Tedisco fighting aura of defeat, prepares for legal fight

Republican Jim Tedisco is losing the fight to convince the media that his bid to win the 20th district house race is still viable.

Tedisco has suffered a flurry of negative reports, all suggesting that his pursuit of the House seat may be effectively doomed.

An analysis published today in the influential, non-partisan The Hill newspaper concluded that “things are looking very dim” for Tedisco.

Democrat Scott Murphy currently leads by 178 votes. He’s led the race for more than a week, and the canvassing of absentee ballots only seems to have solidified his position.

While there are still hundreds of ballots remaining to be tallied, The Hill points out that two-thirds of those votes “will come from counties where Murphy is both winning on absentees and won on Election Day two weeks ago.”

Meanwhile, Politico is reporting that the “GOP is prepared for a protracted court battle…”

The on-line journal released an internal Republican memo which concluded that “the election will most likely be decided in the courts.”

But so far, Tedisco has lost most of the legal arguments his camp has mounted.

New York’s election system does allow for multiple appeals that could drag the process out for weeks or even months.

If Republicans can’t convince the public that he has a legitimate chance of winning, that kind of protracted court battle could be costly in more ways than one.

On the other hand, Republicans may conclude that they have a real chance of defeating Scott Murphy in 2010, if they can deny him the perks of incumbency as long as possible.

If this race remains unsettled until, say, August or September, then the winner will have no time for a victory lap before the next race begins…