As if it’s not already evident, it appears for certain that Rep. Michael Arcuri will run for re-election unopposed or without any significant opposition next year. National Republicans have talked a good game about retaking the 24th District seat, but they’ve done virtually nothing to recruit a candidate with less than a year to go before the election. Here’s a report from The Hill today:

The NRCC said in late September that it would have challengers emerge in five specific top-targeted districts within a few weeks, but so far only one of those races has a nationally recruited challenger officially in the race.

Republicans have successfully recruited former Rep. Mike Sodrel (R-Ind.) against Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.), but they remain without top-flight challengers against Reps. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), John Barrow (D-Ga.), David Loebsack (D-Iowa) and Michael Arcuri (D-N.Y.).

Money will be one of the most significant factors in the race. Arcuri has proven he can be a savvy fundraiser, and with the National Republican Congressional Committee struggling financially under the direction of Rep. Tom Cole, a GOP candidate would almost certainly be expected to help foot a large portion of the bill. Here’s what the New York Daily News reported about Arcuri last month:

Rep. Mike Arcuri, 24th CD, the third Democratic freshman who took a GOP-held seat last fall, ranks 97th in fundraising. He raised $628,005, spent $205,308 and has $458,203 on hand. Arcuri’s unsuccessful opponent, former Republican state Sen. Ray Meier, zeroed out his congressional campaign committee after raising $18,128 and spending $21,359.

It’s a well-known rule that once a member of Congress wins two elections, it’s virtually impossible to pry him from his seat — until retirement or death. In the case of Arcuri, the best we can hope for is a run for higher office.

Bloomberg News reports that Rep. Michael Arcuri is one of several freshman Democrats to amass a significant warchest heading into 2008. He also faces no opposition at this stage, although the National Republican Congressional Committee promises that will soon change.

After Democrat Joe Sestak captured a suburban Philadelphia House seat from a Republican who had held it for two decades, he never stopped trolling for donations. Now, with a $1.4 million bankroll, he’s considered a good bet to retain the seat in 2008.

Sestak, 55, is one of several freshman Democrats who have boosted their chances of hanging onto hard-won seats by using their fundraising prowess to scare off challengers. Others include Michael Arcuri in New York, Paul Hodes in New Hampshire and Dave Loebsack in Iowa.

The article includes a major error, claiming that Arcuri beat former Rep. Sherwood Boehlert in 2006. In fact, he defeated former state Sen. Ray Meier.

In New York, Arcuri, who toppled 12-term Republican Sherwood Boehlert, has raised $656,298, a funding level he didn’t reach last year until three months before Election Day.

Liberals are jumping for joy at the news. Writing on Wizbang Blue, contributor Larkin says the news reveals that “Republicans are now increasingly afraid to take on Democratic incumbent in next year’s election.” That’s hardly true. Tuesday’s near Republican upset in Massachusetts’ 5th District by Jim Ogonowski is an indication that the wave that swept Democrats into control in 2006 has already broken.

The brother of Republican David Longeretta, a candidate for Oneida County district attorney, placed an ad in the Utica Observer-Dispatch this week comparing former DA Michael Arcuri’s handling of the Desiree Case murder trail to the botched Duke lacrosse rape case.

In a story about the ad, the O-D compared the two cases:

Duke lacrosse case
* In the highly publicized Duke lacrosse case, a black stripper hired by the Duke lacrosse team to entertain at a party claimed she had been raped and sodomized in a bathroom by three white team members.

* The alleged incident took place in March 2006, at the same time Nifong was in the middle of a tough re-election campaign. He made numerous statements critical of the lacrosse team and the three suspects, leading to accusations he was trying to gain favor among black voters by prosecuting the white players.

* Flaws in evidence gathering came to light, including failure to disclose DNA evidence that would have helped the players’ defense.

* Ultimately, the case unraveled under the weight of inconsistencies in the stripper’s story, and Nifong was brought up on ethics charges and disbarred.

The Desiree Case murder
* Desiree Case, a Yorkville teen whose struggles led her to drugs and prostitution, was found beaten and stabbed to death in an abandoned West Utica house in February 2006.

* Then-DA Michael Arcuri prosecuted the case and won the murder conviction of Joseph Smith, an ex-Madison County correction officer who had lived with Case. After Smith was convicted, but before he was sentenced, documents were found among the case files that indicated another man, a drug dealer named Earl Wright, might have actually been responsible for the murder.

* Arcuri took the information to the court, and Smith was freed.

* Wright was convicted after a new trial and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Another man was also convicted in the case.

* McNamara became first assistant district attorney on Jan. 1, 2001, but says he did not work on the Desiree Case trial.

By drawing attention to Arcuri’s mismanagement as district attorney, Longeretta is doing Republicans in the district a favor. This issue wasn’t exploited by Ray Meier in 2006, but it’s a huge black eye Arcuri would rather forget. Longeretta seems to be laying the ground work for what could be a line of attack against Arcuri in 2008.

