In what appears to be a bad sign for Republicans, Rick Santorum seems to be avoiding President Bush:

When President Bush touches down in Wilkes-Barre to talk about the war on terrorism Friday, the Senate's No. 3 Republican - the vulnerable Rick Santorum - will be 116 miles away in Philadelphia addressing the American Legion.

Unavoidable scheduling conflict, Santorum's office says.

As the GOP loss in the Virginia governor's race Tuesday showed, however, it might also be a blessing to be in a different media market when Bush and his rock-bottom approval ratings come to your state.

It shouldn't be forgotten that Republican infighting was at an all time high just before this election, with the Harriet Miers nomination being the last straw for many Republicans. (The appearance of corruption inherent in the Libby indictment -- coming right on top of the Miers flap and the fake Katrina "scandal" -- probably caused the existing Republican infection to burst open and toxify the minds of the general voting public, who dislike voting for the sick, the moribund, or the corrupt.)

I'm so used to being cynical and disappointed that I barely noticed, and I think it just goes with the turf of being a libertarian Republican. I just voted for the Republicans on Tuesday, and all that entitles me to is to have the label of "RINO" thrown at me by "real conservatives," and "conservative" thrown at me by liberals. If I registered and voted Democrat with my views, I'd be equally (if not more) suspect.

But that's just me. The election results in general don't seem to say as much as the screaming headlines would indicate. The New Jersey results mean nothing, as Republicans cannot win there -- any more than in Massachusetts. Virginia, however, is supposed to drive fear into the hearts of Republican powerbrokers. What the reasons are, I'm not sure. James Joyner calls the "ominous harbinger" theory "nonsense," and offers an excellent analysis with lots of links, with a reminder that this is the second time in four years that voters have chosen a Democratic governor, which should surprise no one because of Virginia's increasingly Democratic demographics. In short, people are probably reading too much into this.

Santorum's display of fear (if in fact that is what it is) reminds me of the way some Democrats shunned Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal. As it turned out, the voters didn't much care. If anything, there was a pro-Clinton backlash.

But then, Clinton was a master at spinning disadvantages into advantages.

I remember when Rove used to be pretty good at the same thing.