While Republicans continue holding up the governor races in Virginia and New Jersey as evidence of some sort of revitalization, other indicators have been overlooked – ones that show the Republicans, and the tea party movement in general, are not doing too well.

Remember back on Labor Day when there was a huge tea party rally here in Ohio? This happened in the heart of the reddest corner of the state of Ohio, and it’s an area you surely would think has become a teabagger Mecca. Well don’t be so quick on that:

The reign of the anti-school tax activists on area school boards was a short one.

One four-year term – starting with their taking office in January 2006 – and now voters decided last week that some of the region’s highest profile activist board members are out.

Their one-and-done political trend was mainly focused in Greater Cincinnati’s northern suburban districts, where four years ago an anti-school tax movement had grown to win enough voters to put like-minded candidates on the governing boards of a handful of Butler and Warren county school systems.

Fairfield School Board incumbent Arnie Engel, who tried four times to get elected to Fairfield Schools governing board before finally winning in fall 2005, this time finished a distant fourth in the race for three open seats.

In Warren County’s Mason School Board race, self-proclaimed “Christian conservative” incumbent Jennifer Miller ended up fifth out of eight candidates vying for three seats.

In the Monroe school board race, fiscal conservative Mike Irwin lost his re-election bid, finishing dead last among five candidates.

Everyone of those school districts actually outline where that tea party was held. If all politics are still local, then news like this actually shows that the Republicans have a much tougher battle ahead than they are thinking