Should Democrats be worried about the growing momentum of the Republican Party?

For an Odd-Year Election, this sure has manifested into one fascinating and dynamic November. In recent weeks, it seems campaigns have been setting the mood for just about every issue. Even at the international level it has been the news of Former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah’s withdrawal from next week’s run-off election that has shaken the Obama Administration’s hopes of a legitimate government ally in the war torn region. His war strategy forced into review, the Administration has been equally engrossed in three state races whose outcomes will dramatically alter the predicted political outcomes of the 2010 Election. As statewide candidates such as those vying for Colorado’s 2010 Gubernatorial and Senate seats modify their campaign platforms much attention is being paid to this year’s local election trends.

Sending shock waves through the political community on Saturday afternoon, Republican Congressional Candidate, Dede Scozzafava, withdrew from New York’s 23rd Congressional Race. Of little surprise, Scozzafava made the news again on Sunday with her endorsement of Democrat Bill Owens over Conservative contender, Doug Hoffman, the candidate behind whom the GOP has since officially thrown their support. Having outraged some in the Republican camp, Scozzafava’s endorsement of Owens over Hoffman serves only to highlight her true Leftist leanings. In truth, if her endorsement of Owens weren’t enough, Obama advisor Valery Jarrett’s statement that the administration “would love to have her support,” ought to be. Moreover, the surge of political activism that forced Scozzafava from the race should inspire conservative-minded voters the country round. In the war for the heart of the Republican Party, grassroots activists have won this battle. While a great many Scozzafava supporters have drifted into the “undecided” category since the candidate’s Saturday withdrawal, additional Hoffman support has been precisely enough to shift the Conservative contender into the lead. And New York isn’t the only battleground politicos have been closely following. In conjunction with the extreme likelihood that Virginia will elect its first Republican Governor in eight years, New Jersey’s Jon CorzineJon Corzine’s potential defeat will almost certainly send an alarming message to every office-holding Democrat facing a 2010 re-election bid.

Incumbent Jon Corzine remains engrossed in a nerve-racking battle against his Republican rival Chris Christie and the national implications of the state race are profound. Hoffman’s successful ousting of Scozzafava was a matter of internal GOP politics. Christie’s potential New Jersey victory, on the other hand, will have much more far reaching implications. A GOP win in the State of New Jersey would effectively obliterate Democratic confidences in the future of their current political strongholds. For that reason, political tensions inside the Garden State have grown to an all-time high in recent weeks. Fundraising events welcoming everyone from Vice President Biden to Former President Bill Clinton to President Obama himself have propped the New Jersey Race to the peak of the political itinerary for most of the nation’s heavy hitters.

Characteristically a locally centric election year, 2009’s Odd Year Election has evolved into something of a 2010 looking glass. With the Republican Party zealously searching for redefinition, party leaders are eager for this evening’s election results. Here in Colorado’s Jefferson County, a growing cohesion amongst Republican voters can be seen in the electorate’s intensified pursuit of candidate affiliations in local races otherwise considered non-partisan. Tea Party activism both in August as well as this past week in New York is now being viewed as a clear message to both the Republican Party and to the President. The American People are ready for fiscal responsibility; potentially the sort inherent in traditional conservative values. To that end, it seems whichever candidates are least likely to follow in the Obama Administration’s footsteps will be the candidates more likely to win voter favor n 2010. President Obama is well aware of the national implications of todays’s election results. If the Republican Party desires victory in 2010 it too had better grasp those implications. The American people are ready for an unapologetic message of fiscal discipline and small government. Save but a small number of races where moderate candidates might be the Republican Party’s only hope, the GOP will be wise to pay special attention this evening’s election results.