Talking Health Care on Staten Island

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Yesterday, I traveled out to Staten Island to catch up with Rep. Michael McMahon, a freshman Democrat who voted against health care reform. McMahon seems pretty happy with how his vote is being perceived at home, even though Moveon.org and the SEIU are now actively searching for a Dem to primary him. He’s raised more than $1.1 million compared to his two GOP opponents (the primary’s in September) who’ve raised just over $300,000 each. Though I was born in Manhattan, I’d never ventured out to Staten Island before – and wow, is it a world away from the other four boroughs. I can see why they want to secede — in fact, McMahon still supports secession — they pay a lot of taxes and are often overlooked. They don’t even have a city hospital when the other boroughs have at least two each. The one exception to this neglect is the Staten Island Ferry — it’s free and so cool I almost forgot about Rudy Giuliani’s disastrous run for President. Almost. So, basic conclusion: McMahon probably saved his reelect by voting against the legislation and will live to vote for more global warming bills another day.