"Bloodbath...

...of a night for Democrats." That's what Politico called last Tuesday's election, as Peter Wehner details in this terrific post over at Contentions. To me, as I mentioned yesterday, perhaps the most important statistic is the Republican takeover at the state level:

• Republicans picked up 680 seats in state legislatures, the most in the modern era. In the 1994 GOP wave, Republicans picked up 472 seats. The previous record was in the post-Watergate election of 1974, when Democrats picked up 628 seats. The GOP gained majorities in at least 19 state house chambers. They now have unified control — meaning both chambers — of 26 state legislatures. And across the country, Republicans now control 55 chambers, Democrats have 38, and two are tied. (The Nebraska legislature is unicameral.)


• Republicans have not enjoyed this much power in state capitals since the 1920s.

This is rather amazing. A few years ago on this blog I was bemoaning the fact that the old Reaganite coalition had fallen apart and the future looked bleak for conservatism. Amazing what someone like Barack Obama can do. When it comes to reinvigorating the conservative movement, well, yes he can.