Out of the Lockbox, Part IV: Dems go conservative

When I first started covering North Country politics in 1999, Democrats were viewed as essentially unelectable.

There were plenty of office-holders at the local level: town officials in urban areas like Plattsburgh and Glens Falls; a few supervisors in places such as Wilmington.

But when the big elections rolled around — for Assembly and state Senate seats or for House races — the Dems generally rolled out sacrificial candidates.

They were sincere, well-meaning and enthusiastic. Sometimes they had good ideas. But with a few rare exceptions they polled only around 35%.

One of the reasons was clear: These candidates were distinctly progressive, even liberal.

In a heavily Roman Catholic, definitively rural district, they struggled to connect with voters.

But beginning with Kirsten Gillibrand in 2006 and continuing with Mike Arcuri, Darrel Aubertine, Scott Murphy and Bill Owens, the Democratic Party has widened its pool.

The new crop of candidates is drawn from a more conservative class of politician.

These are corporate attorneys, businessmen, venture capitalists, farmers and district attorneys.

Their views on social issues range from the moderate to the distinctly conservative.

Aubertine and Owens (the current Democratic candidate for the seat being vacated by John McHugh) sit to the right of many regional Republicans on the issue of same-sex marriage.

Gillibrand was a strong proponent of 2nd Amendment gun rights, before her elevation to the US Senate.

This new breed of North Country Democrat has one big advantage over the more progressive variety: they tend to win.

All the politicians named above (with the exception of Owens) beat their Republican opponents in close races.

But they also represent an interesting new problem for the Democratic Party in New York and Washington.

As Dems capture seats in more conservative parts of the country, the party as a whole is being pulled inch-by-inch to the right.

(This trend is most visible in the US Senate, where red-state Democrats are dominating the healthcare debate.)

The go-slow approach of this blue-red coalition infuriates Democrats who see their big electoral wins as a mandate for change.

In the current special election for the 23rd House seat –which has yet to officially begin– Plattsburgh attorney Bill Owens could test the limits of the Democratic Party’s center-right strategy.

Owens has never registered as a Democrat; and he had longstanding ties to state Senator Ron Stafford, one of the region’s most iconic Republicans.

In choosing him, Democratic leaders obviously found a candidate with a shot at upsetting GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava.

But it’s unclear whether voters concerned with labor and social issues will rally to his banner, especially in this contest where the Republican is more “liberal” on same-sex marriage and has strong ties to regional unions.

Your thoughts?