Dems pull off MAJOR upset in NY-26

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

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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

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

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

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!

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=

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

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!

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.

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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.

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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

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.

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Don't it make his blue eyes brown?

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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.

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