DNC Tells Coleman To Do The Right Thing

Like Jim Tedisco did last week, the DNC is calling on Norm Coleman to concede the race he lost to Al Franken and let Minnesota have their second senator in office. It's been more than six months since the election and most Minnesotans think it is far beyond the time for Norm to let go of the outcome and surrender to the inevitable.

Tedisco Lost For Micro And Macro Reasons

The Albany Times-Union penned an article today on why Tedisco lost the race to Murphy. How could a local, well-known politician in the area and without high negatives lose a six-week campaign to a young, unknown businessman in a traditionally Republican district? The Times-Union covers their bases, but in title they point to a lack of unity in and among the GOP.

From The Times-Union:

State chairman Joseph Mondello wanted Tedisco, 58, as did Saratoga County's John "Jasper" Nolan, whose opinion was powerful because the leaders' votes were weighted by county population. But Washington and Essex counties lined up behind Betty Little, a popular state senator from Queensbury. Warren County voted narrowly for Tedisco. Elsewhere, Republicans in Columbia, Rensselaer, Delaware and Greene counties wanted Faso. Richard Wager in Dutchess County, who ran briefly against Kirsten Gillibrand in 2008, also had support, but Dutchess went for Tedisco.

As a result, Little — already in a delicate spot because she is related to Murphy by marriage — didn't go out of her way to help Tedisco in the North Country, and Faso didn't help in the south. Little was one of the first regional Republicans to suggest, once the vote count began to shift away from Tedisco, that he should start looking for an exit strategy.

Michael Grasso, the Warren County Republican chairman, praised Tedisco and said he was chosen fairly. But he admitted a lack of unity hurt the cause.

Grasso also said Little would have won, and theorized Murphy — an unknown who needed the North Country support — wouldn't have gotten in the race if Little had been the Republican candidate. He also said Tedisco ("a great guy who has always been there for the taxpayer") could have won with a different campaign.

"But hindsight is 20-20," Grasso said.

Hindsight is 20-20 but the vision, or lack there of from Tedisco and his party as a whole was pretty clear. For Tedisco himself, he immediately shot himself in the foot by not answering the question on the stimulus bill. It reflected negatively on whether he had principles to stand on and that matters to voters, especially in these economically sour times. His campaign ran too many negative ads against Murphy and not enough positive information on himself.

On the macro level, Republicans are becoming known as the party of no and without any ideas but to oppose the Democratic party on pretty much everything they propose to do for the nation. While national Republicans may think being the loyal opposition is the way to go, it doesn't work for a special election in a district that voted for Gillibrand in 06' and along with Barack Obama in'08. Furthermore, the NRCC did a terrible job despite spending a sizeable sum on the race. Making it a referendum on Obama's nascent Presidency was also a big mistake.

Basically, a lack of unity was a problem in selecting Tedisco as the candidate, but that by no means assured his eventual loss. When he started out in February, Tedisco was up by over 20 points. In the end, he lost by several hundred votes.

DNC Rubs NY-20 Victory In Michael Steele's Face

When you win, like the way Scott Murphy won the 20th district in New York; the Democratic National Committee can put ads like this one out to show just how badly the Republicans blew the special election between Tedisco and Murphy.

Tedisco Might Call It Quits Today

As much as some election lawyers would like the special election between Tedisco and Murphy to go on forever, the fact is the 20th district needs a Congressman fighting for them down in D.C. The election was nearly a month ago but the counting has continued. At first the two candidates were close, one ahead of the other and then behind depending on which counties had recanvassed. Yet as the absentee ballots were counted, it became clear that Murphy was winning a majority of them. With less than a thousand to go and Murphy up by 400, the end of the road is becoming increasingly clear for the candidate that was supposed to win this race in a landslide.

From Capital News 9:

A finish line could be in sight in the race for the 20th Congressional District. With the numbers not looking good for Republican Jim Tedisco, sources tell Capital News 9 that Tedisco could concede to Democrat Scott Murphy as soon as Friday afternoon.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Election Board workers open up ballots. Lawyers look for invalid marks that could void the vote. Commissioners from as far away as Essex and Delaware County are here as the campaigns review about 200 challenged ballots. "We will see what the numbers are. We have been charged with opening the valid ballots and that is what we are doing, opening the valid ballots," said James Walsh, Tedisco Campaign Lawyer.

