GOTTA TIE THE UNDERPERFORMANCE OF THE ECONOMY TO TAXES AND SPENDING:

'09 Exit Polls: Vast Economic Discontent Spells Trouble for Dems in 2010 (GARY LANGER, Nov. 3, 2009, ABC News)

Perhaps most striking – though simply confirmatory of national polls – were views on the economy. A vast 90 percent in New Jersey and 85 percent in Virginia said they're worried about the direction of the nation's economy in the next year; majorities, 55 percent and 53 percent, respectively, said they're "very" worried about it.

In Virginia, voters who expressed the highest levels of economic concern supported McDonnell by a very wide margin, 73-26 percent. Moreover, 46 percent called the economy the single top issue in their vote, far and away No.1, and those economy voters favored McDonnell over Deeds by a 10-point margin in preliminary results. (An additional 14 percent called taxes their top issue – and those voters went for McDonnell by a far broader margin.)

Deeds did better with young voters than with their elders, but in Virginia – as in the New Jersey gubernatorial race as well – the preliminary results indicated a sharp drop-off in turnout by voters under age 30 compared with 2008 and previous years.

Another, related factor in Virginia was an increase in turnout by conservatives, who accounted for 39 percent of voters in preliminary results, up from 33 percent in 2008.