The congressional election in New York State's 23rd District should be a walk for a Republican. It's upstate hunting and fishing country, pro-military, and went Republican even in 2008 by over 60%.
So what did the local GOP do? They refused to hold an open primary and nominated an oafish, well connected pro gay marriage pro-abortion 'moderate' named Dede Scozzafava who is endorsed by Daily Kos and a couple of the more Left leaning unions.
Conservatives in the district revolted, and local businessman Doug Hoffman is running a grassroots camapaign as the Conservative Party candidate. And he is eating Scozzafava's lunch, prompting numerous calls from conservative commentators nationwide for her to step down in favor of Hoffman.
(Robert Stacy McCain is on the ground in New York and has done a superb job of following this story from the beginning.)
The latest breaking news is that Sarah Palin has just stepped up and endorsed - Hoffman:
The people of the 23rd Congressional District of New York are ready to shake things up, and Doug Hoffman is coming on strong as Election Day approaches! He needs our help now.
The votes of every member of Congress affect every American, so it's important for all of us to pay attention to this important Congressional campaign in upstate New York. I am very pleased to announce my support for Doug Hoffman in his fight to be the next Representative from New York's 23rd Congressional district. It's my honor to endorse Doug and to do what I can to help him win, including having my political action committee, SarahPAC, donate to his campaign the maximum contribution allowed by law.
Our nation is at a crossroads, and this is once again a "time for choosing."
The federal government borrows, spends, and prints too much money, while our national debt hits a record high. Government is growing while the private sector is shrinking, and unemployment is on the rise. Doug Hoffman is committed to ending the reckless spending in Washington, D.C. and the massive increase in the size and scope of the federal government. He is also fully committed to supporting our men and women in uniform as they seek to honorably complete their missions overseas.
And best of all, Doug Hoffman has not been anointed by any political machine.
Doug Hoffman stands for the principles that all Republicans should share: smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and a commitment to individual liberty.
Political parties must stand for something. When Republicans were in the wilderness in the late 1970s, Ronald Reagan knew that the doctrine of "blurring the lines" between parties was not an appropriate way to win elections.
Unfortunately, the Republican Party today has decided to choose a candidate who more than blurs the lines, and there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race. This is why Doug Hoffman is running on the Conservative Party's ticket.
Republicans and conservatives around the country are sending an important message to the Republican establishment in their outstanding grassroots support for Doug Hoffman: no more politics as usual.
You can help Doug by visiting his official website below and joining me in supporting his campaign:
http://www.doughoffmanforcongress.com/donate3.html.
Sarah Palin
(from her FaceBook page)
And this, after Newt Gingrich endorsed Scozzafava as 'a realistic choice'!
What Governor Palin is letting the political establishment and the electorate know that she has no plans to be co-opted into business as usual.
This is a good example of her understanding of something that seems lost on most politicians. The tea party movement and the general disaffection of the electorate isn't necessarily pro-Republican,and unless the GOP realizes that and start standing for principle, they are simply going to continue to be marginalized.
You go, governor.
I'm all for "pro military" and a "strong defense." Unfortunately most politiicians in both the Republican and Democrat parties are not. For example, if they were, they would support bringing all of our forces home as soon transport ships and planes can bring the home from Iraq and Afghanistan. This means ALL of them.
ReplyDeleteThese forces should be redeployed to the borders. This is a much better use of the talents and goals of these men and women than to utilize their talents in some fruitless attempt to bring "democracy" to Afghanistan and Iraq or to engage them in some frutiless attempt to thwart Russian activities in places like Poland, the Chezch Republic, and Ukraine. I could go on but what's the point.
Once our troops are redeployed to the borders and our borders are secured, then we should begin to develop ALL of our oil and gas reserves and build more refineries. More nuclear power plants would probably be helpful as well. Actually these actions can be done simultaneously.
In addition to this, a moratorium should be placed on immigration from ALL countries for a minimum of ten years. This will give the immigrants here a chance to assimilate into our culture. A moratorium on immigration from Middle Eastern and primarily Islamic countries should be indefinite. It makes little sense to welcome someone into your house who they themselves or their relatives wish you destruction.
With regards to securing the borders our brave warriors presumably signed on to defend America. As such, I would expect that they would be thrilled with this mission and I would expect they would carry it out with enthusiasm.
Do the things I mention above and you will get greater utility for American national security interests than any thing we are currently doing. Until politicians on both sides start to suggest this, I don't think we can say any of them are "pro military." Of course doing so will get them labeled as "zenophobes", "racists", or worse by the media. Show some courage folks!! Stand up to the media!! It DOES NOT represent American interests.
To Republicans I would say "STOP TRYING TO APPEASE THE MEDIA!!" To Democrats I would say "WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON? THE MEDIA OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE?"
Finally, during the moratorium on immigration, America can employ some type of guest worker program to get some of the talents and expertise it may need from foreign countries. Many other countries use programs like this. Perhaps something like this can work for America as well.
One thing's for sure. The Hoffman candidacy, no matter what the outcome, has opened up a gigantic Pandora's Box. Consider that for decades the Libertarian Party has been clammoring for Republican support for their 3rd party ballot line candidates in such special circumstance elections, (i.e. the Shelly Sekula-Gibbs for the TX Tom DeLay seat in 2006 fiasco).
ReplyDeleteRepublicans have said all along, "oh no, no, no, we can never back a 3rd party effort," even when a Libertarian is the only one on the ballot against a Democrat.
Now, they'll never, ever be able to make that claim again. Hoffman has cleared the way for future Libertarian Party support from the Republican Party. And remember, the Libertarian Party runs an average of 800 to 1,000 candidates nationwide each election cycle.
Oh, I concur Eric.
ReplyDeleteAnd frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if a third party does form if the GOP doesn't get it's act together.
But efforts like this need to done very cautiously. If it wasn't for Ross Perot, Mr. Bill would never have set foot in the White House.