Republicans Win New York Special Election To Replace Anthony Weiner
Admittedly, it’s a bit of schadenfreude to see the disgrace loud-mouthed, arch-liberal, internet pervert Anthony Weiner replaced by a Republican. I’m sure his GOP replacement, Bob Turner, will hardly be the second coming of Barry Goldwater in that district, but it’s hard as a conservative not to be satisfied with seeing a Democrat stronghold hold in true-blue New York elect a Republican for the first time ever.
But going beyond that, it looks like the voters in the election weren’t just punishing Democrats for Weinergate. It appears as though the election became a referendum on President Obama and his handling of the economy.
Retired media executive and political novice Bob Turner defeated Democratic state Assemblyman David Weprin in a special election Tuesday to succeed Rep. Anthony Weiner, a seven-term Democrat who resigned in June after a sexting scandal.
With about 70 percent of precincts reporting late Tuesday, Turner had 53 percent of the vote to Weprin’s 47 percent.
The heavily Democratic district, which spans parts of Queens and Brooklyn, had never sent a Republican to the House. But frustration with the continued weak national economy gave Republicans the edge.
Turner has vowed to bring business practicality to Washington and push back on spending and taxes.
The race was supposed to be an easy win for Democrats, who have a 3-1 ratio registration advantage in the district.
Weprin, a 56-year-old Orthodox Jew and member of a prominent Queens political family, seemed a good fit for the largely white, working-class district, which is nearly 40 percent Jewish.
But voter frustration with Obama put Weprin in the unlikely spot of playing defense. A Siena Poll released Friday found just 43 percent of likely voters approved of the president’s job performance, while 54 percent said they disapproved. Among independents, just 29 percent said they approved of Obama’s job performance.
If Dems can’t even hold on to a historically blue district in an overwhelmingly blue state because of President Obama’s policies it’s pretty clear that the stage is being set for another wave election.
All the more likely given that Obama’s bright new ideas for the rest of this year-before-an-election-year is all the same ideas that didn’t work during the first half of his term in office.
Tags: anthony weiner, Barack Obama, bob turner, election 2012
