Posted on 03/05/2010 12:38:10 PM PST by Former Military Chick
New York Democratic Rep. Eric Massa will resign from the House on Monday, according Massa chief of staff Joe Racalto. While it’s the latest in a string of bad PR the Democrats have taken this week, Massa’s exit will actually help House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her quest to pass health care.
Massa announced earlier in the week that he would retire due to health issues. Shortly after his announcement, allegations of sexual harassment surfaced in the press.
Few congressional elections draw the kind of national attention that Erica Massa’s did in 2006. Even fewer draw an equal amount of attention when a candidate runs again after a failed first attempt, as Massa did in 2008. Now the 51-year-old representative from New York’s 29th District is the center of attention again, this time for announcing his retirement just as allegations surfaced that Massa sexually harassed a male staffer.
Four years ago, Massa was a cherished underdog. In a 2006 article titled, “They served, and now they’re running,” the New York Times profiled a handful of anti-war Democratic veterans who were running for Congress. While the Times played up his military credentials — 24 years in the Navy, including stints working under Gen. Wesley Clark — Massa argued that there had been a “fundamental change in the paradigm of politics” since the start of the Iraq War. Veterans like him could publicly oppose the reasons for going to war and still succeed politically, whereas John Kerry’s opposition to the Vietnam war sunk his presidential campaign decades later.
Even though opposition to the Iraq War was Massa’s top issue in 2006, progressives saw him as overly conservative, citing his opposition to new gun control laws and the fact that he was formerly a Republican. Anti-war sentiments were strong enough on the left, however, that Massa raised more than $377,000 online from far-left donors despite their reservations.
Massa’s conservative cred served him well, too, and the race looked close — closer still when Republican candidate Randy Kuhl’s ex-wife alleged that Kuhl had pulled a shotgun on her not once, but twice.
The 29th was still too conservative for Massa, who lost to a pro-war Kuhl with only 49 percent of the vote.
Following his loss, Massa told Esquire that he was cleaning out his garage when he his family told him that he had to run again. Massa was broke and exhausted, but his memory of the founders, he said, buoyed his spirits.
“Look, half the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were either in debt or bankrupt,” he told Esquire. “The remaining half, most of them lost all their possessions. The only reason Monticello didn’t get burned to the ground was that the British patrol missed the road. In South Carolina, among the Revolutionary leaders, all of them were either hung, had their houses burned, or their family slaughtered. You scratch your head and say, ‘They were fighting for the same things I’m fighting for, and all I’ve got to give is credit-card debt?’”
In an effort to round out his platform in a congressional district that would ultimately go to McCain, Massa added health care to his list of concerns. His own bout with cancer in the late 1990s became one of his stump subjects.
“At my last physical,” Massa told Esquire, “the doctor said, ‘Doing this again could kill you.’ And I said — and this is true, hand to God — ‘My not running for Congress could result in hundreds of soldiers getting killed. So you tell me where the risk balance is.’ This country is in danger of losing the United States of America in one generation. So it’s not, Will you run again? it’s, How could I not?”
Such rhetoric served Massa well, and his star continued to rise until March of 2008, when it seemed his campaign would be derailed by Eliot Spitzer’s scandalous resignation as governor of New York. According to the Washington Post, Massa had accepted campaign funds from Spitzer, and “returned the cash but only after the NRCC circulated three freeze-frame photos of Massa and Spitzer together, taken from one of Massa’s own campaign ads, which featured the words ‘trust,’ ‘integrity’ and ‘respect.’”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/03/04/a-brief-history-of-eric-massas-short-congressional-career/#ixzz0hKvi8Cky
That is a good question, he appointed Clinton’s replacement but there was an election for NY 21 perhaps someone on this thread will know that answer.
Yup. On Feb. 19, he was planning to vote No.
http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/02/19/massa-health-cares-dead-time-to-play-small-ball/
Chicago politicin’ at its finest.
“He coted NO, the last go around. The scandal leak was deliberate.”
How right you are. And he’s not going to complete his term, leaving Monday, so he won’t get the chance to vote NO again. He’ll be replaced by any Dem. they can get who will vote YES. This administration totally disgusts me.
“when the cockroaches start jumping overboard you know the boat is sinking fast.”
All those recent resignations, too, make me think maybe they attempted blackmailing these people into acquiesance and instead they chose to resign...maybe so they wouldn’t have to vote yes with a gun to their head (although it is leaving the field clear on the Dem. side to replace them with someone who will vote yes).
“...make me think maybe they attempted blackmailing”
BINGO!!!
Replacements for Representatives must be elected. The Governor can only appoint Senators.
And Patterson knowing the heat on him is coming from DC, why should he do The Usurper any favors?
My call: The Speaker just lost a vote.
No, we did. Massa planned to vote NO.
No, we did. Massa planned to vote NO.
At least he is no longer subject to arm twisting.
If it’s a special election, there’s no way a Democrat can be elected to that seat in this climate. It is predominately Republican.
The “NO” vote doesn’t matter, because you have to pass bills with YESses. This is great news (provided people on this thread are right, that a special election is in order).
But but but isn’t Pelois running the most ethical..............Oh never mind, we no she isn’t
She will need one less vote for a majority.
Yup, now there's no chance of him voting YES.
Unless it's an odd number of members, correct? I don't know how many members are presently still in office. Is it just Murtha's and Massa's seat currently vacated?
If he is leaving Monday, you KNOW that there is more than harassment allegations, I’ll bet they have video or audio of this guy doing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Dance. But the MSM won’t show this unless he converts back to the Republican Party.
but she cant replace him. not in enough time, anyway.
Isn’t it a DAMN SHAME that we have to endure this?
I had a bad dream the other night - that a few congressmen who pledged to vote no ended up found dead (and a press secretary chuckling about it).
Indeed, the Speaker lost a vote.
Further intrigue, if a real conservative Republican wins this district in November, the redistricting fight in NY State gets thrown a new dimension, and the possible/probable elimination of the NY-23 ( of the Hoffman
Owens
Scozzafava special election ) is in doubt. That leaves Peter King up a creek with no district.
We could end up with Peter King challenging Lazio in the Republican Senate primary. http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard/0109/Gillibrand_pick_helps_King_in_redistricting.html
We could end up with Hoffman in the House representing a reformulated NY-29 in 2012.
The biggest threat... We could end up with a 27-1 Dem-Rep split through hyper-gerrymandering for the NY 2012 delegation if the NY State Dem strategists use the redistricting plans entered into the contest here:
http://www.swingstateproject.com/tag/New%20York
No, one more vote. Now they will replace him with someone who will vote yes, he voted no didn’t he?
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