No, not the show. Rather, a reaction to what happened yesterday in New York's 26th congressional district. The 26th is one of the most conservative districts in the country. It was one of only four New York districts to go for John McCain over Barack Obama in 2008. Indeed, voters in the 26th preferred Carl Paladino over Andrew Cuomo in the race for governor. To put that in perspective for those of you unfamiliar with New York politics, voting for Paladino over Cuomo in New York would be like a Massachusetts resident voting for, say, Sarah Palin over Ted Kennedy: Only the hardest dying of diehard Republicans would do it.
And yet, in a special election held yesterday to fill the seat vacated by Representative Christopher Lee, forced to resign after e-mailing shirtless pictures of himself to a prospective paramour (in his defense, did you see his abs?!?), Erie County clerk Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, defeated Jane Corwin, the Republican who had held the seat on an interim basis. At the outset, Hochul was given virtually no chance of prevailing, but the tide turned after Corwin cast a vote in favor of Paul Ryan's budget plan to "reform" (read: destroy) Medicare.
Does this mean the GOP has finally overreached? Will the backlash go national next year? It's too early to tell. As GOP spin doctors and others point out, this was a special election that largely turned on one issue, and a Tea Party candidate likely drained support from Jane Corwin. Still, it's a promising start, suggesting that the general public, once they recognize what the Republican majority has in store for America, may start to realize where their true interest lies.
One can hope.
Solipsistography
"Democrat Wins G.O.P. Seat; Rebuke Seen to Medicare Plan"
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