Editorial: Vote matters locally, but won't change big picture

Voters go to the polls across the country on Tuesday, but be wary of experts who predict sweeping trends based on these mostly local races.

The highest stakes are in two states choosing governors: New Jersey and Virginia.

In New Jersey, the incumbent, Democrat John Corzine, is challenged by Republican Chris Christie. Neither one is very popular when the struggling New Jersey economy is the number one topic, which has encouraged a third-party candidate, Christopher J. Daggett.

In Virginia, the current governor can't run again because of term limits, so Republican Bob McDonnell is challenging Democrat R. Creigh Deeds, a state senator. Statewide elections in Virginia have long belonged to Republicans, but President Barack Obama won the state last year. Obama's political team has been unhappy with the Deeds campaign in Virginia and will blame the Democratic candidate if he loses.

Obama campaigned in both New Jersey and Virginia, but both races are more about people and issues close to home than about the president.

The race that generated the most national attention was in New York's rural and normally obscure 23rd Congressional District. The Republican candidate was attacked by more conservative national Republicans and dropped out of the race at the last minute. That leaves Conservative Party nominee Douglas L. Hoffman against the local Democrat, Bill Owens.

This local race in a historically Republican area quickened the pulse of pundits because it seems to be a proxy war between moderates and more conservative Republicans, such as Sarah Palin, over the future of the GOP. The debate inside the Republican Party will continue no matter who wins in New York.

There also are elections for state legislators, mayors and other local officials. Ballot issues include taxes, gay marriage in Maine, domestic partnerships in Washington, and whether to allow casinos in four Ohio cities.

These local contests are just a warm-up for the big mid-term elections on Nov. 2, 2010, when the balance of power in Congress could change. The real campaign begins now.