Democratic U.S. House candidate Tom Suozzi celebrates his victory in the special election to replace Republican Rep. George Santos on February 13, 2024 in Woodbury, New York.
Stephanie Keith | Getty Images
Democrats aren’t just breathing a sigh of relief after flipping a red seat into a blue one in New York’s special election – they’re taking notes.
Tom Suozzi soundly defeated Republican challenger Mazi Pilip on Tuesday night in the high-profile race to succeed scandal-plagued former Rep. George Santos, who was expelled in December.
Suozzi’s victory shrinks Republicans’ majority in the House and makes life even more difficult for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who was already struggling to pass bills along party lines.
President Joe Biden and his re-election campaign are celebrating the victory as a comprehensive repudiation of an avalanche of recent criticism of Biden’s ability to remain at the top of his party’s ticket.
But he and his Democratic allies also see the race as a guide to how to defeat former President Donald Trump in the general election and how to push back on Republican attacks that have dominated the political landscape.
One of her clear insights: Don’t shy away from the border debate.
Border and voters
Republicans have relentlessly criticized the Biden administration in recent months over its handling of the U.S. southern border as record numbers of migrants cross Mexico. On the same day as New York’s special election, House Republicans voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The attacks, including accusations that the White House is deliberately refusing to close the border and stem the flow, are clearly resonating with GOP voters who see immigration as the biggest problem. Polls show a majority of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of the border crisis.
Republicans who supported Pilip, who was born in Ethiopia and served in the Israel Defense Forces, worked hard to make the special election a referendum on immigration.
But Suozzi fought back and focused on the issue rather than denouncing Republicans’ preoccupation with the border as merely a political sideshow. Suozzi took a more moderate platform, running ads expressing support for a secure border and aggressively challenging Pilip in a face-to-face debate.
Crucially, he focused many of his attacks on Pilip’s opposition to a recent bipartisan border security bill. That legislation failed after Republican lawmakers, encouraged by Trump, abandoned the suggestion that their own leaders had any hand in the negotiations.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., was quick to identify Suozzi’s strategy as a lesson Democrats across the country must learn quickly if they want to prevail in November.
“Tom Suozzi’s special election victory last night can serve as a guidepost for Democrats,” Murphy wrote in a memo to his colleagues, reported by NBC News on Wednesday.
“He flipped the script on his Republican opponent” and “turned what could have been a devastating political liability into an advantage,” Murphy wrote.
The senator added: “We simply risk losing the 2024 election if we don’t use this opportunity to go on the offensive on the border issue and turn the tables on Republicans on a key issue in the fall election.”
Special choice, special circumstances
Despite Murphy’s warning, many political observers are quick to note that the New York special election is far from a perfect precursor to the general election.
Special elections are typically lower-turnout affairs that attract a more partisan and enthusiastic constituency of voters than general elections. New York’s 3rd Congressional District has also bucked the trend toward Democrats in recent years, setting itself apart from other wealthy suburban districts.
In addition, the Republican candidacy in the special election may have been weighed down by the baggage left by Santos, who was widely rejected by his voters even before his removal by Congress.
Democrats also far outnumbered Republicans in the race, and Suozzi may have benefited from a strong name identity, having previously represented the district. A heavy snowstorm that hit the Northeast on Election Day may also have impacted voter turnout.
New York Republican Chairman Ed Cox blamed Pilip’s loss on “the special circumstances that led to this special election” in a statement Tuesday evening.
Still, the White House is using the result as further evidence of Biden’s campaign and the strength of his agenda.
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This stance also implicitly echoes recent media concerns about Biden’s mental and physical fitness, fueled by a special counsel report that described Biden as an “older man with poor memory.”
A Biden campaign memo released Wednesday morning said: “When it comes to the ballot box, voters will come back again and again to choose President Biden and the Democrats’ agenda of protecting freedoms and working people Families to fight instead of the extreme MAGA agenda.” .”
Biden’s border news
As the border bill faltered earlier this month, Biden lambasted Trump, accusing him of pushing Republicans to oppose it because he “thinks it’s bad for him politically.”
“Every day until November, the American people will learn that the only reason the border is not secure is because of Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends,” Biden said.
The president’s attacks are only increasing in the wake of the special election.
Tuesday’s results “proved him right,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement about Biden.
“Tom Suozzi put support for bipartisan border legislation — and its killing for political reasons by Republicans in Congress — at the forefront of his case. The results are unmistakable,” said Bates.
Other Democrats seem to be joining in. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairwoman Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., told reporters in a debriefing Wednesday that while each district is “very different,” Democrats “absolutely” need to talk about immigration.
In a stark example of the Biden administration’s aggressive new messaging, an image of the House Speaker was posted next to a mocking Valentine’s Day poem on the White House’s X social media account on Wednesday.
It said: “Roses are red, violets are blue. The border agreement failed because of you.”
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2024-02-14 21:26:11
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