Don’t call it a rematch
But the Politico has a big piece up about Walsh/Maffei 2 Electroral Boogaloo:
At the beginning of the 2006 cycle, no one fit the profile of a long-shot candidate more than New York Democrat Dan Maffei.
A longtime Hill spokesman who had never held elected office, Maffei had the daunting task of challenging Rep. Jim Walsh (R-N.Y.), a nine-term congressman known for his skill in steering federal funds to his Syracuse-based district. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee didn’t even spend money in the race until the campaign’s final weeks.
But after a narrow defeat in November, Maffei sees himself as a potential frontline candidate in preserving — and possibly broadening — the Democratic majority for 2008. He joins a growing number of defeated Democratic candidates who think that the party’s winning wave will continue to rise and that a rerun of their 2006 races will bring a different result.
Maffei hasn’t announced yet but I suspect he may soon from the way he’s talking:
“In a way, my campaign changed the fundamental landscape of an area. We took a district that was safe Republican and made it front line in one election cycle,” Maffei said.
Massa gets a shout out too:
Eric Massa, Maffei’s upstate neighbor, will also be hitting the campaign trail again. After narrowly losing to Rep. John R. Kuhl, Massa, a retired naval officer, was one of the first Democrats to announce a comeback bid.
He sounded a bullish note on his chances, predicting that “2008 is going to be a much better year than 2006.” Democrats, he said, “are going to put an FDR-sized majority in Congress.”
Oh, man. Let’s make with the parachute pants and faux-ripped tees! Exile’s making with the “Breakin’” references. Next thing you know, he’ll be doing the dolphin at Monty’s.
PS: shouldn’t it be “Electoral Boogaloo?”
I like it! Changed it to “electoral”.
[...] My big news for the month was “Massa Announces“. I had been working closely with this campaign and was very excited to see it up on RT. Eric’s response to the Mast Family situation goes up on RT, Kuhl’s response arrives 6 days later. Eric shows us his true colors with, Massa on what kind of Dem he is. Dan Maffei also gives us the “heads-up“. [...]