Republicans are crowing after winning not one, but two, special elections Tuesday night. Their win in Nevada was predictable — one Republican simply replaced another. New York’s election to replace disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner, however, is an entirely different story. A Democrat has represented the district since the 1920s and President Obama carried it in 2008 with 55 percent of the vote, but Republican Bob Turner, a retired cable television executive and political novice, took it away by a margin of eight points. 

“Tonight the voters overwhelmingly rejected the Obama agenda,” tweeted Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus.

David Bositis, a political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, said that voters were sending a message that they’re angry and scared about the nation’s economic climate and want Washington to do something about it.

“In the long term, however, it doesn’t mean anything with regard to Obama’s re-election prospects. Whether he wins or loses next year will depend on who the Republicans nominate and how the economy is doing,” he said. “I have no doubt Obama’s team is very concerned, simply because the economy is still on a razor’s edge and everybody’s worried about it.”

(Photo: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)