The big news this weekend is that Dede Scozzafava, the Republican candidate for Congress in the 23rd Congressional District announced Saturday that she is suspending her campaign and releasing all her supporters.
To recap, New York State's 23rd District is upstate hunting and fishing country, pro-military, and went Republican even in 2008 by over 60%.
The local GOP politicos decided not to hold a primary but to nominate Scozzafava, a well connected insider whose views are so hard Left that Daily Kos and ACORN endorsed her...after which Conservatives revolted and nominated Doug Hoffman as a third party challenge.The RNC, of course, did absolutely nothing about this and continued to fund Scozzafava.
Hard hitting reporting from the blogosphere helped highlight the race, but it really hit national attention when Sarah Palin endorsed Hoffman:
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."
{...} 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.
This spurred a number of other conservatives to call for Scozzafava to step down,and when the polls showed her third in a three way race she announced her withdrawal.
Today,the plot thickened when Scozzafava jumped the shark and endorsed Democrat Bill Owens in the race. There's a back story to this of course.
With Hoffman surging, the Democrat powers that be decided that their best chance to grab the seat was to get an endorsement out of Dede Scozzfava:
According to several senior Democratic officials, Rep. Steve Israel, a Long Island Democrat and DCCC official, was dispatched to meet face-to-face with Scozzafava in her upstate New York district within hours of her departure from the race to make the case on behalf of the national party. He carried the proxy of the White House and congressional Democrats.
When some senior Democrats worried Scozzafava might be wavering about the endorsement, according to another account, the White House got Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, one of the most powerful figures in the state, and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to place calls to the assemblywoman on Saturday evening to coax her into delivering it. Sen. Charles Schumer, who had been in touch with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Israel, also weighed in.
In other words, they bribed her - with what, we still don't know - and let her know that she'd be welcome as a Democrat if she switches parties, which is undoubtedly in the cards.
And which proves that Doug Hoffman, Sarah Palin and other conservative voices were dead on right about Scuzzyfuzzy. Good riddance.
What happens with the election remains to be seen. Apparently ACORN, through their front group the Working Families Party is heavily involved, and there may very well be some dead people voting in Scuzzyfuzzy's home turf of Watertown.The best idea is simply to outwork them on the ground, keep a sharp watch out and keep smiling.
What's more important is what this symbolizes.
As usual Sarah Palin was the first to jump onthis, and her political acumen continues to amaze me. And she put it exactly right. People are angry about what's going on in Washington and unless the GOP elephant plans to become an extinct mastodon, they had better start paying attention.
The RNC is a good case in point. They gave over $900,000 to Scuzzyfuzzy and supported her to the very end..and look what it bought them!
If Hoffman wins, this will either signal the start of the remaking of the Republican Party into a credible alternative to Obama, or the beginning of a new third party that will embrace Reagan-style conservative principles. That will be a winning ideology in 2010 and in 2012, especially if ObamaCare and cap n' Tax passes.
I have no great loyalty to the Republican Party,but of the two scenarios, I'd rather that the GOP its groove back - easier and simpler.
Even if Hoffman loses, a definite message has been sent.It may simply take longer to deliver.
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