Republicans fight for the spoils

The GOP wins in New Jersey and Virginia are breeding a new competition among Republicans to take part of the credit.

Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty, potential rivals for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, both tried to bask in glow.

"We worked extremely hard on behalf of Bob McDonnell and the entire Republican ticket in Virginia, and helped him close strong with a full day of campaigning in the final week; in New Jersey, we endorsed Chris Christie early and made sure he had the resources to be competitive against his better-financed opponent," Romney told supporters of his Free & Strong America PAC this morning.

"We should be proud of what we have accomplished together; but this is no time to rest on our laurels. We must begin building upon these victories today to ensure that we have the resources we need to take back the Congress in 2010," the former Massachusetts governor exhorted.

For his part, Pawlenty pointed out that the Republican Governors Association -- he is vice chairman -- helped both McDonnell and Christie and saw a similar message in their victories.

"Virginians embraced his conservative message, rejecting more taxes, card-check and spending that would hurt economic growth and job creation," Pawlenty said in a statement.

The Minnesota governor said Christie's win "beat all odds and sends a powerful signal that voters want a return to fiscally conservative leadership."

Neither, however, mentioned the big loss in an upstate New York congressional district, where Republican disunity allowed Democrat Bill Owens to win the seat.

Romney, smartly it turned out, stayed out of the fray. But Pawlenty, after Sarah Palin endorsed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, jumped on his bandwagon.