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
Before too long, every single member of the CPC will be made to account for themselves
Higgins (erie county) does not have a lock on his seat anymore
Well,......Bye.
Yep. Pelosi and Rahm got him out of their way using a Chicago-style political hit.
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.'"Amazing what the very little scrutiny the Demwits get has done in recent months. Still nothin' about the Kenyan though. Thanks Former Military Chick.
Massa said he is resigning with a "profound sense of failure and a deep apology to all those whom, for the past year, I tried to represent as our nation struggles with problems far greater than anyone can possibly imagine."
‘A successor is appointed by Paterson or special election???’
I don’t think govenors can appoint congressmen, only senators if their state law allows.
‘House members can’t be appointed. The seat remains empty (I believe).’
I too don’t think govenors can appoint congressmen, only senators if their state law allows.
It is less expensive to run a campaign for the nomination under the NY system being used than to run a full-blown primary. Yes, the effect on the county chairs may be limited, but it behooves “us” to make the effort.
And on top of that, if Massa really cared about NOT passing 0bamacare, he’d stick around until at least the end of his term.
Third time losing and you’re gonna have to commit seppuku. Dems da rulz.
Unless there are photos, e-mails, worse if he sticks around long enough to vote.
Yes, he did vote no last time. But who is to say he would have voted no again. Look at Jim Mattheson from Utah whose state is probably in the top 2 or 3 in the country against this bill with percentages in the 70’s or even low 80’s. But he might be bought off with his brother getting a seat on the appelate court.
Massa’s resignation assures that they have to go thru the election process the same way that NY 23 went which took several months. That leaves the House with 431 members now and 4 vacancies. Nathan Deal must stay in the House longer now. Pelosi needs 216 to win at present.
So, I should have been blaming you for Murphy and Owens? Why didn’t anyone tell me? :p
yep, can’t take credit for Brown cuz he clearly coulda won without me. Yet Tedisco & Hoffman clearly needed more of an effort from me. Elmira NY29 is 4 1/2 drive from me.
So I am begging off on this one. Except maybe the last week. At least the weather is more conducive to campaigning.
I'm surprised that Wesley is a top.
The Dems and the MSM deserve their Mark Foley.
Happy birthday to you....happy birthday to you....hap...
So, how many votes has freezeface for sure lost in the last few months? Murtha died, Wexler quit, Cao won’t vote yes again (he says), one dude abandoned the party and became a pub, I think (not sure) another guy either died or quit - I forget which - and was there someone else.....a seat was lost in a special election or something? Now, Massa. So, is it 5 or is it 6 she has for sure lost since the vote last Fall? She had 220, needed 218, so she had 2 to spare. So she’s for sure either 3 short or 4 short now, right?
Anybody know exactly?
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