It was a bad night for Democrats and a winning one for Republicans, as the GOP easily won two U.S. House special elections, including an upset victory in New York City that delivered the seat of ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY).
"New Yorkers have delivered a strong warning to the Democrats who control the levers of power in our federal government," said Speaker John Boehner.
"It’s time to scrap the failed ‘stimulus’ agenda and the misguided policies on Israel and focus on getting America back to creating jobs again," Boehner added in a statement.
As is customary for special elections, the losing downplayed their import.
“The results in NY-09 are not reflective of what will happen in November 2012," said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committe chief Rep. Stephen Israel, who is also from New York.
Back in May, the political shoes were on the other foot, as Democrats won an upset in upstate New York, and crowed loudly about how it was a rejection of GOP plans to cut Medicare, while Republicans said it was a localized election abberation.
Whether last night's results are a harbinger of more GOP gains is not clear right now, but it certainly dovetails with recent polling showing lower job approval numbers for President Obama.
And that has Democrats wondering and Republicans licking their chops over the possibilities for the 2012 elections.
The other special election for Congress that went for the GOP was out in Nevada, where Republicans held on to a seat that Democrats had talked about winning just a few months ago.
But Democrats didn't come close, losing 58-36% - and more importantly - they weren't competitive in Washoe County around Reno, where Democrats had hoped to do very well.
It immediately raised questions about Democratic hopes in a U.S. Senate race in Nevada next year, as Rep. Shelley Berkeley (D) takes on newly appointed Sen. Dean Heller (R) - Democrats had been talking big about winning that, but these results certainly show some weakness.
Can that all be laid at the feet of the President and his own troubles in dealing with the economy? It's a solid question to ask - we just won't know the answer until next November.
We should remind ourselves that there is still over a year to go until the next elections, but for Republicans, they clearly hope 2012 is like September 13, 2011.
