The New York Congressional district 26 is one of the most Republican in the country, and certainly in New York state. In the 2010 congressional election, the Republican won with 74% of the vote.
Tuesday in a special election to replace that disgraced GOPer, the Democrat Kathy Hochul was declared the winner barely an hour after polls closed. With over 90% of the precincts reporting, she is holding 48% of the vote, with her GOPer opponent at 42%, and just as significantly, the Tea Party candidate at only 9%.
Her victory is attributed to voter alarm over the Ryan plan to destroy Medicare. Polls suggest this is true, though there were other important issues. So President Obama's
congratulatory statement doesn't specifically mention Medicare, though he was the first to say that the Ryan plan "ends Medicare as we know it," which started this pushback:
"I want to extend my congratulations to Congresswoman-elect Kathy Hochul for her victory in New York's 26th Congressional District. Kathy and I both believe that we need to create jobs, grow our economy, and reduce the deficit in order to outcompete other nations and win the future."
Obamacrats can also point to another significant accomplishment today: Chrysler (following the example of GM) has repaid its "bailout" loans to the U.S. federal government (and to Canada), six years early. The resurgence of the U.S. auto industry due to the support President Obama and the Democrats gave them--which GOPers called radical and socialism--is already being turned to
political advantage.
Obamacrats also are likely to benefit from a less obvious story that developed Tuesday: the rumor that Elizabeth Warren, head of the Consumer Protection Agency she virtually created, is being courted to run against Scott Brown for his Senate seat from Massachusetts. While the politics of her actually running is being
debated, it's the rumor itself that has positive political effect. If GOPers continue their opposition to her permanent appointment to her post--especially accompanied by the
tawdry antics that accompanied her testimony in the House on Tuesday--they may push her into running, and given the impact of Medicare and the Ryan budget demonstrated in New York--it would mean at the very least that GOPers would have to spend a lot of money in MA to support Brown, even if they didn't ultimately lose the seat. As well they might. So they may decide to ease off and conclude that they're better off with her in the federal government than running against them.
Meanwhile, President Obama was
"greeted warmly" in London on his state visit to the UK.
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