Open thread for night owls: In the way of defeating Republican Peter King?Democrat Steve Israel

Monday, Steve Benen, set out to define exactly what progressives mean when they say Republicans are sabotaging the Affordable Health Act. Their nihilism and class war are unlike anything since the Civil War.

"[I]t's easy to lose sight sometimes of just how sweeping the GOP efforts to impair the federal health care law really are," he writes. "We've never seen anything like this-- it is literally without precedent-- and for millions of Americans, very little matters more." Benen comes up with several specifics: "First, congressional Republicans are actively trying to undermine the federal health care system by refusing to help their own constituents navigate the system... Second, there's systemic lying to the public." [?]

One Republican who likes portraying himself as somewhat mainstream to his constituents is Peter King (R-NY), the Republican congressman of Long Island's three. Obama did better in King's district than in the 2 other Long Island districts. Obama beat McCain there 51-48% in 2008 and beat Romney 52-47%. But King is close with [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)] chair Steve Israel and Israel prevents effective recruitment of a Democrat in the district and refuses to let the DCCC help any Democrats who do take on King.

There are 12 districts with [Partisan Voting Indexes] of R+1. Democrats hold 4 of them and the other 8 should be prime DCCC targets. But King's is never on the list and isn't on the list this cycle either. And yet King has voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act every time Boehner and Cantor brought it up.

For all King's efforts to sound "moderate," he votes with the teabaggers and neo-Confederates when it comes to healthcare and other programs that benefit ordinary working families and the middle class. Instead of making him pay, Israel rewards him for his behavior. The DCCC could take that seat in a heartbeat... if they tried.

Obamacare alone would win them the district, which is benefiting tremendously from the law already, despite King's sabotage. [?]

If you're unfortunate enough to be watching the really awful BRAVO series, Princesses: Long Island you're probably aware that most of the vapid, self-indulgent, shallow rich girls are from the North Shore, Steve Israel's district. These aren't people who need or want Medicare or ObamaCare. However, one of the main characters, Joey, lives with her parents on the South Shore, where people very much do need and want ObamaCare. King's district, which has moved considerably east into Suffolk County, stretches from working class suburbs like Ronkonkoma, Bayport and Sayville through Islip, Bay Shore, Babylon and Amityville to Levittown and Seaford. Those are not towns with the mansions and estates of Brookville?the wealthiest town in America?Great Neck, Lloyd Harbor, Sands Point, Roslyn Estates, Oyster Bay, Muttontown, Old Westbury, and North Hills, all in Steve Israel's district and the setting of the wretched Princesses.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/a0lEnPCn2Uo/-Open-thread-for-night-owls-In-the-way-of-defeating-Republican-Peter-King-Democrat-Steve-Israel

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