Massa Podcast Outtakes

Due to technical difficulties, we had to re-start yesterday's podcast in the middle. In the first round of questions, Massa made a couple of interesting points that didn't make it to the air:

  • In my first take at the gerrymandering question, I noted that the 29th was a Republican district. Massa pointed out that a Democrat, Stan Lundine, had represented the area back in the 80's, and that he felt that voters in the 29th were able to vote for policy, not party.
  • I asked a follow-up on fundraising, noting that Massa had received little help from Rahm Emanuel and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, when other races (like Tammy Duckworth's in IL-6) had gotten a lot of money from the national party. Massa made a couple of points in response. First, he said that he never "pounded the table" for support. He acknowledged that it "would have been nice" to get more support, and that he did get some support from the DCCC towards the end of the race. Looking forward, he noted that the 2006 race was on Congressional Quarterly's list of the 15 closest races, and that he hoped that national recognition from publications like CQ will help "capture the imagination" of DC politicians.

Comments

Emanual was good at voicing the grievances of the minority on the floor. I don't know how important he was in the election, but Colbert seems to be making the point that Emanual(e) is a bit tone deaf.

The gerrymandering question was a good one, and think that Massa's response in the outtakes is right.

I know that Emanuel told MOCs to avoid Colbert, but I must have missed Colbert's response. Is Emanuel dead to him, or on notice?

Thanks. Now I get the Emanuel(e) reference...

Concerning the gerrymandering reference, The district was differently shaped when Stan was our congressman. Stan won the election after Representative Hastings (R) of Allegany was forced to resign because of issues concerning him and his office. Admittedly, the district was also Republican back then also, and always has been. It has been New York's 38th, the 39th, 34th, 37th and now the 29th Congressional District at various times in history, depending on where you live.

For those of us in Monroe County, we used to be in the 28th, also. That's Louise Slaughter's district.