ROGER SIMON: Some Thoughts on the Governors’ Races: Round One to the Good Guys.

To lose the gubernatorial race in blue Virginia, even if it was a squeaker, and have even bluer New Jersey—of all places—be competitive and unresolved on the morning after the election was a clear disaster for the Democratic Party and an augury of an even greater disaster in 2022.

Campaign visits by Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, and the president obviously didn’t help oily Clintonista Terry McAuliffe—and may actually have hurt him.

All seemed like last year’s news at best. Time for Obama to go back to one of his multimillion-dollar homes and complain about global warming.

Another big loser was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) (and, with her, the Democrats’ “progressive”—should always be in quotes—wing) who got shuffled off in Buffalo for supporting an ultra-leftie police hater who lost to a write-in candidate, again of all things.

Strangely enough, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) may emerge as the new leader of a reviving Democratic Party, if it can shirk its reactionary left wing that seems so ridiculously old-fashioned—without realizing it, of course—in their search for “progressivism.” (There’s nothing so old as the avant-garde, as the expression goes.)

The biggest “atta-girl” of the night goes to Virginia lieutenant governor winner and Marine veteran Winsome Sears who started “USA, USA” cheers during her victory speech. (Maybe this will actually wake up some of the Marine brass that have become so “woke” these days, you want to send them back down the halls of Montezuma, never to return.)

Man-of-the-hour Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin obviously also deserves an “atta-boy,” for coming out of nowhere and becoming our new “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” excuse me … Richmond.

Don’t get cocky, but: NY Times: Democrats face a grim future, ‘the red wave is coming.’