As Dana notes, rhe results from NY-20 are in. Sort of. Though Democrat Scott Murphy holds a 65-vote advantage over Republican Jim Tedisco, at least a week remains until election officials sort through as many as 10,000 absentee ballots to determine the actual winner. Some have speculated that the absentee ballots will favor Tedisco (military ballots), though it's also possible that they favor Murphy (college students). The race continues apace, too close to call.
Will it be as important nationally? Some people are arguing that it won't represent a referendum on the Obama administration's policies, but that's something of a different question. I think John Judis makes the correct analysis here: This is a good sign for the administration; it shows that their ideas remain politically competitive and that their message is still resonating with the public. Even if Tedisco ultimately prevails, this is not a race that the GOP can easily take to the bank as a sign of things to come, given the close final results and Tedisco's decisions to attack party leadership after his first disturbing poll numbers. While it is easy to pooh-pooh the overspinning of the race, the fact remains that this is the first electoral contest of the administration's short lifespan and for either side to ignore what worked and what didn't in the race would be a big mistake.
-- Tim Fernholz
