Pat Dollard

Both articles courtesy of Poltico:

Hours after urging reporters not to draw sweeping conclusions from Tuesday’s gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told POLITICO President Barack Obama wasn’t even keeping an eye on the results.

“He’s not watching returns,” Gibbs said.

The Obama administration and other top Democrats have consistently tried to play down the import of this week’s contests, which Republicans have sought to portray as a referendum on the Democratic-led government in Washington.

In Tuesday’s White House press briefing, Gibbs dismissed suggestions that the two governor’s races and a special election in upstate New York could be a preview of the 2010 congressional midterms.

“I don’t think, looking at the two gubernatorial races, you can draw with any great insight what’s going to happen a year from now,” he said.

But while Obama may not have been following Tuesday’s returns, he and Vice President Joe Biden campaigned repeatedly for candidates in all three of the night’s key races.

As recently as Sunday, Obama stumped in New Jersey for incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine, who has struggled in an uphill battle for reelection against former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, a Republican.

On Monday, Biden visited New York’s 23rd congressional district to appear at an event for Democratic congressional candidate Bill Owens, who was running against Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman.

Both Obama and Biden made stops in Virginia for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds, but the White House had expressed frustration in recent weeks at the state senator’s performance on the campaign trail. Deeds conceded defeat to Republican Bob McDonnell, a former Virginia attorney general, early in the evening.

And Pelosi:

Most House Democrats tried to put a good face on Tuesday’s election results, saying they picked up two more votes for a sweeping health care bill that could be on the floor as early as Friday.

But it can’t make it any easier for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as she works to corral the last holdouts she needs to pass legislation overhauling the nation’s health care system.

Of course, the speaker, who told POLITICO recently she’s “not big on showing weakness,” brushed aside questions about how the Democratic gubernatorial losses in Virginia and New Jersey would impact her final tally and instead trumpeted the two special election House wins.

“From our perspective, we won last night,” the California Democrat told reporters during a Wednesday photo op. “We had one race that we were engaged in, it was in northern New York, it was a race where a Republican has held the seat since the Civil War. And we won that seat. So, from our standpoint, no, a candidate was victorious who supports health care reform, and his remarks last night said this was a victory for health care reform and other initiatives for the American people.”

“From our standpoint, we picked up votes last night,” a cheerful Pelosi said, “one in California and one in New York.”