Times piece features Massa, Maffei
The New York Times has a big piece on the rise of Democrats, especially in upstate New York. They mention Massa and have a lot to say about Maffei:
In a measure of how competitive the Northeast could be next year, White House political strategists have put together a list of vulnerable House Republicans that includes five from the region: Mr. Shays, Mr. Ferguson, Representatives John Randy Kuhl Jr. from New York’s Southern Tier, James T. Walsh from the Syracuse region and Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania.
The list was obtained and circulated by Congressional Democrats, who are making plans to single out Northeastern Republicans for defeat in 2008, in the hopes of completing what many in their party see as an inevitable Democratic realignment in the region.
In Mr. Walsh’s 25th Congressional District, for example, Dan Maffei, a Democrat who came within about 3,400 votes of defeating Mr. Walsh, is planning to run again next year and has been meeting with party leaders and donors in Albany and Washington.
And in the neighboring 29th Congressional District, Eric Massa, a Democrat, has told party leaders in Washington that he plans to challenge Mr. Kuhl, who defeated him last November with just 52 percent of the vote.
Predictably, Walsh tries to play the I’m-so-centrist card, but Maffei smacks him down:
In Mr. Walsh’s case, he has already sided with Democrats on several major pieces of legislation, including a nonbinding resolution opposing President Bush’s call for sending additional troops to Baghdad.
Mr. Walsh’s assistants say the votes reflect a centrist point of view that Mr. Walsh has held for years, but Mr. Maffei has described Mr. Walsh’s votes as opportunistic.
“It has nothing to do with ideology,†Mr. Maffei said. “It’s purely political.â€
Expect Walsh to be all over the map. He’s reportedly said (off the record) “I’m not worried about the Republican base — where are they going to go?” so he thinks he can flirt with centrism when he needs to.
All it does is make him look like a mealy-mouthed flip-flopper. Which he is.
Related posts:
CQ Politics, the blog sponsored by Congressional Quarterly, also has a piece this morning on the 25th. One more indication of just how much in play this district is, and how much awareness there is nationwide of the opportunity to turn more of the Rochester area blue. http://www.cqpolitics.com/2007/04/democrat_maffei_seeks_rematch.html#more