Someone is finally shining the spotlight on Rep. Michael Arcuri’s atrocious record as Oneida County district attorney. David Longeretta, the Republican vying for Arcuri’s old job, took jabs at Democrat Scott McNamara, a loyal Arcuri lieutenant, during a debate in Utica earlier this week.

Republican candidate Longeretta took aim at Arcuri’s record on issues including embezzlement at a nonprofit agency and the botched Desiree Case investigation five years ago.

He attempted to tie Democrat District Attorney and McNamara to that record. McNamara was once Arcuri’s first assistant and took over the office when Arcuri was elected to Congress.

“I’m only going to mention two names, and one is Joseph Smith,” Longeretta said. “The other isn’t even a name, it’s the Family Nurturing Center.”

Smith was once teen prostitute Case’s boyfriend. Arcuri convicted him of second-degree murder, only to admit later he made a mistake.

Two other men ultimately were convicted of Case’s February 2000 death in West Utica.

In the case of the Family Nurturing Center, Arcuri’s office decided last year not to prosecute former employee Mary Grabinski, who stole $250,000 from the nonprofit agency.

This is exactly the type of information that Republican Ray Meier should have emphasized last year when he ran for the 24th District seat. Arcuri was an incompetent district attorney, yet he was able to avoid criticism about his shoddy performance. It’s nice to see it finally surfacing — albeit to damage McNamara.

It’s not often that Rep. Michael Arcuri turns against his left-wing base, but last week he did just that when he voted to condemn MoveOn for its smear of Gen. David Petraeus in the New York Times — despite the fact MoveOn raised $183,495.05 for Arcuri’s 2006 election campaign.

Arcuri’s decision hasn’t won much sympathy from liberal bloggers. The liberal blog Open Left examined the vote and what it means for those who voted like Arcuri.

We achieved some remarkable things in 2006, and I don’t think our calculation of trying and succeeding in winning Congress back by supporting the party was wrong. But now we have to reassess our strategic objectives, and that starts with understanding where there’s leverage. That’s already started, with us asking the Blue Majority candidates how they would have voted on FISA and the supplemental, and engaging in more House primary fights.

But there’s a HUGE amount on the table, in terms of money and energy from us that’s going to people who vote against our values. We ought to think through the massive betrayal that we’re experiencing, not as a loss, but as an opportunity to learn how to deal with leverage. After all, in 2009, a whole lot of Americans are probably going to wake up to a new female leader, and they are going to believe that everything is fresh and new, that the bad people are finally gone and good governance and a real America can finally return even as the new administration is packed with status quo Democrats.

Another liberal blog, Daily Gotham, got personal, calling Arcuri and his Democrat colleagues “patsies.”

Dear Democrats, we need to have a talk. The subject of that talk is going to be just how much of a disappointment you are. And face it, you are a disappointment. Your poll numbers don’t lie.

The newest installment of your chronicle of disappointments is one that is especially bitter, because it illustrates with startling clarity just how deeply, how irretrievably, you don’t get it. I’m talking, of course, about the MoveOn.org censure vote.

Will this left-wing anger translate into Democrat primary opposition for Arcuri and others?

The Hill reported last week that national Republicans are expecting an opponent to emerge against Rep. Michael Arcuri very soon. The article also reveals that New York’s 24th District is one of the NRCC’s “top targeted races.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is expecting a small wave of recruits in the coming weeks, including filling holes in several top targeted races.

The committee is expecting recruits to emerge soon against Reps. Michael Arcuri (D-N.Y.), John Barrow (D-Ga.), Baron Hill (D-Ind.), David Loebsack (D-Iowa) and Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), who are all without major committee-recruited GOP challengers. All but Barrow are freshmen.

It is anyone’s guess who the opponent might be. Former state Sen. Ray Meier, who ran against Arcuri in 2006, remains a possibility, but the GOP could also seek a fresh face. Regardless of who emerges, Arcuri will be hard to beat.

The MoveOn.org ad in the New York Times attacking Gen. David Petraeus is coming back to bite Rep. Michael Arcuri. The New York Republican State Committee today issued a statement calling on Arcuri to denounce the ad and return any contributions he has received from MoveOn.org.

Democrats from New York State, including Senator Hillary Clinton and Representatives Kirstin Gillibrand, Michael Acuri and John Hall have not voiced their opposition to these baseless attacks. This raises many questions for Senator Clinton in particular, as she seeks to be our Commander-in-Chief and lead our armed forces. Additionally, Representatives Gillibrand and Arcuri have accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Moveon.org.

There’s little doubt Arcuri will do any of this, but it’s worth applying some pressure. The residents of the 24th District aren’t exactly hard-core leftists like the folks at MoveOn.org.