New York State Democratic Congressman
Over at OpenLeft, Matt Stoller has an interesting — and not all that favorable — piece about Brian Higgns from NY-27. The district runs roughly from Buffalo on south to Jamestown. Higgins does not have a particularly liberal voting record; in particular, he voted for the recent FISA bill. Stoller writes:
As a politician, Higgins lives on local pork and a DLC voting record. He’s a member of the New Democrat coalition, he voted for the FISA wiretapping expansion, and he voted for the Bankruptcy Bill in 2005. His instincts lean hawkish, but he can be pushed around by House leadership.
Coverage of the maneuvering behind the FISA bill vote suggest that many Democrats from traditionally Republican districts voted for the bill to give themselves political cover. But Higgins faced only token opposition in 2006 and his district has a Cook PVI of +6.8 Democratic (this means that the district votes 6.8 percent more Democratic than the average district in presidential elections). Anything over +5 PVI in favor of the incumbent’s party is generally considered safe — that is doubly true for Democratic inbumbents in the most toxic political environment for Republicans since Watergate.
What’s Higgins afraid of? Democratic incumbents in New York State have nothing to fear but fear itself. Here’s a stat (from a comment on OpenLeft): “17 of NY state’s 23 Democratic seats were won with at least 70% of the general election vote.”
I actually wrote a similar post! Since yours went up first, let me just copy it here:
Brian Higgins, problem Democrat?
Over at OpenLeft, Matt Stoller has a bone to pick with Brian Higgins, asking “NY 27: Why does FISA Coward Brian Higgins Hold This Overwhelmingly Democratic Seat?”
Here’s some of what Matt has to say:
Meanwhile, others say that “Higgins is just spooked”:
I’ll quite freely admit that I know next to nothing about Higgins at all. What do you think of him? Can we expect any better of him, or does the composition of his district excuse his behavior?
Does anything excuse him, or any politician, for voting to destroy the fourth amendment?
Higgins seems to be trying to represent his districts concerns. If FISA was way down the list of Buffalo resident’s concerns, then his vote is not a surprise. IT seems better to take advantage of his strength with the base of Democrats who are not in the progressive movement, and to invite him to also join the Western New Yorkers who are concerned about these national progressive issues. As the rest of the “Higgins is just spooked” comment linked above suggests, Higgins responds to the issues that are on the front page of the Buffalo News. How about press releases from Buffalo-area civil rights groups, letters to the editor about the local impact, delegations of locals to visit the congressman when he is in the district? And the important thing…this publicity needs to happen before the vote, not after.