NY-20 Congressional District Race: The In's and Out's

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On March 31st, the New York 20th Congressional District is up for grabs. Scott Murphy, Glenn Falls venture capitalist and Democrat, is running against Republican Minority Leader for New York's state assembly, Jim Tedisco.

When Kristen Gillinbrand was appointed to fill Hillary Clinton's Senate seat this opened the door through a special election for her congressional seat.

Gillibrand's seat is widely viewed, by both parties, as the Holy Grail of 2009. One of the reasons for this is the NY-20 special election could be a preliminary look at the electoral climate for 2010. Giving both parties a solid view on which strategies might work and might not in the upcoming Congressional runs. Also, it could potentially serve a referendum against President Obama and his current economic policies if Teidsco is victorious.

Here is how the New York 20th CD sits, concerning voter demographics, as of 11/1/08; Dem-125,486 (26.27%), Rep-194,118 (41.06%), Other-156,078 (32.67%). In 2008, President Obama won the district with 167,827 votes (50.70%) versus McCain who carried 157,879 votes (47.70%).

According to the Siena Research Institute, Democrat Scott Murphy is leading State Representative and Republican, Jim Tedisco, by a margin of four points among likely voters, or 47-43%. This would mean that Murphy rallied from a four point deficit as of two weeks ago. At the time, Tedisco was leading Murphy by 45-41%.



Click on image to enlarge.

Strangely enough DNC support for Murphy has been very limited. Tim Kaine, Chairman of Democratic National Committe, kept his distance from Murphy while he visited at their headquarters. Also the DNC only contributed about five thousand dollars to assist Murphy. While the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent more than $373,000 on the election.

Another complaint New York Democrats have is the limited support they are receiving from the White House. President Barack Obama, on Wednesday, finally endorsed Scott Murphy for his election bid.

In contrast, the Republicans are heavily supporting James Tedisco. Michael Steele, Chairman of the RNC, has released $275,000 and the National Republican Congressional Committee has put forth $550,000 to assist Tedisco.

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CBS declares Obama victorious against Limbaugh

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CBS, Cheering for Barack's Success, just can't help themselves. They have scored the White House v. Limbaugh v. Steele fiasco as advantage, Obama.

According to CBS, with SNL doing a parody of the Limbaugh/Steele conflict, where Steele is hooked up to electrodes and getting shocked everytime he criticizes Limbaugh, Obama is victorious.

Subsequently, Robert J. Samuelson of NewsWeek, is not buying into the hyperbole of the President or his media cohorts. As Samuelson points out, the juxtaposition of Obama's message and actions are quite to the contrary.

All of this considered, the comedy that is CBS reporting continues on.

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Rush Limbaugh, Former Conservative Talk Show Host...

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Mike Steele, RNC chairman, and former conservative radio commentator, Rush Limbaugh, have had a bit of an exchange over the last few days that has created some controversy.

Here is what Steele in the interview, courtesy of the Politico.




Rush's retort to Steele on Monday,

“I hope the RNC chairman will realize he’s not a talking head pundit, that he is supposed to be working on the grassroots and rebuilding it and maybe doing something about our open primary system and fixing it so that Democrats don’t nominate our candidates,” Limbaugh said, his voice rising. “It’s time, Mr. Steele, for you to go behind the scenes and start doing the work that you were elected to do instead of trying to be some talking head media star, which you’re having a tough time pulling off.”


This little quibble has shown the obvious fractures in the GOP and the fight that is going on for its core beliefs. Many questions arise about the future of the Republican Party's survival if infighting like this keeps up. Anyone who thinks that Limbaugh is the voice of its intellectual movement is sorely mistaken.

Mr. Limbaugh is now fulfilling a role more suited to his talents and that is GOP Conservative Whip. Mr. Steele's apology was evidence of that. I think Rush will do a fine job of keeping the Republican leadership in line over the next few years. And I think he has, as he likes to put it, the wherewithal to do it right.

PS-We still love yah' Mike, just watch what you say in the future. Geez, it's not that hard.

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Michael Steele: New RNC Chair

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After watching Mike Steele, former Maryland Lt. Governor and Chairman of GOPAC, giving his commentary during the election on Fox News, I was impressed. To have a man with this level of talent, forward thinking, charisma, aggressiveness, and intellect leading the RNC is a blessing.

Steele's political outlooks are somewhat moderate, but leaning very Right. Here is his rating according to OntheIssue's.com


Video from Steele's acceptance speech, via MSNBC.



His aggressiveness is the the one thing that made Steele the more attractive candidate than his competition. The man openly speaks his mind, often to others chagrin, but does so in a very articulate and no nonsense sort of way. In other words, there is no misunderstanding when Steele speaks.

I am very proud to have Michael Steele as the RNC Chairman, I think he will prove to be a dangerous adversary for the Progressives and it seems some on the Left share that concern.

From Lanny Davis on the Politico's, Arena,
As I stated in a previous Politico Arena, Michael Steele was positively my last preference for RNC Chair -- since he was, and is, by far, the most effective, articulate center - right voice of the Republican Party, with a firm but friendly manner on TV and, thus, the best possible choice for the GOP to appeal to the broad middle of American society.
Things are starting to shape up for the GOP and it is safe to say the party will be in good hands.

Related Articles:

The Hill
-Steele to chair RNC as party chooses new direction

The Politico-It's Steele!

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