The American Spectator

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The retirement of Congressman Jim Walsh (R-N.Y.) may prefigure a trend for the Republican Party. Just as the Southern House districts swung to the GOP as longtime conservative Democratic congressmen retired or were defeated, the Democrats stand to gain for a generation the seats of retiring or defeated Northeastern moderate Republicans. On the one hand, it will make the party even more homogenously conservative as the loss of the Southern Democrats made the party of Hillary and Obama more liberal. On the other hand, the loss of these seats will make it all the more difficult for the Republicans to regain control of Congress.