The valid ballots are mostly opened and with so few left and Murphy's lead bigger than ever, Tedisco would need to win three out of every four from now on to come back. The Republican has reportedly lost all hope yesterday and for some odd reason is waiting for the the judge to rule on residency requirements for voters (supposedly for future races) even though he isn't even an official resident of the district either.

Here's to the end of the line of this saga and the beginning of Murphy's term as Congressman of the 20th district!

It's Over Jimmy

The more ballots election officials count, the better things look for Scott Murphy and his growing lead over Jim Tedisco. Another 250 were counted today and now Murphy is ahead by 365 votes. It seems that with each passing day that ballots are added to the total, Tedisco is looking weaker and weaker.

From PolitickerNY:

ALBANY—Democrat Scott Murphy's lead over Assemblyman Jim Tedisco in their race to replace Kirsten Gillibrand in Congress has grown to 365 votes, the latest official tally shows.

According to the State Board of Elections, the overall tally now stands at 79,751 for Murphy; 79,586 for Tedisco. The new tally reflects updated numbers from Warren and Essex counties. Counting is still taking place in Saratoga and Washington counties.

And yet another prominent (or once prominent) upstate Republican politician has chimed in to say it's over for Jim Tedisco. Jimmy, you are losing all your friends and allies, it is time to call it quits before that political career gets too many nails in its' coffin.

Tedisco's Friendly Judge Can Only Delay The inevitable

Jim Tedisco may be "hopeful" about the outcome of the still-contested race in the 20th district, but the facts are simply not on his side. With 1,800 approximate votes to count, Murphy's current lead of 273 and the fact that most of the remaining ballots were contested by Tedisco point to a nearly inevitable win for the Democrat. Although it would be great to seat the winner as soon as possible, the judge in the case doesn't feel that way.

From The Albany Project:

Judge Jim Brands, the "pizza stain" judge has just ruled that not only can ballots be challenged on a case by case basis, a move that could delay the seating of a representative for the 20th for quite some time, but that the campaigns can now have access to the applications for absentee ballots so that Tedisco's lawyers can try to argue that the voters that cast those ballots aren't actually residents of NY-20. That's pretty rich when one considers the fact that Tedisco himself is not a resident of NY-20 and couldn't even cast a vote for himself.

This is certainly a break for Tedisco, but I don't know of anyone that thinks that this have any effect on the outcome. That 273 vote lead is just too great a hill to climb.

Instead of the system allowing for the counting to be finished, Judge Brands is delaying the district the right to be represented in Congress and giving Tedisco as many tools as he can to strike already-validated absentee ballots. Unfortunately for Jimmy, the probability of overcoming Murphy's lead is slim to none given who has challenged what votes.

2009 Is Not 1960 In NY-20

I know that historical anecdotes in close elections make for interesting copy, people always love to compare the past to the present when searching for answers. Yet for the comment from PolitickerNY this morning on the Times-Union article showcasing the epic George Chambers-John Rouse of 1960 is a little bit misleading.

From PolitickerNY:

The ballot counting in the race between Jim Tedisco and Scott Murphy could stretch seven months, as one 1960 election did.

The Times-Union merely recapped what went on in that House race 49 years ago. To even insinuate this race could stretch out several months is a stretch. First of all, Murphy is currently leading by 273 votes and the remaining challenged ballots are mostly held up by Tedisco's team. As polling guru Nate Silver sees it, all indicators show a Murphy win. Already, the court decisions are going Murphy's way as well, so for this to last several months is highly unlikely, even if Tedisco goes all "Norm Coleman" out.

Murphy Is Back On Top!

Damn this is a nail biter! Jim Tedisco and Scott Murphy have gone back in forth in the vote totals, but now that the absentee ballot numbers are rolling in Murphy is slowly but surely increasing his lead. Of course, it is still close and anything can happen, so this is a race that has to be carefully watched.

From TPM:

The official state results show that Murphy has taken an eight-vote lead as of 4:30 p.m. ET yesterday, as absentee ballots begin to be counted. However, there is some more recent data that shows Murphy's lead is actually somewhat larger at the moment.

Columbia County has provided their latest numbers to TPM, showing Murphy picking up another 15 net votes, on a 99-42 margin, compared to the 55-13 in the state's current tally of absentees from here. In addition, the Albany Times Union reports that Murphy has picked up 26 votes, an 88-62 margin, in Essex County.

