I’ve heard of close races:

The state board’s Web site posted the latest unofficial results Friday afternoon, showing Tedisco and Democrat Scott Murphy with 77,225 votes each — a political anomaly about as rare as a two-headed calf. Unofficial results election night gave Murphy about a 60-vote lead.

Friday’s tally almost certainly won’t stand because of the ongoing recanvass of the machines used on Election Day. While many smaller counties had completed the task, larger ones such as Saratoga County were still midway through the process…

Tedisco’s next job — rank-and-file assemblyman or rank-and-file member of Congress — will almost certainly be determined by the more than 10,000 absentee ballots sent out by county elections boards. The last of the returned ballots, including votes from military and overseas denizens of the 20th District, can arrive no later than April 13 to be counted.

Curiouser and curiouser.

1. Scott Murphy (D) is ahead by 65 votes.  Nobody’s calling this race just yet.
2. There are somewhere between six and ten thousand absentee ballots that need to be counted.
3. They’re not being counted tonight.  They’re not being counted for another week. (Via AoSHQ)  You see, we do, in fact, actually learn from our mistakes.
4. The deadline for overseas absentee ballots is actually April 13th.
5. All that being said, just because we haven’t lost yet doesn’t mean that we’ve won, either.  Don’t assume that the absentee ballots are going to flip this race dramatically.
6. If you still have nervous energy to work off, Rosanna Pulido (the candidate for IL-05) would love your help.

I believe that covers it. So everybody have a bite to eat, or something.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

And it will be close. I’m thinking that it’s a squeaker for Tedisco, unless of course this particular ad:

…clarifies matters for NY-20. Also: it’d be nice if Tedisco broke 120K online, huh?

contribute:


Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Kirsten Gillibrand broke the traditional GOP hold on New York’s 20th Congressional district by making a name for herself as a conservative Democrat. When local Democrats nominated Scott Murphy in the race to succeed her, they said they did so because Murphy was cut from the same cloth. But Scott Murphy clearly hasn’t learned anything from the shared experience of New Yorkers about the war on terror:

Murphy opposes the death penalty for terrorists because it’s too expensive to execute them. He apparently also wants to make sure that when people like the 9-11 hijackers are captured, they get a fair trial where we are certain of their guilt before we lock them away.

These are not the views of a conservative Democrat, or of a Democrat who has learned the lessons of 9-11. Murphy’s views sound more like an old-line liberal in the mold of Mario Cuomo: legalistic and out-of-touch with reality. It’s surprising that someone who worked on Wall Street for years would demonstrate such a lack of sensitivity to the concerns of New Yorkers about terrorism. But perhaps he was still living in Missouri when New York was attacked; his bio has changed several times, so it’s hard to tell.

This surprising candor is so noteworthy that I almost want to let it stand alone, but I also need to mention that Murphy thinks the Obama-Reid-Pelosi debt spending was so gosh-darned wonderful that he would have supported it even knowing that it had a loophole for AIG bonuses in it.

That’s right: Murphy opposes the death penalty for terrorists because it’s too expensive, but he supports a $1.1 trillion debt spending bill… even one with an AIG carveout:

Not to beat a dead horse, but it might be because Murphy is not just a Mario Cuomo Democrat; he’s a Tim Geithner Democrat as well:

Donate to Jim Tedisco today:

<a href=”http://www.jimtedisco.com/donate/”>contribute:

Jim Tedisco reminds us that Murphy may have an inclination towards giving bonuses to companies losing money…

…although that may not be an entirely fair comparison. After all, back then Murphy’s bonus scheme didn’t involve your money. I wonder if he’s still for passing that miscalled “stimulus” bill - Tedisco is on the record as opposing it, mind you - and I wonder if Murphy is going to comment on his stance on the AIG payoffs further. Or at all, really.

<a href=”http://www.jimtedisco.com/donate/”>contribute:

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

It’s one thing to take a populist line on executive bonuses for failing companies; quite another to take a fake populist line.

Not to belabor the point, but the netroots are eager to put one of their military-hating own into Solomon’s seat; and while the race is still Tedisco’s to win it’s also tightening. So: contribute to Tedisco, and while you’re at it, think about supporting the NRCC, too. They’re in there swinging.

…and it’s a NGO defense-oriented conservative think-tank that’s been calling for the conversion of American transportation to alternative fuels since at least 2003. Its chairman, retired military veteran James Martin, writes:

On behalf of NDCF supporters who proudly represent all branches of the military, it strikes me that Mr. Murphy’s writings at his alma mater, Harvard University, when he was editor of a university magazine, Perspective, do not jibe with the majority views of the people of the 20th Congressional District of New York.

Murphy apparently co-authored an editorial critical of the military and questioned its longstanding traditions and structure. In the same editorial, Murphy railed against having ROTC outposts on college campuses, “Bringing ROTC on campus is not the best way of helping the economically disadvantaged.” (Perspective, Summer 1989).

