Democrats Lose Grip on Gut-Level Issues in Tuesday s Elections – WSJ

There will be a lot of sophisticated analysis of Tuesday s election results, but the most important takeaway may be the simplest.

In their totality, Tuesday s election results suggest Democrats are suffering because they ve lost control of two issues of gut-level importance to voters: education and public safety. That lesson blares out from the results not just in the key gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, but also in places as disparate as Minneapolis, Buffalo, N.Y., Seattle and New York City.

In an era where culture wars often best policy debates in driving voters, those topics represent a new cutting edge. Republicans are taking advantage, and the Democrats progressive wing is feeling the pain.

via www.wsj.com