So as of right now, Scott Murphy leads by 49 votes -- though there are still plenty of ballots left to count. (Late Update: Murphy's newest lead is 46 votes.)

I'm going out of the country tomorrow morning for a week, so if there's anything I'm going to miss (politically speaking) it'll be watching the results from upstate New York. For everyone else, if you are literally going to start biting your nails, listen to Nate Silver at 538 to calm your nerves.

Tedisco Tries To Disenfranchise Absentee Voters In Columbia County

With the counting of absentee ballots now begun, the contest between the lawyers is also under way. We already have reports of the first round of dirty tricks from Tedisco's legal team and it isn't pretty. Tedisco is trying to disenfranchise voters in the heavily Democratic Columbia County and the reasoning behind it is quite ironic.

From The Albany Project:

Those unfamiliar with Columbia County may not be aware that there has been, for many years, a large second home community here -- made up overwhelmingly, though not exclusively, of Democrats from New York City. Many of these voters have been here for many years, in some cases decades. As is entirely appropriate and legal, they have cast their ballots here without incident many times before, including just a few months ago for Barack Obama.

But as I'm hearing it, the Tedisco lawyer in Columbia (sent in by John Ciampoli) came prepared to challenge pretty much anyone who was a Democrat who had their absentee sent to a "downstate" address.

Now, the legal precedent has been affirmed many times on the State and Federal level that a person who owns more than one home can pick whichever of their homes' districts they want to vote in. The law is clear: You don't have to vote at your "primary" residence, where you file your main tax return. So long as you don't register and vote in more than one place, this is 100% legal. There are many good reasons for this: The right to representation where you pay taxes, the difficulty of determining primary residence, the fact that some professionals spend a large part of the year away from their main home, etc.

(How do I know this? Because for several years, I was deeply involved with a concerted effort to re-register these voters in Columbia County. We had the laws carefully reviewed by attorneys, and mailed out thousands of registration forms with legal backup.)

But Tedisco's team evidently wants to reverse that well-established legal principle, and is challenging Democratic second homeowners in Columbia wholesale. (They're also going after some students, apparently.) I don't know if they are doing this elsewhere, but Dutchess County similarly has a lot of weekender voters...

This is disenfranchisement of the most noxious variety, based on who you are, not based on valid and specific ballot defects.

Now a competent judge should be able to toss aside Tedisco's challenges with ease, but the very fact that he is attempting to throw out valid ballots is distasteful to say the least. The action speaks to how Tedisco feels about legitimate voters in the district, especially those that might ruin his chance of getting out of Albany and down to Washington.

Oh and the ironic part? Tedisco doesn't even live in the district he's running for. Shouldn't he be disenfrachised from running in it, according to his own lawyers?

Absentee Ballot Numbers Look Good For Murphy

Standard campaign protocol dictates that in a race that is too close to call, even after several days, that each side stop just short of declaring themselves the winner. Confidence is key and it also helps to bring in donations to fund all the election lawyers either candidate needs. However, beneath what the candidate says, is the reality of the polling situation. As of this moment, with a day to go before counting of absentee ballots begins, Scott Murphy in the 20th District seems to have the numbers on his side.

From The Albany Project:

NY-20: Absentee Ballot Distribution Appears to Favor Murphy (D)

One thing that seems fairly clear is that there tend to be a relatively higher proportion of absentee ballots returned in counties where Murphy performed well on election night. For example, Columbia County, where Murphy won 56.3 percent of the of the vote last week, accounted for 9.8 percent of ballots on election night, but accounts for 15.3 percent of absentees. Conversely, Saratoga County, which is a Tedisco stronghold, represented 36 percent of ballots on election night but only 27.2 percent of absentees:

If I simply apportion the absentee ballots based on the distribution of the election day vote in each county, I show Murphy gaining a net of 173 ballots during the absentee counting phase. In addition, as Michael Barone has noted, although a plurality of the absentee ballot returns are Republican, they are somewhat less Republican than registration in the district as a whole.

And some more from Campaign Diaries:

1. 3107 (45,8%) ballots have been returned from registered Republicans and 2383 (35,1%) from registered Democrats. Among the entire electorate, the gap between the share of registered Republicans and of registered Democrats is 15%. That means that the pool of absentee voters is significantly Republican than the electorate at large.

