Carolyn McCarthy is an admirable advocate for gun control and has created much good out of a family tragedy that would have immoblized most others in the same position.

A progressive though? Not so much. . .

She ran on the Democratic line in 1996 but only after the New York GOP rebuffed her when she announced her intentions to challenge then-Rep. Dan Frisa in a primary. The Democrats wisely recruited her and she flipped the seat in the 1996 election. That didn't stop her from having conversations with the GOP about returning to her roots in 1998. Furthermore, though she was caucusing with the Democrats in Congress, she didn't officially change her voter registration from "R" to "D" until 2002. Six years after she was elected.

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This was originally posted to DailyKos as a diary.  The link to the original is here:  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/4/2 21427/6809

From Dictionary.com, here's some definitions for capitulation:

1) the act of capitulating.  

2) the document containing the terms of a surrender.  

3) a list of the headings or main divisions of a subject; a summary or enumeration.  

4) Often, capitulations. a treaty or agreement by which subjects of one country residing or traveling in another are extended extraterritorial rights or special privileges, esp. such a treaty between a European country and the former Ottoman rulers of Turkey.  

Some things to consider after the fold:

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Facing a president with critically low approval ratings and a Republican-controlled Congress that hasn't achieved a major legislative "victory" in years, Democrats are understandably enthusiastic about our chances in this fall's elections. However, the road to Democratic majority is still a steep one. There is a danger of presuming that things are going too well, for down that path lies the risk of not doing enough to ensure victory in the Fall.

Over the next few days, I will be considering the various groups of campaigns being fought across the country. None of this information is new, but I believe that approaching it systematically is important to understanding the where the effort to establish a Democratic majority stands. Today, let's take a look at the race for control of the United States Senate.

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