“It is vital we preserve Medicare and Social Security, and the only candidate for Congress who will do that is David Weprin,” said Senator Schumer, invoking the Democratic talking points that helped them win an upset.

Schumer held the seat for 18 years, building a reputation as an outspoken liberal, which he used to jump to vault to the Senate in 1998 -- when he was replaced by Anthony Weiner, who hoped to use his Ninth District perch, and a similar strategy, to move from Congress into the mayor's office.

Now, with the Ninth a presumptive placeholder likely to be sacrificed in the next round of redistricting, Democrats are merely hoping to avoid an embarrassing loss.

Schumer's endorsement would seem to help in that regard. The district seems to remember its old congressman rather fondly: he had a 62 percent approval rating in the latest poll of the district.  Though it seems to remember a former mayor even more fondly. Schumer's favorability was trumped by Ed Koch, who endorsed Republican Bob Turner last month, with an approval rating of 69 percent.