Democrats went into overdrive Wednesday after the GOP captured a New York House seat the party had held for almost a century, attempting to neutralize the inevitable conclusions drawn about the impact of the loss on Democrats’ 2012 prospects.
Democrats expected an easy win early in the campaign and President Obama had won the district in 2008 by 11 points. So, the Republican upset struck many as an ominous sign of things to come for the party next year as it works to take back the House, maintain control of the Senate and reelect the president.
“I’ve never heard the 9th [congressional district] referred to as a bellwether,” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in conference call with reporters Wednesday. Schumer represented the district for 18 years before moving to the Senate. “It is among the most conservative districts in New York, and it is changing rapidly.”
The district has actually long been safe Democratic territory, making David Weprin’s (D) loss to Bob Turner (R) even more stinging.
“We are not going to sugar coat it, this was a tough loss,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) wrote in a memo, saying the race represented a single moment and didn’t define Democrats’ long-term prospects.
“NY-09 was never a part of the DCCC’s strategic plan to win the House in 2012 because the district will likely be eliminated in New York’s congressional redistricting,” the statement said.
While that may have been true before, it’s not a sure bet anymore. With New York set to lose two seats, both parties expected to sacrifice a district, and for Democrats, that was likely NY-09, which was held by former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) until his resignation. Now, Republicans are expected to seek another Democratic district to eliminate.
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3 Responses
Stop the bleeding????????
That would require changing policies that in many cases are supported by their “base”. It would also require going back in time to the mid-20th century and convincing the frei Jews to have more children.
Elimination of one district or another is irrelevant, since all the non-Black areas of Brooklyn and Queens are now “purple” (and perhaps by next year, the Black ones will be as well – they aren’t so liberal and are getting fed up with Obama’s economic policy).
Why stop the bleeding? I hope they bleed to death!
The democrats and Obama with his administration keep on spinning election defeat after election defeat, how that particular election is an exception and no barometer on Obama. I guess, come after the 2012 presidential elections, when IY”H he loses, they will be still spinning (except this time it will be literal plus figurative).