From Reuters:

A New York Democrat candidate blamed President Barack Obama on Thursday for his loss in a special election for a House of Representatives district that had been held by the Democrats for more than 80 years.

The Republican upset on Tuesday in a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans three to one has rattled some Democrats ahead of the November 2012 presidential election.

David Weprin, a New York state assemblyman, said his loss in a race to replace disgraced Anthony Weiner, who resigned in a Twitter sex scandal, was an “unfortunate consequence” of a campaign that turned into a “referendum” on Obama’s policies.

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The final results from the special election held in New York’s uber-liberal 9th Congressional District could be both an ominous sign and political tide that may roll over the Democrat Party in Florida in 2012. NY-9 was considered one of the “safest” congressional districts that Democrats neve rthought they would lose.  But with greater numbers of traditional Democrats becoming increasingly hostile towards President Obama’s toxic agenda and his mistreatment of Israel, this 40% Jewish district has shifted Republican.

Suffice to say, the Republican Party is positively giddy over the results and smells blood in the waters of other once “safe” congressional districts- especially those in Florida.

“The results of New York 9 send a message for all incumbents, but especially Democrats who live in the delusion that their reelection is certain. NY-9 implies that even some of Florida’s most traditionally Democrat districts understand a principled-Republican message of economic prosperity through less government and more freedom.”-Brian Hughes, RPOF Communications Director

All eyes will be on Florida in next year’s Presidential election, one could say that it will be the proverbial Mount Megiddo where political Armageddon will take place in November 2012.  Could the once supposedly “safe” Democrat Congressional seats in Florida now be in play?  The most high-profile “safe” seat is in Congressional District 20, held by DNC Chair and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Wasserman-Schultz spun the NY-9 defeat rather incredulously, stating that it was a “tough district” for Democrats to win even though it was Warren Harding who was President when Republicans last held the seat in 1923.  But Debbie’s real problem is that NY-9 was a complete rebuke of Obama’s policies, and make no mistake about it- Debbie, as DNC Chairwoman, is married (figuratively) to the President and his policies. The deal breaker for many Jews which set off alarm bells may have been when Obama stated that Israel should return to its indefensible 1967 border lines as a precondition for future peace negotiations with the Palestinians.  As President Obama’s hand-picked DNC Chairwoman, Debbie is in a major bind- her inability and refusal to separate herself from the President’s failed and offensive policies could ultimately send her packing from Congress- a situation she might not have been in had she not accepted the appointment of DNC Chairwoman.

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Michael Barone in The Washington Examiner:

This result is a rebuke to Barack Obama, but it is a rebuke as well—a stinging one, perhaps more stinging—to Senator Charles Schumer. He represented much of this district for 18 years. The now-disgraced Anthony Weiner was his staffer and pretty obviously Schumer’s chosen successor as congressman when he ran successfully for the Senate in 1998. In addition, Schumer has made it his special project to win back white middle class voters in places like metro New York for the Democratic Party.

In January 2007, just in time for the new Democratic majority in Congress, he published a book, Positively American: Winning Back the Middle-Class Majority One Family at a Time. It is a thoughtful essay on how Democrats can win the votes of the kind of voter Schumer himself has won over in his career as a congressman and senator, with specific policy recommendations as well as public relations advice. As one of the three Democratic leaders of the Democratic majority in the Senate—and by common reckoning the one who outshines in intellect the other two put together—Schumer has played an important role in fashioning Democratic policies, including but not limited to the 2009 stimulus package and Obamacare.

This vote is a startling repudiation of those policies by just the voters Schumer was hoping to win over.

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