New York's 9th Congressional District

Yesterday's election of Republican BobTurner to New York's 9th District congressional seat is a clear repudiation of President Obama - no matter how the New York Times and the White House try to spin it.  The single most important issue in the election was America's relationship with Israel, but other issues were obviously intertwined.  Former Mayor Ed Koch, a lifelong Democrat and a strong supporter of Israel, supported Turner over David Weprin and called for New Yorkers to send a message to President Obama about both his domestic and foreign policies.  As a Jew himself, Koch not only influenced the Jewish vote, but more importantly reflected the feelings of the electorate at large.

Conservatives should take heart that a heavily Democratic congressional district took this important step, but we should not be overly optimistic.  There is still a long road ahead to November 2012.  It is pretty clear that a lot of folks are fed up with this President's inept policies, but we have yet to clearly articulate the conservative alternative.  We are still at the stage where it is acceptable to explain Mr. Obama's stupidity, but we are rapidly approaching the point where folks will start demanding to know what specific things we would do to change things.  The Republican led House has passed a number of specific bills that are relevant to this debate, but they languish in the Senate where Harry Read refuses to let them come to a vote and the media ignores them as not being newsworthy.  The public knows little about them or the issues that they address.

This situation will continue until we settle on the specific candidate that we want to lead the Republican Party in the 2012 presidential election.  Before anybody can assume that mantle he or she has to convince conservatives that they are the best suited to the task of defeating Mr. Obama.  Liberals don't get their say until the general election.  In order to be selected as the conservative candidate a person has to prove his bonafides as a conservative.  This process frequently scares liberals who are watching from the sidelines and that fright frequently carries over into the general election where they vote against the Republican contender. 

One example of this is the current tentative discussion of Social Security reform.  Governor Rick Perry has called Social Security a ponzy scheme and Governor Mitt Romney has taken issue with that characterization.  In the weeks ahead, both men will be forced to expand on what they would do to fix the problems plaguing Social Security and that discussion will frighten a lot of American voters.  President Obama will likely continue to ignore Social Security in the hope that the Republican Party will scare enough voters that he can be re-elected.  The 2012 election will be a test of the American public's ability to come to grips with the real issues challenging our nation.  In a very real sense it is more about us - the electorate - than it is the candidates.