The Sunshine Empire

When you follow politics and the political world, the narratives begin to become predictable. Last night the special election for the seat left vacant by the death of Representative John Murtha was a perfect example of such. Murtha was a former Marine and Democratic representative of a very conservative Pennsylvania congressional district. If Republicans hope to recapture the House Of Representatives this fall, the conservative PA-12 district is the kind of seat they need to be winning away from the Democrats.

Now, if the Republicans had captured the PA-12 seat away from the Democrats the narrative would have been an easy one. Taking the seat that was once a lock for staunch Pelosi ally Murtha would have been proof of the impending Republican wave, and make a Republican House an inevitability. Yet it was the Democrat that again won a special house election, and the narrative was equally clear before the concession speech was written. With a win in an overwhelmingly conservative district that voted for McCain in 2008, Democrats have proven that the Republican wave is a myth. President Obama does have a 33% approval rating in the district but the truth is somewhere in the middle of these two narratives.