Sarah Palin and Dick Armey combined Tuesday to do what no one has done in 138 years. Their little teabagging bullshit put a Democrat in New York’s 23rd Congressional seat.

Doug Hoffman, the corporate backed teabagger who doesn’t even live in the 23rd district, went down in flames. Bill Owens, endorsed by the Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, who withdrew when the right wing whackos went after her with a vengeance, will fill the vacant seat that has gone Republican, until tonight, since 1872.

Way to go, Sarah. Pity you didn’t go campaign for Bob “women have no business in the work place” McDonnell in Virginia or Chris “I am not a crook” Christie in New Jersey.

But at least those races have no real national significance.  Voters don’t think about how they feel about a president went voting for the governor of their state, no matter how many times my colleagues say they do. They think about their state and whether or not they like what’s going on, or, in the case of Virginia, whether they want a Blue Dog Democrat like Creigh Deeds or a real Republican like McDonnell. How many progressives stayed home Tuesday for this one, not seeing any difference in the candidates?

Trying to make two governors’ races out to be some kind of big referendum on the administration is kinda like me saying that my little city electing two musicians and an actor to city council means we want more funding for the arts. We do, but that’s not why we voted those three in.

But a Congressional race, my, but that does have some national significance. Congresscritters vote on national matters up there in Congress. And there’s an awful lot of really important matters up for consideration these days. So for a Democrat to defeat a teabagger in what has been up until now a solidly conservative district, well, that’s a pretty big deal.

And it wasn’t just any Republican who lost this one. In fact, it wasn’t a Republican at all since she withdrew from the race. Hoffman was the candidate of the Conservative Party, which pretty much makes a mockery of the word “conservative.” Palin and Armey, and Newt Gingrich, who had initially endorsed Scozzafava, threw their weight into the race in favor of lunacy. They lost. What say you now, Rush Limbaugh?

Limbaugh made a huge deal out of supporting Hoffman, because, you see, Scozzafava had some “liberal” ideas about some social issues. And we all know that being a Republican these days means you disagree with the Democrats on everything. And not only do you disagree, but you must vehemently oppose everything and do whatever possible, legal or not, moral or not, to obstruct it.

But looks like the people of NY23 don’t go in for that sort of thing. It’s a close race, to be sure, but we all know about close races after close races in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections: If you don’t vote for the winner, you just don’t count. Or does that rule only come into play when Republicans win?

Owens, to be sure, is a Blue Dog. He opposes the public option. But my god he’s better than any candidate endorsed by the trifecta of crazy.

The Republican Party needs to take a long hard look at itself now and decide who they want to be. Limbaugh, Palin and Armey? Chasing moderates like Scozzafava out will put ‘em right there. Didn’t work so well in NY23, now did it? Looks like the GOP is really gonna end up a regional party, and unfortunately that region is my native south. Some of my southern colleagues are just a little slow on the uptake and can’t take a hint until it’s too damn late.

Meanwhile, Kalamazoo, Michigan, now bans discrimination in housing, public accommodation and employment based on sexual orientation. Maine is currently falling the wrong way on same-sex marriage, but Washington appears poised to grant everything but actual marriage to same sex couples. And Maine did approve medical marijuana.

In North Carolina, where they have a congresscritter who thinks that health care reform is worse than terrorism, Chapel Hill got a gay mayor. And in Texas, where the governor thinks secession is a good idea, Houston may have a lesbian mayor — she’s in a run-off after leading the vote over three other candidates.

And still, the big story according to my beloved colleagues, is that GOP wins in Virginia and New Jersey mean the party has sprung back to life. I beg to differ. Right now the GOP doesn’t know its ass from a hole in the ground, and quite often I think the same is true of my colleagues.

So when you hear that Corzine’s loss in New Jersey is a big giant wake up call to the president, consider the source. Here’s what Tuesday’s elections really mean:

Being a Blue Dog in the south is useless. The progressives won’t come out and vote for you because they don’t see any reason to waste the time. Presiding over an economic mess will cost you an election. Being a Blue Dog in the north is still better than being a right wing lunatic. Millions of dollars from religious organizations lying about what same-sex marriage will do still trumps the truth.  The Pacific Northwest is pretty darn liberal, and, surprisingly, so is Kalamazoo.

Oh, and by the way — the special Congressional election in California went to Democrat John Garamendi.