2. Counties where Murphy performed well are dramatically over-represented in the pool of (uncounted) absentee ballots:

* Columbia County, which gave the Democrat 56% of the vote, cast 9.8% of the district's votes last Tuesday; but 15,3% of the absentee ballots come from there!

* Two other counties that gave Murphy 56% are over-represented. Warren County and Washington County represented 10% and 8,1% of last Tuesday's districtwide, respectively; but they make up 15% and 9,2% of the incoming absentee ballots!

* Inversely, Saratoga County, which saved Tedisco's candidacy by giving him 54% of the vote, represented 36% of the districtwide vote last Tuesday. Now, only 27% of absentee ballots come from Saratoga - a sharp drop.

Let's put this otherwise: Murphy is winning Columbia County and Warren County by 12%; he is losing Saratoga by 8%. Last Tuesday, Columbia and Warren combined made up 20% of the districtwide vote, while Saratoga made up 36%. Now, there are more absentee ballots from Warren and Columbia combined than from Saratoga. That does not bode well for Tedisco.

Philip at TAP points out that while the numbers are good, we should all help chip in to make sure Murphy's lawyers get compensated for doing their work. Tedisco has plenty of people on his side trying to make the results more favorable for him, so we need to work twice as hard to ensure that the results come out with a full degree of accuracy so that the actual winner prevails.

Governor Paterson, You Are Not Scott Murphy

The fate of the Murphy-Tedisco race remains undetermined this morning (and for the next few weeks most likely) with just 60-some votes separating the two candidates. The fact that Murphy is where he's at compared to the slim chance he had six weeks ago is truly outstanding and a testament to the candidate he has been (also many thanks to Tedisco's horrific campaigning skills). With that said, we have seen very little of Governor Paterson in the 20th District since his toxicity was to be kept far away from the first time candidate. Then all of a sudden, he showed up at Murphy's party unexpectedly and tried comparing himself to the man in the lead.

From The Daily Politics:

But now that Murphy is running neck and neck with his Republican opponent, Jim Tedisco, overcoming his virtually nonexistent name recognition political inexperience and a 12 percentage-point deficit in the process, it was safe for Paterson to come out of hiding. He even made a speech, I'm told.

"We were in the neighborhood, looking for a place that was open to have a little drink," Paterson joked when I noted his surprise appearance.

Asked during a brief Q&A with reporters if he thought Murphy's strong showing might bode well for his own future, Paterson replied:

"Well there's nothing like comebacks by underdogs, so if it works for Scott Murphy, there's no reason it shouldn't be able to work for me if I have the right message and I conduct myself with the professionalism and with the heartfelt concern for the neighborhoods around the state the way he has the neighborhoods around the 20th Congressional District."

"...I've had a lot more difficult times than I'm having right now," Paterson continued. "But it's the resilience that tests people, not where they are at a particular moment. We've all had difficult times. The question is: Who recovers from them? Because the definition of success is that you got up one more time than you got knocked down.

Paterson knows how to make an attempt at humor, but there's just too much baloney in that highlighted paragraph up above.

First of all, Murphy didn't make a comeback, he started at the bottom and made his way up to the top in a short span of time. Paterson on the other hand, started off quite well a year ago and put himself in the tank by showing us his poor leadership skills. Oh and "professionalism" is clearly not a word that Paterson knows how to translate into action.

Now as for being heartfelt, Murphy has shown the district that he cares, but Paterson's fumbling of the budget and pushing aside the needs of New Yorkers shows his concerns rest in wishes of the well-funded lobbyists that visit him in Albany. If he would have championed the fair tax and not items such as the soda tax, he might not have slipped as much as he did.

Politically speaking, this is the worst time Paterson has ever experienced. As for the future (meaning from now until the primary next year) there is still time for the governor to get back up, but the question is if he can...or even knows how. There really is no comparison between him and Scott Murphy, unless you count the "D" after their name of course.

NY Special Congressional Election Too Close To Call

With all the ballots counted tonight, Scott Murphy has come out on top by a mere 65 votes out of more than 159,000 cast. However, this thing is far from over as nearly 6,000 absentee ballots have yet to be counted and are under lock and key until at least early next week. So while we'll have to wait to see who the winner is, one thing is for sure, Tedisco blew his overwhelming lead in the beginning and is caught in a dead heat. Now Jimmy realized this thing would be close, so he's already got his legal challenges ready to go.

