Deserted Island?

It wasn't long after Rep. Vito Fossella (R) admitted to having an affair that news leaked out GOPers are already polling his CD with new candidates. And that hastiness is appropriate.

-- Sure, the CD is the most-GOP in the city, but that's not saying much. Dems still enjoy a 17% voter registration edge there, and Al Gore carried it by 8% in '00. Pres. Bush won it in '04, but only after receiving a big post-9/11 bump in a CD that suffered heavy losses on that day.

-- But right now at least, Dems don't have the ideal candidates to take advantage of this shift. Their early fave, NYC Councilor Domenic Recchia, does have Italian ancestory (the CD has the country's highest %age of Italians), but he's from Brooklyn, which reps a very small %age of the CD. If reports are true that Dems are prodding Staten Island-based Assemb. Michael Cusick (D) into the race, he'd make this a serious pickup opportunity for them.

-- GOPers will target Richmond Co. DA Daniel Donovan (R), and he'd be strong as well. Donovan walloped his challenger in an '07 re-election that was closely watched for signs that the Island was turning blue.

-- With the financial straits GOPers are in, a NYC open seat is not what it needed. And without the right candidate, this could get ugly for the party.