Framing the Debate Over Off-Year Elections

Today on "Washington Unplugged," John Dickerson discussed the forthcoming contests with the executive director of the Republican Governors Association, Nick Ayers, and his Democratic counterpart, Nathan Daschle.

Ayers weighed in first.

"The reality is: this is a purple state," he said of Virginia, which went to President Obama in the 2008 election but had traditionally voted Republican. "It's a great indicator of what's going on at the national level. And while I don't think it reflects directly on the president, I do think this says a lot about his agenda. It's an agenda that [Republican candidate] Bob McDonnell has campaigned against, and one that [Democratic rival] Creigh Deeds has found tough to dance around."

Daschle disagreed, arguing that the Republicans have inherent advantages in this election.

"1973 was the last time that Virginia elected a governor of the same party as the party in the White House," he said. "…New Jersey hasn't done it since 1985. So if the Republicans this year become the first opposition party in twenty four years to not win both of these seats, I think it says something about their ideas, I think it says something about their leadership, and whether or not America wants a comeback."

Watch the full discussion above, along with an interview with Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster and Oren Moverman from the film "The Messenger" and a chat with Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

"Washington Unplugged" appears live on CBSNews.com each weekday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Click here to check out previous episodes.