From FireDogLake:

Republican Jim Tedisco may be running for the House in a district where Republicans outnumber Democratic voters by some 70,000, but with the polls closing in a matter of hours, Tedisco’s campaign is prepping for a loss.

An electoral loss, anyway.

The Dutchess County Clerk’s Office has confirmed to FDL that Tedisco’s people have filed an ex parte motion in order, the effect of which would be to investigate and overturn today’s election results, should the outcome not be to Republicans’ liking.

FDL is trying to obtain a copy of the motion and will post when available. We now have a sloppy copy (PDF), and are poring over it.

Yeah, so even with the choices of several thousand of Tedisco's potential constituents still up in the air, he chose to go the legal route if this thing doesn't go his way. It is almost if he ripped a page right out of Norm Coleman's handbook. Unfortunately for Jimmy, his fellow Republicans in Albany are none too happy about this, and everything that has happened in the campaign to date. They're so pissed that they just might go and strip him of his Minority Leader status.

So if he ends up losing this election (which is quite probable) then he'll have his hat in hand going back to Albany and will become just another ordinary Assembly member in the minority. That means as for power, he'll have absolutely none.

One Less Vote For Jim Tedisco

Tens of thousands of voters in the 20th District will come out to choose their next Congressman today. After a few short weeks of campaigning the day of reckoning has come and the once-runaway candidate Jim Tedisco is fighting off his Democratic challenger in a toss-up race. Imagine for a moment that in this close battle, Tedisco loses by one vote. If that rare scenario would occur, it would come down to the fact that Jim doesn't live in the district and he won't be casting a ballot today because of it.

From The NYT Cityroom:

Photos of political candidates voting (presumably) for themselves are an Election Day staple. But that’s one small way in which Assemblyman James N. Tedisco, the Republican running for Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand’s old seat in the House, is at a disadvantage: He doesn’t live in the district.

Who lives where became an issue when the candidates emerged for the 20th Congressional District special election, which is Tuesday. Scott Murphy, the Democratic contender, was a newcomer who grew up in Missouri, relocated to Manhattan, still owns an apartment on Central Park West, and only moved to Glens Falls a few years ago. (His wife, Jennifer Hogan, is part of a large and politically prominent family there.)

Although you can argue that Tedisco has lived in the region for decades and Murphy has only been here a few years, there is a much bigger picture to take in. Murphy for one was diligent enough to be aware of such details. Meanwhile Tedisco was just one that saw an opportunity to jump from one minority position in Albany to one in Washington.

Tedisco is busy with a new house in the district though:

But Mr. Tedisco, who bought a house last August in Glenville — a few blocks from the Saratoga County line, he has said — remains a registered voter in Schenectady County. So, while his wife will be able to cast a ballot on Tuesday, he will not.

And with the way things are going, Tedisco can rest assure that next month he'll have a competent Congressman in Scott Murphy representing his house in Glenville while he keeps busy in Albany.

NY Times Lets David Halbfinger Get Away With Scott Murphy Smear

Why is it that so many editors cannot do the jobs that they are hired for? Case in point is David Halbfinger's editor at the Times, who let the author pull a hit job on the surging Democratic challenger in the 20th District. Scott Murphy is a self-made man in the financial sector, but to tie him with the worst elements of the fiscal disaster we are in is extremely misleading. Yet with just a few days to go in this toss-up race, that is exactly what the "paper of record" in New York did.

From The Albany Project:

Yesterday, the New York Times had a story on the 20th congressional district race. The story was entitled, "Ire at Wall St. Bonuses Is Now Factor in House Race."

If you read the piece, which is a two-page story, you would get the feeling that the Times wasn't so high on Democratic candidate Scott Murphy. Even though the title of the article suggests something more broad (like voters being concerned about the bonuses AIG received) it is actually more specific than that. The target was Murphy and how his support of the stimulus package means that he supported the bonuses being handed out to AIG executives.

Recently, Irene Jay Liu of the Albany Times-Union termed this line of attack a "stretch." That's exactly what it is. The stimulus package covers a lot of ground and at $789 billion, there are a lot of things in there. Murphy might not support all of it, but he supports the goal: In order to stimulate the economy, we need to invest in our country.

