Republican Gains Momentum In Battle For Weiner's Old Seat

Pity poor David Weprin, the Demcoratic choice to inherit digraced ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner's seat.  The son of  Assembly Speaker Saul Weprin, he assumed it would be a shoo-in, and all he had to do to win would be to show up.

Problem is....he can't even do that.

Weprin skipped a debate with Republican opponent Bob Turner long scheduled for last Monday, blaming Hurricane Irene. He was mocked by none other than...The  New York Times:

David I. Weprin, a Democrat in the State Assembly, pulled out of the event at the last minute, saying that Tropical Storm Irene, which had long since dissipated, had disrupted his schedule.

It was an eyebrow-raising explanation, especially given that his Republican opponent, Bob Turner, had been evacuated from his home in the Rockaways during the storm, yet still planned to make the debate.

And it touched off angry denunciations, from the debate’s sponsors as well as Mr. Turner, who accused Mr. Weprin of deliberately dodging an important campaign event two weeks before the vote..

And the left-of-center New York Daily News woke up this morning and decided to endorse....the Republican:

Voters in the overwhelmingly Democratic Brooklyn-Queens district have responded well to Turner despite his sin of being a Republican...Turner has the right central priority: tackling the federal deficit and creating a climate for job growth.

Where Turner is a self-made office seeker, Weprin is a product of the Queens County Democratic Organization. The bosses slipped him into the City Council and the Assembly through noncompetitive primaries and special election...even though Weprin does not live in the district. 

As for Weprin on the issues, he purports to believe that - no tough decisions needed - the deficit will somehow fix itself if the U.S. brings troops home from Afghanistan and Iraq. Appearing before the Daily News Editorial Board, he said he would have voted against the deficit deal that saved America from defaulting. Then he said he'd have voted for the deal if his vote had been necessary for passage. Where he really stands is any voter's guess. Most famously, in the same Editorial Board session, Weprin proved clueless as to the size of the national debt. He pegged the amount at $4 trillion - a mere $10 trillion less than it actually is.

Turner is the superior candidate and has the Daily News' endorsement.

 
And here is another interesting endorsement for the Republican

...the Jewish Voice crossed religious lines to endorse Catholic GOP candidate Bob Turner. The small Jewish weekly said it was pushed into Turner's camp by Weprin's Assembly vote in favor of gay marriage - and the need to challenge President Obama's Israel policy.

And the New York Post is pointing out some shading dealings in Weprin's past, referring to him as a "clueless bond pro" :
 

Weprin spent many years working for a number of big Wall Street firms as an investment banker specializing in selling municipal debt. His job was pretty simple: Secure lucrative underwriting assignments for his firm from the New York state government and its vast network of agencies by working his political connections, starting with his dad, Assembly Speaker Saul Weprin. The more debt issued by governments around New York, the more money Weprin and his firm stood to make. If you think this type of work sounds pretty slimy, you're on to something.... 

 My point is not just to show that Weprin might be brain-dead when it comes to one of the most important issues of our time (the country's mounting debt), but also to point out how he comes from an elite business and political class that actually thinks debt is good -- and doesn't think twice about the implications, such as how we're going to pay it all back. 

This is Scott Brown/Martha Coakley all over again.  Deja vu, baby.  A referendum on the president, no matter how far Weprin tries to run from him. And the Obama administration will still refuse to concede how out of step they are with the American people, and will still blame the Republicans for being "obstructionist", no matter how many of them America sends to Congress to thwart the liberal agenda...


UPDATE 9/2:  Some (not-so)shocking poll results, in a district where Democrats have a registration advantage of over 130,000:

Democrat David Weprin and Republican Bob Turner are running even in the race to replace former Rep. Anthony Weiner, according to an internal Republican poll released Thursday.

Roll Call reports that the poll, conducted by McLaughlin & Associates, found 42 percent of likely voters would vote for Weprin and 42 percent would vote for Turner. Sixteen percent of those polled said they were undecided.

Democrats have a large voter registration advantage in New York’s 2nd Congressional District, making the results of the poll surprising. They come on the heels of a Siena poll which found Turner trailing Weprin by a mere six points.

Yeah, I know the Democrats have "the machine" and thus the turnout advantage.  But it might turn out that the folks they help turn out will not necessarily vote for the Democratic machine's candidate....