All the various and sundry punditry are wrapping up the meanings of races locally and throughout the country. Here are a couple of quick, dirty, and tired observations:

1. People were surprised that Laura Monte didn’t do better than she did (Cole received 57%, Monte 43%). I think in that district, she did pretty darn well. It was certainly less of a rout than the special election Cole won earlier this year against Jeff Bono. In that race, Cole won 69-31%. Monte should be proud of this result and the race that she won.

2. Tom Bauerle is starting off his show today debating which is worse - that Tom Reynolds played “Hit the Road Jack” last night before his victory speech, or Jack Davis calling Reynolds an “SOB” during his concession speech. I think the fact that there’s no love lost between these two is no secret, and everyone should stop being such a baby.

3. Bauerle also kicked off the show by whining about Spitzer’s, Clinton’s, and Cuomo’s “coronation”. Bullshit. If charges of a coronation were to be made, they were more properly made during primary time. The Republicans could have mounted credible, strong challenges to all three of these winners. There was no “coronation” last night, and to the extent that there was one, the Republicans have no one but themselves to blame.

4. Jack Davis. It was a helluva run, and hindsight is always 20/20. Mr. Davis is politically finished. He is through. One thing he said last night sealed that fate. When asked, he said he was “relieved” not to now be going to Washington; that he lost. That is the absolutely wrong sentiment for him to express. I know that hundreds upon hundreds of loyal Democrats busted their asses to get this guy to Washington, and he’s relieved that he lost? The only two counties Davis won last night were Erie and Niagara. In the rural counties, Reynolds won, hands-down. Surprisingly, Monroe went overwhelmingly for Reynolds, despite the fact that other parts of Monroe went overwhelmingly for Democrat Eric Massa in NY-29. Davis was handed a gift this year on a gleaming silver platter. Mark Foley. Discontent with Washington and Bush. It was a year that a centrist Democrat could have easily taken on the arrogant career politician that Reynolds is. Instead, we had a Buchananite conservative who could equal Reynolds’ dislikability and stuck pretty much to only one issue. It was a golden opportunity that was squandered by a candidate who even refused to meet and greet voters, instead relying on advertising to get his message out. But running for congress isn’t the same as selling furniture, and you have to go out and press flesh - especially when there are huge question marks hanging around your run. Where do you stand on Social Security? What else besides free trade would you work on when you get to Washington? Even superficial stuff - voters want to look the candidate in the eyes and get an answer to their questions in person. If they like what they’ll see, they’ll spread word of mouth. That didn’t happen, and in a tight race that could have been the difference. But that’s the epitaph on Davis’ run: golden opportunities lost.

5. In other closely watched New York congressional races, Gillibrand defeated Sweeney in every county in the NY-20. In NY-24, Arcuri won handily (54-45%) against a Republican smear machine that tried to paint him as a coddler of rapists and a sex-chat caller. As I mentioned above, Randy Kuhl won re-election against Eric Massa, winning every county except Monroe.

6. I said it last night, and I’ll say it again; when Spitzer was giving his victory speech, the sound and the content were immediately reminiscent of Bobby Kennedy. So, I think I’ll take to calling him “EFK”. Good luck to our new Governor. I hope day one is crazy busy.

RSS 2.0 Respond Trackback