| They huffed and they puffed and, well, not much happened. Though they tried and tried and tried, to make this election about the Governor's plan to allow undocumented workers to obtain drivers licenses, an issue they believed (and they were hardly alone) was a sure fire winner for them, in the end, the issue turned out to be largely a sheep in wolf's clothing. It's more complicated than that, of course. Dems in some key races campaigned actively against the policy, but the fact remains that, in what most observers judged to be an environment highly favorable to what remains of the NY GOP, they rather seriously underperformed. If I were a partisan of the NY GOP, I'd be awfully concerned this morning. This was obviously one of their last best chances to remain relevant statewide and their "scary brown people" gambit largely failed.
You can actually read the disappointment in the statement of state GOP chair Joe Mondello as quoted in this morning's Times:
While the results are still coming in, it is clear that New York's Republican Party has come a long way in the past 12 months.
Whatever, Joe.
More from the Times:
Democrats declared yesterday that Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants had not proved to be the electoral boon Republicans had hoped for in local elections, despite the Republicans' aggressive efforts to exploit overwhelming public opposition to the proposal.
Though Democrats appeared to expand their majority in the Legislature in Suffolk County, Republicans were not ready to concede a pivotal Nassau County legislative race, and pointed to significant victories in several county races upstate as evidence of a Republican resurgence in the state.
...
In many parts of the state, turnout appeared to be even lower than usual for an off-year election, despite Republican hopes that the licensing issue would drive Republican voters to the polls.
Though anger clearly existed over Mr. Spitzer's proposal - as well as his bout with scandal and his battles with Albany Republicans - many local races appeared to hinge, as they traditionally do, on local issues like property taxes and municipal services, or on the specific strengths and weaknesses of the candidates themselves.
...
In Monroe County, Democrats won one hard-fought legislative seat despite a late effort to blanket the area with mailers that charged local Democrats with aiding terrorists because of their support for Mr. Spitzer's licensing plan.
Though the seat will not by itself swing control of the County Legislature, Democrats hope it will presage a strong effort next year against two Rochester-area Republicans in the State Senate.
Like I said, it's certainly more complex than appears at first glance, and there are plenty of local races upstate to analyze, but the fact remains that the GOP was looking for much more than they got.
That's gotta hurt. |
