In New York’s 23rd congressional district, it’s déjà vu all over again.

In all the stories about former GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava and why she pulled out the race, there has developed a certain meme as to why she did not win in a three way race: she was a bad candidate.

In more than a few blog posts not only from her detractors, but from those who say they want a more expanded GOP, this meme has stuck and it even has an image, one of Scozzafava going to campaign in front of conservative challenger Doug Hoffman’s headquarters surrounded by Hoffman supporters. For many this is proof positive that Scozzafava was a dunce, a weakling, an all around inferior candidate.

Tuesday’s elections results prove this point. The Republican candidates won the governorships of both NJ and VA because they carried the Independent voters in both states. The election was not about ideology, but about pragmatism. That is the lesson to be learned from the results.

President Barack Obama will wake up tomorrow, the one-year anniversary of his historic election, with bad news. Voters sent a strong message by (1) rejecting his political allies in Virginia, the swing state that helped deliver him the White House. This is the home state of Tim Kaine, who is the Democratic National Committee chairman and outgoing governor, and (2) the Democratic stronghold of New Jersey.

However, the Democrats did get a coup in one area: New York’s 23rd Congressional District, a Republican-leaning district (R+1, according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index). Bill Owens (Democratic Party candidate) beat Doug Hoffman (Conservative Party candidate), and so the Democrats picked up a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. As I’ve argued here before, it isn’t strategically wise for movement conservatives to be knocking moderate Republican candidates (as was done to Dede Scozzafava) out of races.

After all, New York is not Alabama.

Scozzafava has a few positions that are more liberal (on abortion and marriage equality) but most of her positions are, at best, moderate-to-conservative. More often than not, however, she is a conservative.

The reality is that you aren’t going to win NY-23 with a staunch progressive or a staunch conservative. McHugh has served the district well and is known as a moderate. That is why he was such a tough election foe. In order to serve the district, you have to be able to balance yourself.