Andra Gillespie is a political science professor who specializes in issues of politics and race, and is a regular contributor to POLITICO’s “The Arena” blog.

1) Does the House passing its version of health-care reform mitigate arguments that last Tuesday’s elections represented a blow for the national Democratic Party?

So many people want to use Tuesday’s races to divine lessons for national politics, but I caution everyone from reading much into Tuesday’s results. Those races, especially the gubernatorial races, were decided by local more than national factors. For that reason, it is hard to draw a link between Tuesday’s results and Saturday night’s vote, except to note that Bill Owens of New York’s 23rd Congressional District was sworn in in time to vote for health-care reform. That gave the pro-health-care reform cadre a two-vote cushion (over the 218 votes required for a majority) on Saturday night.

2) Particular attention was paid to the gubernatorial race in New Jersey, as that state traditionally leans heavily Democratic. Were any national issues a significant factor in that contest?

The economy definitely played a role in this election, but it got filtered through Jon Corzine’s personal story. The state of the economy was New Jersey voters’ chief concern. Unfortunately for Jon Corzine, his history as a former Chairman of Goldman Sachs did not serve him well in this election. Corzine won office in 2005 promising to use his business know-how to lower property taxes, clean up corruption, and run the state more efficiently. He failed on all three accounts. Though Chris Christie ran on a general “I’m not Corzine” platform, he at least could boast about having thrown dozens of corrupt New Jersey politicians in jail as U.S. attorney.

3) Are Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell fair examples of the candidates Republicans should be running in future elections?

Christie and McDonnell don’t represent a special type of Republican. They both benefitted from local conditions that favored the party out of control in their states. As I mentioned earlier, Corzine was deeply unpopular in New Jersey and had not delivered on key promises. Creigh Deeds ran a very poor campaign in Virginia. His biggest mistake was to try to paint McDonnell as some right wing nut without presenting his own platform. If there were any similarities between the two candidates, it’s that both candidates are genuine conservatives who presented themselves as pragmatic. It’s a strategy that works well on both sides of the aisle, especially in Virginia, where Mark Warner and Tim Kaine both became governor by using the same frame.

4) Just how significant a victory was Saturday’s vote for President Obama?

It is a huge victory. Obama has pushed health-care reform farther than any president. While Obama will still pay a heavy political price if the reform ultimately fails, but he will get credit for pushing this issue farther than any president. Even at this point, he has done more for healthcare reform than Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Truman or Bill Clinton.

5) Do you think his approach of allowing Congress to shape the initial legislation has been vindicated thus far?

No. Obama’s job approval ratings have continued to slide, and he still has a leadership credibility issue. He needs to find a way to let Congress take ownership of his agenda, but he really has to provide more guidance and direction on the front end, or he will lose an important future battle.

6) How did demonstrations like last week’s protests impact the process, if at all?

These grassroots events have galvanized the Republican Party rank-and-file and given them a clear issue platform to articulate. Ten months ago, pundits were dismissing the GOP as the “Party of No” and no ideas. However, opposition to healthcare reform on big government and budget deficit grounds does give them something around which to mobilize. I would expect the Republicans (both their leadership and the rank-and-file) to become bolder and more articulate in their opposition.

7) How does the level of opposition/vitriol aimed at Obama compare to critiques of Bill Clinton or George W. Bush?

We are more sensitive to the vitriol aimed at Obama because he is black and race appears to be the subtext of some of the attacks. That is the only difference between Obama and the last two presidents. However, things got nasty for Clinton and Bush, too, particularly Clinton. Keep in mind that Clinton got impeached (though admittedly, he did bring it on himself). So, while the birther attacks are somewhat unique, I cannot say that Washington is as toxic today as it was in 1998-99 or that it’s more toxic than in 2005-06.

8) If health-care reform passes both houses of Congress in a form similar to the House bill, is that enough to consider Obama’s first term largely a success?

I think the Obama administration will judge any bill that makes it through conference as a success. I doubt that the final bill will look like the House bill. Passing any health reform legislation will be a success, and I suspect that the Obama administration will spin it as such. However, he also made a number of bold promises on other issues, some of which he will not fulfill. So on the whole, while passing healthcare reform should be counted as a big success, there will be those on both extremes of the ideological spectrum who will count him as a failure because he will not be able to deliver on all of his promises.

9) Much was made, after the House vote, of Nancy Pelosi’s impact on its passage. If health-care reform ultimately passes, how may her legislative impact ultimately compare to past speakers of the House?

Pelosi had not had the greatest reputation for strong leadership as speaker, so the passage of health-care reform does work in her favor. However, Pelosi had to make compromises in order to pass the reform legislation that will anger the most liberal legislators. Should her standing weaken, an opponent could point to those compromises as a justification for her ouster.

10) What do you expect to be Democrats’ next most important legislative goal?

They have to reduce the budget deficit. Democrats may have won the partisan battle on this issue, but they have emboldened fiscal conservatives who are afraid of deficits. If President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress don’t rein in spending, Republicans will have beachhead from which to increase their legislative representation. Beyond that, I’m waiting for real financial market regulatory reform so that we can avoid a repeat of 2008.

— Interview by Editorials Editor
Asher Smith