Rothenberg lauds North Country dems, slams region’s GOP

Tomorrow during the 8 O’clock Hour, Martha, David and I will be talking about the big stories of 2009.

The widely respected national political analyst Stuart Rothenberg, got the jump on us today, lauding Rep. Scott Murphy (D-Glens Falls) and Rep. Bill Owens (D-Plattsburgh) for running two of the best political campaigns in the country in ’09.

Both New York Democratic campaigns deserve plenty of credit, given the competitive nature of their districts…

But Rothenberg also blasts North Country Republicans for choosing Dede Scozzafava as the GOP candidate in the NY-23 race, calling it one of the year’s worst political decisions in the country.

And he blasts Scozzafava and Jim Tedisco (who lost the NY-20 race) for running two of the worst political campaigns nationwide.

Rothenberg gets a little catty, describing Scozzafava as “R-sort of.”

Frankly, I think he’s wrong on this last bit. Scozzafava did run a lackluster campaign, and Conservatives ate her for lunch.

But without the remarkable intervention of national right-wing activists, would Scozzafava have been the next congressperson from the North Country?

Absolutely.