There are a few things I didn't get to in last night's posting on the election. First is Alex Sink's loss in the Florida gubernatorial race. That contest -- against Republican Rick Scott -- was extremely close, with neither candidate winning a majority. The black turnout promised by the Meek campaign wasn't as strong as hoped, and Sink suffered for it.
More significant, in terms of the broader picture at least, is the fact that the 112th Congress will see two black Republicans in the House of Representatives. Florida's Allen West and South Carolina's Tim Scott will be the first African Americans to serve in the Republican caucus since J.C. Watts retired in 2002. It remains to be seen whether they picked up support from local African American communities, but my guess is that they didn't, since black people aren't pure identity voters and don't support politicians with policies they oppose. Still, with West and Scott in the House, the GOP now has its largest African American "caucus" since Reconstruction ended in 1877.
-- Jamelle Bouie
