Democrats and liberals are crowing about the upset victory of Democrat Kathleen Hochul in the special election to fill the vacancy in New York's 26th Congressional District, a gerrymandered Republican district in Western New York. Pundits are attempting to extrapolate all sorts of things from the election result, like Obama's 2012 reelection chances and voter sentiment about Republican House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan's proposed budget. Don't be fooled. Most of the commentary about the election comes from national talking heads who have no idea what the candidates or the campaign were actually like. The backstory to the election starts with former Republican State Assemblyman Mike Cole, who won election in 2006 only to be censured in 2007 for drinking and spending a night in the apartment of an Albany legislative intern. Cole claimed he never had sex with the girl, and that he slept on the floor of her apartment only to avoid irresponsibly driving home after drinking. In any case,...(Read Full Post)