It looks like 242 will likely be the magic number for Republicans in the upcoming 112th Congress.  Events on Tuesday brought the hotly contested race in NY-25 to a conclusion and dealt a serious blow to Republican Randy Altschuler in NY-1.Early Tuesday afternoon news broke that Democrat incumbent Dan Maffei had conceded to Ann Marie Buerkle in NY-25.  Dan Maffei had been dithering on a court appearance set for Wednesday to resolve challenged ballots and also mulled a possible hand recount of the entire district.  The victory was a shock to many political experts:"Almost no one saw this one coming," said GOP pollster John McLaughlin. "Ann Marie was definitely below the radar screen of most political experts."One person who never saw it coming was Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, who had championed Mr. Maffei as the kind of new liberal Democrat America needs and the Northeast wants. "Absent a Republican wave of historic proportions, his seat...(Read Full Post)