Yesterday, a Republican won that NY House seat vacated by Anthony Weiner. When asked about that Democratic defeat, DNC Debbie Wasserman-Schultz responded that it was a "tough district for Democrats".
That's right, Debbie. Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by 3-1, and the district hadn't elected a Republican since the early 1920s. (Those are Chicago Cub numbers, folks.)
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This should be a wake-up call. They ran the same kind of campaign as they ran in Massachusetts when they let Brown sneak up on them. The governor skipped the Democratic primary, by fiat, let the local party leader appoint a candidate, and figured he'd run as "I'm a Democrat, that means I win, right?"
OK, in Massachusetts they had a primary, but the winner asked a reporter if he expected her to go out in the cold and shake hands with voters.
There is nothing particularly popular about the Republican Party or its programs, but if Democrats want a come-back, they have to offer some fresh new proposals, and styles (let's be real, voters respond to style as much as content, its sad, but its true).
One of our best hopes in Wisconsin challenged an incumbent Democrat in the primary in 2010, and won, then trounced a Republican in the general election, and went on to become a leading voice for the Wisconsin 14. If there had been five more primary challenges like that, the Democrats would still control the legislature.
It should be noted that this district has already been eliminated in redistricting, so the whole election is about one year.
A district that is 40% Jewish (Not 40% Hassidic btw), and cannot win the district overwhelmingly, the Democrats have troubles then.
When the polls reveal that Jews are voting in one direction I look to another source, my Hadassah group. There the members (mostly Reform and Conservative Jews) tell a vastly different tale than the polls do. Friends in NY knew that the 9th was going GOP, and that NY Jews are going Independent. Leaving the party. The anger over Hymietown and other anti-Semitic slurs from Democratic leaders are coming to haunt them.
Good. Let all the ethnic voting blocks break up, once and for all. Let there be no more "Jewish vote" or "Italian vote" or "Black vote" or "Korean vote." I suppose we can't do much about the fact that the Indian Guyanese in Brooklyn cheer when the leftist party wins back home, while the black Guyanese in Queens cheer when it goes the other way, but they'll get over it too in time.
Jesse Jackson is a fading has-been. In 2004, when I heard an announcement he was visiting Gwen Moore's campaign office the next day, I said "That's a great honor for Jesse Jackson." The lady in charge of the office said "Yes it is, but I didn't say that." She didn't have to. I did.
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