His attacks on our nation’s military demonstrate just how out-of-touch he is. This is the same District that was once served by the late Republican Congressman, Jerry Solomon.

First off, Jim Tedisco. Republican. Running for the seat. Doesn’t hate the military. Donate here.

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(H/T: Hot Air) That’s a serious question, because he signed his name to an article saying precisely that back in college. The quote goes:

The military not only discriminates on the basis of sexual preference, but on the basis of sex and race. Women are not allowed to serve in combat even if they are physically superior to males who do serve in combat. And, while there are not explicit rules discriminating against minorities, the Congressional Black Caucus has found that “racism has become institutionalized at all levels of the military. Black and other minority service men are victims of discrimination from the time that they enter the services until the time that they are discharged.” Will Harvard choose to ignore this discrimination?

Murphy went on to declare that military values - which he proceeded to get wrong, as only a liberal Democratic Ivy League student can - are directly contradictory to those of Harvard University, or at least the Harvard University of twenty years ago. I would like to say that Harvard’s grown up a little since then, but it’d be a lie. Still, I’d like to know: has Murphy?

Moe Lane

PS: Jazz Shaw has more; so does this site, even if they can’t get the name of the NRCC right. But one of their commenters noted that parts of this district were once Gerald Solomon’s (I think), so that works out. And, of course, see also Erick’s post on the subject.

PPS: Jim Tedisco. Republican. Running for the seat. Doesn’t hate the military. Donate here.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Is Scott Murphy “Mr. Jobs,” or isn’t he? Well he was, then he wasn’t. The website scrubbers apparently don’t want you to know that Scott Murphy considers himself “Mr. Jobs,” probably because all the jobs he created were in India, not New York.

Here is how Scott Murphy, candidate for NY-20, described himself on his website originally:

“Scott Murphy, 38, from Warren County is a wunderkind for creating jobs in upstate New York . . . . Scott’s called ‘Mr. Jobs’ because of his unique experience at helping more than dozen companies in upstate New York.”

Here’s how it reads now:

“Scott Murphy, 39, is literally in the business of creating jobs. Saving and creating jobs, growing small businesses, and finding new ways to tackle old problems - these are the things Scott has done successfully for more than 15 years.”

He’s no wunderkind any more. And he’s no longer “Mr. Jobs.” Why?

Well a wunderkind probably would be smart enough to actually vote regularly before running for office. Scott Murphy didn’t vote for four years from 2000-2004. A wunderkind would also be smart enough to pay his taxes. Scott Murphy has a troubling history of not paying his taxes.

And he’s not “Mr. Jobs” because calling himself that would probably put the spotlight on his job creating ways in India — not New York. Scott Murphy started an company employing Indians and India that now rivals E-Bay. Good for him. Not good for New York.

UPDATED: Ed Morrisey brings us word that Scott Murphy has also accused the United States Military of being a bunch of racists. Writes Ed:

He opined in a Left-leaning campus magazine that the ROTC had no business on college campuses, especially Harvard

Why? Because the military expects people to follow orders and takes advantage of minorities.

Update: you can watch Assemblyman Tedisco’s announcement video here.

In the race to replace now-Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the Democrats have nominated a wealthy newcomer to the region. But he won’t admit he’s a newcomer. Instead, he stresses having lived in New York since ‘the early ’90s,’ when the truth is that he was living in Missouri as recently as the year 2000. Truth be told, New Yorkers have shown a penchant for electing carpetbaggers - so his residence is probably not a big deal, in and of itself. But a Congressional candidate ought to at least be honest about it.

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So Tom Daschle isn’t going to be Secretary of Health and Human Services for being a tax cheat. And Nancy Killefer removed herself from consideration for the same reason.

Now what about those people who want to be in Congress? Like Al Franken? Or Scott Murphy?

Just sayin …

I wrote yesterday about Scott Murphy — the Democrat candidate for Kirsten Gillibrand’s old House seat. I pointed out that he was trying to send part of his resume down the memory hole — suddenly erasing from his biography his role in starting an Indian rival to Ebay. I pointed out that he’d also had problems paying his taxes in the past. But now I see that his firm — Small World Software — still has outstanding liens against it with the New York State Department of Taxation.

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According to several news outlets, Democrats in New York’s 20th Congressional District may today choose their nominee for the upcoming Congressional race to fill the seat of Kirsten Gillibrand. And it looks like they may come up with a well-heeled candidate who can fund his own race. Scott Murphy is a managing director of Advantage Capital Partners, a venture capital firm that has more than $1 billion under management. Although he doesn’t appear to have disclosed his net worth, he’s probably earned enough to pay for the race himself (which may be why he hasn’t disclosed it yet). Further, as a venture capitalist, he’s probably benefitted from the low tax rate for carried interest that so vexes Charlie Rangel and many of his Democratic colleagues. If he gets the nomination, it should make for some interesting policy discussions on the campaign trail.

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