Omen for Republicans

Little noticed outside of New York state, a special election for a state senate seat in a conservative district near the Canadian border held Tuesday offered an insight on where things might be headed this November.

Democrat Darrel Aubertine bested his Republican challenger by a four-point margin in the race to fill a vacated seat. That in itself is not remarkable, but this is: the Republicans have nearly a 2 to 1 registration advantage in the district and have held the seat for one hundred uninterrupted years.

As always, there were local factors involved, too. Aubertine is a popular guy of modest means, and he had an uninspiring opponent. On the other hand, Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer has managed to drive his huge initial approval rating down into the 30s in a single year in office, and the race was understood by everyone to be a referendum on Spitzer’s less than stellar performance.

The only explanation I can extract from this shocker is that the voters have had it with the Republican Party nationally and are ready to give them a whaling wherever they raise their rosy pates. I am utterly charmed by this possibility especially since I was born in Mr Aubertine’s district a number of years ago and would like to see the execrable Bushite loyalists spanked and put out with the garbage at least once before I am awarded my exit certificate.