibility:

"In both Virginia and New Jersey we had strong candidates who were running against a significant historical tide and faced uphill battles from the start of this campaign. In New Jersey, the party in power in the White House hasn't won the governor's office since 1985, and the party in power in the White House hasn't won the governor's office in Virginia since 1977. It would have been historic, if not unprecedented, to win one or both of these races, given historical trends.

So who wins here? The way we slice it, both do an impressive job of emphasizing and downplaying exactly what they want people to remember—and forget. But really, neither is trying too hard to play coy, which makes both pretty transparent, and thus rather cringe-worthy. We’re going to call it a draw. If you see it differently, let us know in the comments below.