Dems pull off MAJOR upset in NY-26

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/24/11 at 11:59pm

OK, so I guess it's easy to overstate a single special election, but in this case, I think the result speaks volumes. If you recall, a few months ago Congressman Chris Lee from NY-26 resigned after he posted his shirtless picture on a craigslist posting. He's a Republican, and his district is one of the reddest in the country. I mean, that district voted for Carl Paladino over Cuomo last year. But in this election, the GOP candidate expressed her support for the Ryan budget plan, and the Dem campaigned almost exclusively on that issue, and she pulled off the upset.
Hochul

[StockardFan]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 2:05am

Yay, Kathy!

[romantico]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 2:09am

The Republicans this afternoon went to court and got a court order to prevent the certification should the Democratic candidate win. Very classy GOP.Rachel Maddow discussed this tonight.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#43161853

Updated On: 5/25/11 at 02:09 AM

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 2:48am

YES! So proud to be part of this election! (Western New Yorker here!)

Posted: 5/25/11 at 7:47am

That Rachel Maddow show clip was actually Priscilla on the Today Show. Obviously, conservatives DO control the media.

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 7:59am

It should be VERY interesting to see how the GOP senators vote on the Ryan plan this week. Olympia Snowe has stated that she is a 'no'. Scott Brown has gone from a 'yes' to a 'maybe' to a 'no' to a 'hell no' so quickly it would make Newt Gingrich proud.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 10:06am

Is this our "Scott Brown" victory? Eric Cantor wants Paul Ryan to run for President? He would be chased down by seniors in Des Moines!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 10:10am

A Democrat wins in a liberal Northeastern state. In other news, the sky is blue.

[romantico]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 10:14am

As usual, Goth does not know what he is talking about. Do you know when the last time a Democrat won in this district Goth? DO you know how red this district is Goth?DO you know what Karl Rove said about this district just 2 years ago Goth? This is as Republican as you can get and the GOP thought they had this. Down play all you want Goth.While you are at it, go ahead and support the Ryan bill and pretend Republicans are not terrified how supporting it is committing political suicide.

Medicare.Medicare.Medicare.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVX0KbYIW7E&feature=

Updated On: 5/25/11 at 10:14 AM

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 10:19am

Paladino beat Cuomo in this district, and by a wide margin, something like 60/40.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 10:25am

This is not really a Democratic victory as much as it is for the future! The Republicans overplayed their wins in 2010 and will regret allowing an arrogant, smug toad from Wisconsin to play King for a day!

[romantico]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 10:26am

It is only the 4th time since 1857 a Democrat has won in this district but according to Goth, it not a big deal. Denial!Denial!Denial! If we are lucky,more Republicans will think like Goth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB_ZWXR72w4

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 1:51pm

No, you haven't overstated the importance of this election in the least. Republicans (other than Goth) are freaking out. This means that the path they are on is a losing path.

It's easy for the Young Turks of the Republican party to look "fiscally conservative" when they're cutting public television and NPR. Not enough voters care about those things to affect elections.

But when they start to cut social programs and "entitlements," they start to find out what every other politician has known since Ancient Greece: that if you stop spending money on people, they stop voting for you.

Paul Ryan even laid some of the blame on Newt Gingrich, who two weeks ago called the Ryan plan "right-wing social engineering" and has had to spend the week since then apologizing and "walking back" his remark. Republican politicians and pundits immediately jumped on him and said he was a traitor, but Republican voters (again, except Goth) said, "Hmm...you know what? Newt's right."

So the GOP is now realizing that when Gingrich helped convince all those upstate Republicans to to vote for the Democrat. And all the Democrats have to do is keep repeating it.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 2:19pm

Well said PJ? The GOP is downplaying their loss, not the same as they were with Scott Brown a few years ago!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 4:09pm

Remember that? "He took Ted Kennedy's old seat!!!!" They crowed that Scott Brown was a referendum on Obama!!! Scott Brown was a referedum on an imbecilic campaign run by an entitled opponent.

Meanwhile, Kathy Hochul wins the seat that was once held by conservative old closet case Jack Kemp. Because there's no bigger conservative old Republican than a closeted homosexual one.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 4:24pm

Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, insisted the race has no national implications.

"You Lie!"

[strummergirl]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 4:37pm

Did Republicans/Tea Partiers not learn for the Bill Owens election in NY-23 where the Tea Party candidate not only pushed the moderate Republican out of the way but caused a bunch of retention from the party as a result?

Heck, Jack Davis was a notoriously bad campaigner when he was a Democratic candidate. Why did they go with this egomaniac? He was DINO who pissed off a lot of people in the party for not giving way to Jon Powers to get the party nomination last go-around, after Davis' own failures during Democratic gain years against Thom Reynolds. That resulted in another candidate getting the nomination when Powers was still on the ballot on the WFP line that probably could have swung the election.
Updated On: 5/25/11 at 04:37 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 5:52pm

Learnin is not a community value among the Tea Party. That's for the elites.

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 9:11pm

The Senate voted down the Ryan Plan, with 40 GOP senators voting for the bill. Brown, Snowe, Collins, Murkowski, and Paul were the GOP 'no' votes. The Dems should hammer home the 'yes' votes on anyone running in 2012.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 11:31pm

Who's a little sad rag doll tonight?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 11:37pm

Don't it make his blue eyes brown?

Posted: 5/26/11 at 7:16am

Paul Ryan could turn out to be as destructive to the Republican Party as Richard Nixon!!

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 8:12am

Actually, the problem here isn't Ryan himself. The problem is that the GOP has become a machine that demands 100% conformity to its doctrine, with no room at all for argument. I disagree with Ryan's plan at a fundamental level, but I'm more dismayed about the reaction any Republican gets when he or she dares to question any part of the doctrine. Don't be surprised if the five GOP senators who voted 'no' see their money dry up, and face a serious challenge in their next primary.