NY Times has Chris Gibson, Scott Murphy race as Toss Up!

By Sam Foster
Via Chris Gibson Press Release & NY Times

A few days ago, a UPR reader predicted Gibson/Murphy, NY 20^th congressional district race would find its way to "toss up" status.  However, it looks like the prediction comes a month early.

RP McMurphy said...
Where this race will really change is September when the first local polls come out. Then it will be seen as a Toss-Up and move to that status by Rothenberg, Sabato, and Cook. It's all downhill for Murphy from there.

Today, the NY Times is one of the first news outlets to admit it.

Below is Chris Gibson's press release regarding the changing media tide on the race:

Kinderhook, NY – On the heels of out-raising his opponent in the first full quarter of his campaign and bettering him by nearly two to one on voter petition signatures from the District, Chris Gibson is now in a toss-up race with incumbent Congressman Scott Murphy according to the political analysis by the New York Times.  With just over 90 days until Election Day on November 2, 2010, the Gibson campaign has been steadily gaining ground according to multiple third party political observers.
 
"The fact that the New York Times is now calling our race a 'toss up' is testament to the way that voters are embracing our message of fiscal responsibility and job creation," said Gibson (R/C – Kinderhook).  "It is clear the momentum in this race has shifted away from business-as-usual politics in Washington.  Voters in this district have been concerned that our country is on the wrong track.  Congress is spending beyond our means and growing government instead of helping the private sector.  The voters see a way forward by casting votes for new leadership on Election Day."
 
Gibson attributes the increasing traction his campaign for Congress is gaining to the voters' discontent with the out-of-touch policies coming from Congress.  His opponent, incumbent Congressman Scott Murphy, has voted for increasing government healthcare, expanding new job-killing taxes on the economy in the form of "cap and trade" measures to limit energy sources and emphatically endorsed using nearly $900 billion of taxpayer money to try and "stimulate" the economy.  
 
"These bills are very destructive to job creation and the over-all health of our economy," Gibson said. "They are flush with tax increases on businesses and add more job-killing red tape and onerous regulations. This is not the right course for creating more jobs in our district. As I've said repeatedly, you cannot on one hand say you want to create jobs and on the other hand vote for legislation that will directly hurt struggling businesses.  It is irresponsible for my opponent to have supported these tax hikes and unprecedented expansions of government in the midst of the recession, lagging job growth and more than a trillion dollar annual budget deficits. From my visits to all corners of our ten county District, more and more people know we cannot count on current representatives in Washington to make the difficult choices to restrain government and to limit their tax burden so their families can prosper.  As they contrast my approach with my opponent's voting record, I believe we will definitively win this election."

Congratulations Chris Gibson and team!