In the afterglow of the prematurely called victory for Rep. Charles Rangel, pundits keep spewing the notion that Mr. Espaillat (who as of press time was only behind by 800 votes) would have notched out a definitive win had there not been three other challengers to the incumbent.  If Mr. Rangel ends up losing, however, look for those same people to say that the crowded race, with Mr. Espaillat as the only non African-American candidate, siphoned votes away from Mr. Rangel. 

Go figure.