Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Faso, a freshman congressman from the 19th Congressional District, faced a difficult task. He was a Republican running when Democratic voters were motivated by fury toward Donald Trump. Maybe the so-called "blue wave" didn't materialize nationally, but it sure washed over Republicans in New York.

Faso, unlike some Republicans, kept his distance from Trump. Was that a tactical mistake? Trump thinks so and even called out Faso for failing to embrace him. But Faso believes he made the right call.

"I have a district where being closer to the president would not have been helpful," Faso said Monday. "This is a district where the anti-Trump intensity is stronger than the pro-Trump intensity."
...
Faso was widely criticized for ads from the National Republican Congressional Committee that highlighted Delgado's brief career as a rapper. The New York Times and others accused Faso of race baiting. (Delgado is black.)

Faso said he didn't think the ads hurt him, but said they played into the media's Republicans-are-racist narrative. As evidence of bias, he noted that district newspapers focused on the NRCC ads, but failed to care that a Delgado attack ad was called "mostly false" by Politifact.

I can't judge the of media coverage in the sprawling district, but I do think Faso is wrong about the rapper ads. They helped Delgado.

#NY19

Posted by Jenn at 11:10 AM

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