Commentary: Voters Are Rejecting Democrats, Not Incumbents

Summary

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Last November when Republican candidates on Long Island, across New York and in New Jersey and Virginia scored upset victories, the press was quick to announce that this political phenomenon was caused by the electorate's anger at incumbents. There were very few stories stating that the public was rejecting the liberal agenda driven by the Congress and embraced by President Obama.

There were even fewer stories pointing out that the incumbents who were losing were Democrats. In Nassau two prominent Democrats, who also had higher political ambitions, County Executive Tom Suozzi and County Comptroller Howard Weitzman, lost to challengers that could not come close to them in campaign financing. At the start of the election season in July when nominating petitions were filed, very few veteran political observers thought Suozzi or Weitzman could be defeated. Three months later, after a summer of controversy surrounding the health care debate, the failure of the federal stimulus program to create jobs and a growing federal deficit, the political landscape had changed radically. Democrats lost.

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Extract

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Commentary: Voters Are Rejecting Democrats, Not Incumbents

Contrary to the anti-incumbent theory, last November two Nassau County incumbent officials had huge victories.

Nassau District Attor...

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