Liberal : Local race between Maffei, Buerkle exemplifies shift in national politics
Former Democratic Rep. Dan Maffei is poised to take back the House of Representatives seat in New York’s 25th District from Republican Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle this year. The race is a rematch from 2010, when Buerkle unseated Maffei by just 648 votes, riding a wave of Tea Party fever. But more importantly, the race will exemplify a national shift in politics.
One of the two major changes we will see comes from super Political Action Committees. We have seen the alarming influence that these organizations have already had on the Republican primaries. The race for New York’s 25th District will be no exception.
Despite an attempt to refuse unlimited funding from individuals and corporations through these organizations, President Barack Obama was forced to begin accepting donations from Democratic PACs like Priorities USA Action this week. The decision came after it was announced that in 2011 Republican PACs raised $51 million, compared to the Democrat’s $19 million, because of the president’s lack of support. However, super PACs have proven to be too powerful to simply be ignored.
‘Unfortunately, (super PACs) will likely result in unaccountable outside groups flooding the district with misleading ads,’ said Clay Schroers, Maffei’s campaign manager. Republican groups are likely to flood the Syracuse market with commercials attacking Maffei’s stance on abortion, health care and tax cuts. But the former representative will get a big boost from Washington, D.C., to help counter these ads.
Last month, Steve Israel, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman, announced the group would support Maffei as one of the 18 priority battles for Democrats in 2012. In a program called ‘Red to Blue,’ Maffei will not only receive support from fellow Democrats, but will also be able to rally outside help from liberal PACs.
Though he may not approve of utilizing the influence of PACs, it is clear that they are necessary for winning any election this year. As Democratic PACs are now free to raise more money with Obama’s support, they will be sure to support Maffei in one of the key districts to take back control of the House.
The second difference we will see is in the voters. In 2010, voters who were disaffected by the down economy and its slow recovery, jumped ship to the Tea Party movement as celebrity politicians like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann took center stage. But many voters will reverse their positions again after Republicans proved to be far too confrontational in the past two years.
An independent Pew Research Center poll showed 40 percent of Americans blame the ‘Do Nothing Congress’ on Republican leaders, compared to 23 percent who blamed Democrats. More so, 67 percent say ‘most incumbents should not be reelected,’ compared to 20 percent who would like to see current members return to Congress.
The shift in sentiment does not bode well for incumbent Tea Partiers like Buerkle.
Democrats ‘are going to be aggressively holding Republicans accountable for consistently choosing millionaires over Medicare, oil company subsidies over middle class tax cuts and ideology over solutions,’ DCCC Chairman Israel said. ‘In 2012, House Republican candidates are going to have to defend the indefensible.’
The forthcoming stalemates over a full-year extension of the payroll tax this month and the extension of President Bush’s tax cuts later this year will once again remind the public exactly who is responsible for Congress’ lack of action.
What the Maffei-Buerkle race and similar races across the country will show is that the public considers this type of brinkmanship to be unacceptable. Look for PACs to drive home this position as the election nears.
As Josh Schwerin, a spokesman for the DCCC, put best: ‘New Yorkers are making it clear that they are fed up with Congresswoman Buerkle (and) serious buyer’s remorse has set in. (She) will be looking for a new job come next November.’
Stephen Fox is a graduate student studying for his master’s degree in entrepreneurship and a graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. His columns appear weekly. He can reached at smfox03@syr.edu.
