Congratulations to Bill Owens! Yes, it's a victory for local issues. But late in the race, Congressman-elect Owens came out for the public option. And that was after the Teabaggers/Wingnuts went "all-in" to elect their crony Doug Hoffman. Bill didn't flinch in the face of their assault.
From the Syracuse debate -
http://adirondackdailyenterprise.com...
Owens called the public option that congressional Democrats unveiled Thursday "reasonable"
Yes, Owens has "concerns"
but said he has other concerns with that proposal, including the regulations on how small a business must be to be exempt from the requirement that it offer health coverage to its employees.
No, it wasn't a full-throated endorsement, but it was an endorsement - more than we're seeing from many, perhaps most of our other blue dogs.
Yes, Owens didn't come out for the public option in the beginning of the campaign. Yes, there are other factors that helped, especially Scozzafava's endorsement.
And yes, on many issues, Owens will be a "blue dog" - but with a difference - as he supports the public option.
But I believe in part because of Owens' support of the Public Option, Politico came out with this http://www.politico.com/...
If Hoffman wins decisively, Democratic officials privately acknowledge that it would deal a blow to their efforts to pass health care reform legislation. Swing-district Democrats are carefully monitoring this race — even more than the two gubernatorial races Tuesday — as a test of national sentiment toward the administration’s policies.
In addition there was this recent diary Blue Dogs hoping losses help them kill HCR
which I believe unfairly labeled Owens "among the doggiest of blue dogs". Would the "doggiest" of blue dogs support HCR and the Public Option? I think not.
But the basic concern from that diary is appropriate. The same diary noted,
Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) argued that an Election Day rebuke for Democratic candidates across the nation could lead some in the party to rethink their plans on healthcare reform and other issues.
Remember who didn't support the public option: Creigh Deeds of Virginia. As y'all know, he did not win his race. FWIW, President Obama won NY-23 and VA in '08 by similar margins. But most of NY-23 hasn't been represented by a D since the Civil War.
So I say to Jason Altmire and other blue dog skeptics of Health Care Reform and the Public Option - Bill Owens in NY-23 proves that supporting the public option is a winner, even in a district that hasn't elected a Democratic candidate to the House for over 100 years.