As part of the Democratic Party primaries in New York Tuesday night, one of the “liberal lions of Manhattan politics,” Representative Carolyn Maloney lost to fellow lion Representative Jerry Nadler after their districts were consolidated and rearranged via a court order. But on that day’s Don Lemon Tonight, the “journalists” of CNN were less than enthused about two big-named Democrats forced to battle it out with one losing their seat entirely.
“Let's talk about Representative Jerry Nadler. He won decisively over Representative Carolyn Maloney who is going home, after decades of serving New York,” Lemon lamented to CNN political director David Chalian.
Chalian began his comments by venting: “This is a race that never, really, was expected, or anticipated, or perhaps should have even happened.”
“But the quirk of what happens every ten years in American politics, as districts get drawn, is these two, 30-year veterans, really, liberal lions of Manhattan politics, end up in this race against each other. So, I'm not sure there is a lot to learn here broadly,” he deduced.
But one thing he did find noteworthy was the possibility that a newspaper endorsement could have helped tip the scales in Nadler’s favor:
Although I will say this, I do think -- I am not a big fan of saying that newspaper endorsements matter, but, The New York Times editorial endorsement, in this particular district, probably still matter a lot. Chuck Schumer getting in for Jerry Nadler no doubt helped him some in this race as well.
Because as John – this district actually has more of Maloney's district in it – this new district, than it does Nadler’s. But, it’s a decisive victory. And Nadler clearly, outhustled his colleague, now sort of his nemesis, inside of the Democratic Party.
CNN senior political analyst and fill-in anchor John Avlon was noticeably bitter about the whole thing and seemingly argued that the court order should have been to help Democrats shore up control of New York districts.
After noting that the last competitive general election either of them ran was Maloney in 1992, Avlon huffed about how “this race is going to be decided by around 70, 000, 75,000 votes, in a district that’s three-quarters of a million. Right? That is crazy. Because they're not going to be a competitive general election, let's be real.”
What he apparently wanted was to help Democrats protect New York’s 10th district which he saw as a much closer race:
And you look at what's happening in New York-10. This is tight as a tick, to sound like Dan Rather. But I’ll tell you what, if there was ranked-choice voting, that would be totally different. Instead, you’re going to see incumbent, without a general election, decided by couple hundred votes, maybe just over 1000.
“It's nuts,” Avlon concluded on the topic.
This lamenting for Democrats was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Kia and Arby’s. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Don Lemon Tonight
August 23, 2022
10:10:32 p.m. EasternDON LEMON: Let's talk about representative Jerry Nadler. He won decisively over Representative Carolyn Maloney who, is going home, after decades of serving New York. What are your thoughts, David?
DAVID CHALIAN: Well, listen. This is a race that never, really, was expected, or anticipated, or perhaps should have even happened. But the quirk of what happens every ten years in American politics, as districts get drawn, is these two, 30-year veteran's, really, liberal lions of Manhattan politics, end up in this race against each other. So, I'm not sure there is a lot to learn here broadly.
Although, I will say this, I do think -- I am not a big fan of saying that newspaper endorsements matter, but, the New York Times editorial endorsement, in this particular district, probably still matter a lot. Chuck Schumer getting in for Jerry Nadler no doubt helped him some in this race as well.
Because as John – this district actually has more of Maloney's district in it – this new district, than it does Nadler’s. But, it’s a decisive victory. And Nadler clearly, outhustled his colleague, now sort of his nemesis, inside of the Democratic Party.
LEMON: Extremely low turnout, John. How does this effect?
JOHN AVLON: This is what drives me crazy about this. Right? Maloney and Nadler, have been there for 30 years, representing the island of Manhattan. The last competitive race was when Maloney beats Bill Greene, a Republican, on the East Side, in 1992.
So, now, these guys now get squared off against each other because the Democrats got greedy and got smacked down by a judge, so they got put in the same district. And this race is going to be decided by around 70, 000, 75,000 votes, in a district that’s three quarters of a million. Right? That is crazy. Because there not going to be a competitive general election, let's be real.
And you look at what's happening in New York-10. This is tight as a tick, to sound like Dan Rather. But I’ll tell you what, if there was ranked-choice voting, that would be totally different. Instead, you’re going to see incumbent, without a general election, decided by couple hundred votes, maybe just over 1000.
LEMON: You’re going to have to – Dan – Dan would say tight as a tick on a pig spine, or something – you’ve got to carry it a little bit further.
AVLON: I don't have that kind of Texas in me, let's be real. But, it's nuts.
