Tuesday's impressive wins by new governors Tim Kaine in Virginia and Jon Corzine in New Jersey will be attributed to many different factors.  Some will say that they ran good campaigns.  Others will suggest that Corzine scored points through some of his votes in the Senate, such as his vote against the bankruptcy bill.  And still others will make good observations that both of them are trustworthy, quality individuals who know how to address an audience.

I have a slightly simpler take on Tuesday's overwhelmingly positive results - and to understand it, we must start just over three years ago, when this election season really began.

Sept. 12, 2002: "Al Qaeda terrorists escaped from Afghanistan and are known to be in Iraq."