In an appearance on MSNBC earlier today, Senior White House Adviser David Axelrod called the NY-23 special election -- in which a Democrat beat a Conservative Party candidate after the moderate Republican nominee dropped out and supported the Democrat in the wake of prominent Republicans defecting to the Conservative -- "a great referendum on national issues." Axelrod also downplayed the importance of big GOP wins in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections yesterday.

Axelrod first emphasized the importance of the Democrats' win in the NY-23 race. Whereas the New Jersey race was "a referendum on the incumbent" largely "based on local issues," NY-23 was the only race "where national issues were really at play."

"Conservative Republicans, Governor Palin and others, came and purged a moderate Republican candidate, essentially replaced [her] with a conservative candidate, and they lost the seat." This marks the first time in 140 years that a Democrat has won that seat, and "I think there is a harbinger there," said Axelrod.

He also downplayed the significance of New Jersey and Virginia exit polls, which showed that support for Obama among Independents has dropped. He attributed this to low turnout, and said that "fewer people are identifying themselves as Republicans today," but are instead identifying as Independents that "still behave like Republicans" in races like these.

Axelrod was similarly unfazed by what these outcomes mean for 2010: "When we campaign on a positive progressive platform," Democratic candidates are "going to do very well, even in hardcore Republican territory."

He concluded: "I sure wouldn't draw too many conclusions from two state-wide races with their own unique sets of circumstances."