Barbour touts election success for GOP

This week’s elections were a wake-up call that the American people
disagree with the Democrats’ agenda, Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Miss.) said Saturday.

Barbour, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association (RGA), touted his party’s victories in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections.

{mosads}”Virginia and New Jersey elected new governors Tuesday, and in both cases, voters chose Republican governors to succeed the Democrats elected four years ago. Both are states that President Obama carried by large margins last year,” Barbour said in the weekly GOP address.

“Independents, most of whom voted for President Barack Obama only a year ago, are concerned where his policies are taking our country,” he added.

Democrats have pointed to the congressional special election they won in upstate New York on Tuesday, arguing that House races turn more on national issues than gubernatorial races.

But Barbour said the elections show that independents aren’t happy with the administration’s record on job creation and proposed healthcare reform.

Emphasizing that the unemployment rate is inching upward and arguing that healthcare reform would cost even more jobs, Barbour said the election should stand as a referendum on Democrats.

“Isn’t it easy to see why Americans sent that wake-up call on Tuesday?” he said.

Barbour said the Democrats’ healthcare bill should be scrapped, and lawmakers should start over on a more bipartisan approach.

Barbour will appear on “Meet The Press” Sunday to comment on the election results.