Windjammer is this game's most brilliant chessmaster
Yes, but so appears to be Sawx. Just as Windjammer did in the Mideast with the prevalent anti-Federalist sentiment, Sawx rode the anti-Labor wave in the Northeast to perfection. His final margin may be inflated somewhat by people who vote late and, after having been undecided throughout the entire campaign, now prefer to side with the winner and vote for him as well. But that doesn't take away from the fact that Sawx's campaign was by and large tailor-made for the Northeast electorate, regardless of whether you like its contents or not.
I'd have to disagree. I definitely capitalized on the wave in the Northeast, but Windjammer completely changed the face of the Mideast in the span of a few weeks. He essentially did what Griffin failed to do in the IDS a year ago.