However, one of the most prominent newspapers in the country didn't consider this a stretch. In fact, they essentially helped Tedisco further this talking point. There are a couple of things about this story that should bother the average reader and media critic alike:

- There isn't a single direct quote from Scott Murphy or his campaign and there are only a few select quotes from the debate on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Tedisco has at least two long quotes in the piece from the debate on Tuesday.

- The author of the piece, David Halbfinger, wrote the piece asserting that the AIG bonus issue is the major story in the race's final days leading up to Tuesday's special election. While AIG bonuses might be something on everyone's mind (they have certainly upset us all), to try and say that Murphy's support of the stimulus package means he supports the AIG bonuses is absurd. As others have said in recent days, it is a stretch.

- There is only one passing mention (that you could easily miss if you read the article fast enough) to Tedisco's refusal to take a position on the stimulus package. That is not a stretch, yet the article seems to downplay its significance.

- And here's the important one: There is not one mention of Tedisco's financial disclosure, which includes AIG under the "assets and unearned income" section. That asset is worth between $1 and $15,000, but apparently it wasn't worth inserting into a story about, well, AIG and its impact on the 20th district race.

I apologize for quoting so much from Robert Harding at TAP, but he covers this episode of journalistic misconduct perfectly. Calling out the NY Times for this is important and the more so, the better. With less than 55 hours to go in the race, time is at a minimum and voters should be informed by newspapers with the facts, not a pro-Tedisco/anti-Murphy bias. As Robert said in his post, and I'll say in my affirmation of it, that the progressive blogs can tout Murphy and point out the failings of Tedisco in any way we want (as long as it is truthful of course). The Times though is and should be held to a different standard....they should try living up to it.

Murphy Leads Going Into The Final Stretch

Time is short in the 20th district, but Scott Murphy has proven he's got the stuff. Jim Tedisco was supposed to have been handed this seat, yet now with four days to go, the insurgent candidate has come up with the lead.

From Siena:

Loudonville, NY. As the special election in the 20th C.D. enters the final weekend, Democrat Scott Murphy has reversed a four-point deficit and turned it into a four-point lead over Republican Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco. Murphy leads 47-43 percent, having trailed two weeks ago by a 45-41 percent margin, according to a new Siena (College) Research Institute poll of likely voters. Tedisco's campaign is viewed by voters as more negative by a 44-25 percent margin, while Murphy's campaign is seen as more positive. Regardless of who they are supporting, by a 45-35 percent margin, voters think Tedisco will win the election.

"While the percentage of likely voters supporting Murphy has risen about three points per week for the last four weeks, the percentage supporting Tedisco has dropped three points. In the last four weeks, Murphy turned a 12-point deficit into a four-point lead," said Steven Greenberg, spokesman for the Siena New York Poll.

"Murphy has sealed the deal with Democrats, leading 84-11 percent, while Tedisco has the support of less than two-thirds of Republicans, leading 64-27 percent. Independents are virtually tied, with Tedisco leading 45-44 percent, after trailing with independents by six points two weeks ago and leading by 14 points four weeks ago," Greenberg said. "Tedisco's 16-point lead in Rensselaer and Saratoga Counties two weeks ago is down to six points. Murphy slightly expanded his lead in the northern counties from 25 to 29 points, and turned a seven-point deficit in the southern portion of the district into a two-point lead in two weeks."

Murphy turned that around because he's been the candidate that presents a comprehensive and engaging vision for the voters. Tedisco is only more of the same out of Albany and shown he'll to do whatever it takes to shield himself from making hard decisions and presenting a front that goes up against the President's vision of change without any vision of his own. No wonder Tedisco saw his lead vanish, he never did anything to hold onto it.

Scott Murphy's Obama Ad

The Republicans are trying to make the special election in upstate New York a referendum on Obama. Even though this race is really about the people of the 20th District, Murphy is set on working with the popular President, while Jim Tedisco is set on joining the Party of No. Tedisco can claim he's above partisan politics, but when push comes to shove, he isn't behind the President and Murphy is.

Obama Throws His Support Behind Scott Murphy

Fresh off his presser from last night, Barack Obama decided to flex some political muscle in upstate New York for the underdog Democratic candidate Scott Murphy. Murphy is running against Jim Tedisco in the 20th Congressional District and has gone from having a slim chance in the race to making this thing a toss-up. The district itself has more Republicans than Democrats, but Obama won big here last fall. So having the President publicly supporting you is a big deal.

