After a month of silence on the issue, the Republican candidate seeking Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand's former House seat (NY-20), finally issued a statement on the stimulus package: Monday, he said he would have voted against it. Then, literally the next day, Tedisco runs an ad -- as part of his big campaign shake-up -- where he cites Barack Obama to observe that "in these difficult times, we're not Republicans or Democrats, we're Americans."
There is more than a hint of irony in Tedisco's decision to oppose the the president's biggest priority and then borrow his rhetoric. (During the campaign, I wrote a story on other Republicans who tried to use Obama to moderate their images; both lost.) Meanwhile, Scott Murphy, the Democratic candidate, has been campaigning on the stimulus and did an event last week to take advantage of Obama's decision to allow stem-cell research. But Obama hasn't endorsed Murphy yet; apparently, the president is unwilling to expend political capital on a tough (but tightening) race. But Obama polls strongly in the district, and even a simple statement of support would give Murphy more leverage against Tedisco.
The president is being cautious about his political commitments early in his term, but it's shortsighted: The results of this race are going to be a big deal in Washington, and whether or not he gets involved, Obama and his agenda will be judged on the outcome. The election of NY-20 has become a referendum on the early days of the presidency; a win would protect the popular momentum that is critical to policy success. If Tedisco wins -- a big win seems unlikely at this point, but he could eke out a close victory -- Republicans are going to have the best piece of leverage they've seen in a while to argue against the administration's priorities. While it's hard to imagine that the DNC won't throw some presidential robocalls into the race in the final week, some early commitment from the president might be all he needs to score a sustaining political victory.
-- Tim Fernholz
