DAVE MEJIAS TAKING ON PETER KING IN NY-03. REPUBLICANS COULD LOSE 6 CONGRESSIONAL SEATS IN NY ALONE

Peter King is another right-wing Republican rubber stamp trying to pass himself off as a moderate. His voting record, however, has nothing to do with moderation whatsoever, especially on issues like fair taxation, human rights and civil liberties, issues that show he's exactly like his pal Tom DeLay. As I explained a month or so ago, I grew up in this moderate suburban district and it's just sitting there waiting for a solid moderate Democrat to drive the last Republican crook off their former Long Island stronghold (now solidly Democratic except for King). Most Nassau County Democrats' first choice was always county legislator Dave Mejias.

Mejias, whose county district neatly overlaps much of King's, was always interested by stepped aside, when (ethically-challenged) Dave Denenberg made the case that he had a better shot at raising the millions of dollars it will take in this uber-expsensive media market to get out the 2 messages-- how bad King's record (as opposed to his p.r.) has been and what a great congressman Mejiras will make-- that will be needed to knock out the entrenched King.

But with a great national Democratic year shaping up, complements of George Bush's unblemished record of incompetence and gross presidential mismanagement, and with Hillary Clinton and Eliot Spitzer expected to absolutely swamp the Republican burnt offerings being placed before the voters, this is the year to take out King. It can't be done without a candidate, a first rate candidate-- and Mejias fits that bill.

New York State has 8 Republican incumbents (+ a GOP seat held by the retiring Sherwood Boehlert. Of those 9 seats, half a dozen, including King's and Boehlert's (where Mike Arcuri looks like a winner) are up for grabs. The other endangered Republican rubber-stampers are Sue Kelly, John Sweeney, Jim Walsh and John Kuhl.