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In the local fight over the ideological bent of the Democratic Party, it was a big night for those with more center-left leanings.
As you probably know by now, Democratic incumbent Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney coasted to victory over state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi in the 17th district fight. (Click here to read our quick recap.)
Maloney made the race into a referendum over electability, casting Biaggi as too far to the left to win in the general.
It’s safe to say Maloney grates some nerves with his style. Also, mailers from an outside group that characterized Biaggi as an anti-cop radical delivered an extra nasty overtone to the race. And as one of the top Democrats to engage in the cartoonishly cynical and dangerous game of promoting extremists in Republican primaries, to elevate candidates deemed easier to beat, Maloney fed into all the worst caricatures of Machiavellian politics. (He’s been chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee since last year.)
That said, even for many put off by Maloney’s public persona, his policy priorities and deal-making instincts were seen by voters as more palatable than Biaggi’s progressive, reform-oriented posture.
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