It looks like Dede Scozzafava took LEAVWORLD's advice, and dropped out of the special election in NY's 23rd Congressional District. She did the right thing, and deserves credit for doing so. I'm sure it was political pressure that did it, and not anything I wrote. Palin was the first "big name" to endorse the Conservative candidate, Hoffman, and several high-level GOP pols followed her lead. Now, it's a two-way race, with liberal against conservative policies. I can already hear the libs citing this as "the triumph of the Neanderthals" if Hoffman wins. Nothing could br further from the truth. Conservatives are often thoughtful, and principled. The problem all along is that the GOP has drifted away from conservative principles, though the drift could be described as "thoughtful."
It looks as if the "tea party" movement has some legs. What does one call the new generation of conservatives? "Neo-neo conservatives?"Maybe "the Sleeping Conservative Giant That Pres. Obama Woke Up? Whatever it is, it's not really new. It's people getting involved in politics, and it can go in either political direction. I predicted the NYS GOP losses of '06 in a four-part series of columns, before the election. (link) I feel a similar vibe now, and the pendulum is swinging in the other direction.
Let's go at it, toe to toe, and see who wins. Obama has held fundraisers for the Democrat, and the Conservative candidate "matched up" better against him than the Republican did. It's definitely an interesting election, with both national and local political implications. Stay tuned!
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Comments: 4
And lack of money.
Let's go at it, toe to toe, and see who wins.
That's a bit melodramatic, don't you think, Christopher? After all, this is traditionally a safe Republican seat and the most noteworthy part of the race is that the Democratic candidate Owens even had a shot at winning in the first place. With the majority of the Republican candidate Scozzafava's supporters likely still voting Republican (rather than Democratic), it would be very difficult for Owens to win.
The real losers are the people in the 23rd district, who will be getting a frightwing carpetbagger who doesn't live in the district, doesn't know local issues, and will now be a puppet of the lunatic fringe of the party (if that's not being redundant).
And please, Christopher, the very idea that you can influence elections with the typical bilge that you hack out may be a delicious fantasy for you, but it is just that: a fantasy.
If you read my earlier column, you will notice that I called for Scozzafava to drop out of the race. This was far-fetched, at the time I wrote it. I didn't read another column that went that far, and I read all of the conservative anti-Scozzafava opinions out there. Again, I don't think I had anything to do with it, I'm just someone who suggested it, before it happened, and I'm happy, and surprised that it did.
At first blush it would seem that by pulling out she release loyal Republicans. Endorsing seems to suggest she isn;t as loyal as her followers.
The endorsement may remove any quadry her follower had about how to vote. This could espicially be true of those who thought this has been about a take over the Party by an extreme faction. Now they may see it about a person who saw the path to her political success was about getting into the party with the best chance at campaign success rather then about political values.