From the AP:

"I'm writing to you now because you have the opportunity to make a big impact on my efforts to bring about a lasting economic recovery," Obama said in an e-mail in which he announced his support for Democrat Scott Murphy and tied himself — and the popularity of his economic policies — to the outcome of the March 31 election.

It's no surprise that Obama is backing his fellow Democrat. But the popular president attracts supporters from across the political spectrum, making his support a potentially potent weapon for Murphy as the Democrat runs in a heavily Republican district against the well-known Jim Tedisco, the GOP leader of the state Assembly.

Obama has been stepping up his political activity in recent days, activating his grass-roots campaign apparatus, Organizing for America, in earnest over the past week to put pressure on Congress to back his budget proposal. Campaigning and fundraising are the next steps in a gradual ramping up of his role as chief of the Democratic Party even as he preaches the need for bipartisanship in governing.

Sent Wednesday to about 60,000 Democratic activists around the upstate New York congressional district, Obama's e-mail said Murphy "has the kind of experience and background we desperately need right now in Washington" and asked voters to send the venture capitalist and one-time small-business owner to Congress, "where we'll work together to get our economy moving in the right direction."

The outcome of the race had already been associated as an early referenda on the nascent Obama Administration, but this shows Obama is ready to back up what is being said in the press. Of course, the President wouldn't be doing this if he didn't think Murphy had a shot, and most of the credit for that belongs to Scott Murphy for running an honest and credible campaign against an ethically challenged Albany politician of the worst order.

Tedisco: Just Another Albany Politician

Is this the experience that Tedisco is going to bring to Congress?

Poughkeepsie Journal Gets It All Wrong With James Tedisco

With the special election in the 20th district only eight days away, last minute endorsements are making their way in. The Poughkeepsie Journal came out today in favor of Republican and State Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco. Their reasoning however, is a little off track and while they recognize Jim's failings and Scott Murphy's positives, their connection from the facts to their decision is far from clear.

From The Poughkeepsie Journal:

The district needs someone to jump right in and make a difference, and veteran state lawmaker James Tedisco has those abilities. District voters should give him the opportunity to serve.

Tedisco has considerably more experience than his opponent, Democrat Scott Murphy, who has never sought office before.

Tedisco's experience has shown that he is capable of extending considerable perks to himself and his fellow Republicans that make up the leadership. As Minority Leader he was able to manage the limited budget afforded to his caucus but as for pushing legislation that has been effectively shut off by Sheldon Silver.

In an editorial board meeting with the Poughkeepsie Journal, Murphy made the point he could best serve with fellow congressional Democrats John Hall and Maurice Hinchey for the good of the mid-Hudson Valley. There is something to be said for that - and for being in the political majority in Congress. But there also is something to be said for having candid, dissenting voices in any political body to keep the majority from going astray.

The first two sentences are right on, but that last one has no basis in fact. As for being "candid," Tedisco is anything but and the Journal acknowledges this three paragraphs down:

Tedisco has refused to answer directly whether he would have voted for the massive $787 billion stimulus package approved by Congress. He said there are aspects of the measure - such as helping the unemployed and providing money for infrastructure projects - he likes. But he rightly questions the overall pricetag and says he would have sought amendments to eliminate spending that doesn't directly deal with aiding the economy.

The logic doesn't add up and as for asking questions on the pricetag, the Journal does not adequately understand the scope of our fiscal crisis. Tedisco makes a claim that he would try to eliminate spending that doesn't deal with aiding the economy, but he is not able to define what that spending is.

The only part of this editorial that I agree with is the very last line:

The special election will be March 31, and voters should come out in force with so much on the line.

That is exactly why district residents must elect Scott Murphy as their next Congressman.

Tedisco Goes Positive, Then Straight Back To Negative

Things are not going well for Jim Tedisco's campaign. After losing a double-digit lead within a month, the candidate decided to change course and go positive, preferring to talk about him and not let the NRCC and Michael Steele do the talking anymore. After a couple of ads that touted Tedisco, the campaign went straight back to slamming Murphy for things that he really shouldn't be talking about. Further, the Times-Union fact-checked this Murphy-A.I.G. connection and found it to be a stretch at best.