Significance of GOP’s New York win debated

WASHINGTON – Savoring the unlikeliest of victories, Republicans called their triumph in a New York City congressional race a repudiation of President Barack Obama’s policies on the economy and Israel on Wednesday as public and private polls showed his approval ratings plummeting in a district he carried handily in 2008.

“We’re not going to sugarcoat it, it was a tough loss,” conceded the House Democratic Campaign Committee. Yet party officials and the White House insisted the race was not a referendum on the president as he seeks re-election with the economy stagnant and unemployment stuck at 9.1 percent.

In New York, Rep.-elect Bob Turner outpolled state Assemblyman David Weprin in a light-turnout election. He will replace former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, who resigned in disgrace earlier this year in a sexting scandal. Represented by Democrats since the 1920s, the district includes portions of Brooklyn and Queens, is home to three times as many registered Democrats as Republicans and is nearly 40 percent Jewish.

Those district demographics customarily spell victory for a Democrat, but in a smattering of interviews on the day after the election, former Obama supporters gave voice to their changed feelings.

Mark Russell, 37, a Democrat, said he didn’t vote because he could not get excited about supporting Weprin, despite numerous calls from the Democratic get-out-the-vote operation.

“In 2008 I voted for Obama, and I made a big mistake then,” said Kelly Redmond, 47, who cited the economy and the president’s policy toward Israel as reasons for supporting Turner.

Concerns that surfaced in the race included an administration policy in the Mideast that some Jews find not sufficiently supportive of Israel. Obama’s urging of Israel to halt housing settlements in the West Bank has been a point of controversy in the district.

In July, former New York Mayor Ed Koch became so angered by Obama’s view that Israel’s pre-1967 borders should be the baseline for Middle East peace talks that he announced plans to cross party lines and endorse Turner to send Washington a message.

“Ed Koch was enough to turn this around,” said Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf.

Among leaders in both parties, reaction to the results fell along lines that are well-established for a special election in which a House seat changes hands from one party to the other. The winning side almost always claims a broad national significance, while the losers point instead to local concerns.

House Speaker John Boehner issued a statement saying, “New Yorkers have delivered a strong warning to the Democrats who control the levers of power in our federal government. It’s time to scrap the failed ‘stimulus’ agenda and the misguided policies on Israel and focus on getting America back to creating jobs again.”

White House press secretary Jay Carney on Wednesday tried to play down the significance of the election, which comes in a district slated for possible elimination next year during redistricting.

“If you’re asking me, are Americans in general anxious, not happy with Washington, the answer is yes,” Carney told reporters on Air Force One. But he refused to call the election a wake-up call. “Special elections are often unique and their outcomes do not tell you very much about future, regularly scheduled elections,” he said.