October 31, 2009
Tea Partiers Get First Scalp
That will certainly be the spin, and I am not disposed to contradict it. New York Republicans ran a woman for whom RINO seems too kind. The Tea Party crowd came out big for the Conservative Party candidate and was pitted against the GOP establishment in the person of Speaker Gingrich (praise be upon the 104th Congress).
Yesterday, the polls turned toward the Conservative candidate and today:
Republican Dede Scozzafava has suspended her bid in next Tuesday’s NY 23 special election, a huge development that dramatically shakes up the race. She did not endorse either of her two opponents -- Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman or Democrat Bill Owens.The decision to suspend her campaign is a boost for Hoffman, who already had the support of 50 percent of GOP voters, according to a newly-released Siena poll, and is now well-positioned to win over the 25 percent of Republicans who had been sticking with Scozzafava.
Instapundit had highlighted a suggestion by blogger Bill Quick for Scozzafava to drop out. I could not understand why she would -- in solidarity for a candidate she didn't agree with? That's like saying "jk, if you'd just shut up, we could pass socialized medicine." "Well, all right then..."
In all the hubbub, I confess that I have not paid a lot of attention to Hoffman's views. Many of his big supporters are a bit more populist than I am, but they say he's the real deal (for example, I cite St. Louis blogger/talk show host Dana Loesch).
If every journey begins with a single step, I would call this one significant.
I can understand the balance between pragmatism and idealism, but there should be a minimum bar of beliefs to be a Republican candidate.
Perhaps this will spur the debate that what you believe in trumps what "dues" you may have paid or what time you served.
Posted by: AlexC at October 31, 2009 3:21 PMThis is great news and bodes well for the GOP finally, somehow, changing it's song to a more conservative tune. What little I know of the NY race came from listening to Jason Lewis on the radio. Hoffman was coming on strong in the polls after endorsements by Sarah Palin and Tim Pawlenty (not sure who endorsed first) and despite criticism of this party disloyalty by His Newtness. I couldn't shake the sense that Gingrich has become "all hat and no cattle" on conservative principles. This episode just about nails him to the Bush/Bush/Hastert/Dole "big-government Republican" tree.
Thumbs down: Gingrich
Posted by: johngalt at October 31, 2009 3:39 PMThumbs up: Palin, Pawlenty, NY conservatives
I'll find the link later, but some dumbass leftist AP reporter (yeah, yeah, I know that's a triple redundancy) was trying to spin this as the GOP weeding out moderates. Implying Scuzzyfava is a "moderate" is as big a pile of political horse manure as we've seen all year.
Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at November 2, 2009 11:07 AMPerry: that was Frank Rich's column. Three words: consider the source.
Posted by: Keith at November 2, 2009 11:44 AMHappy as I was, I was going to revisit this issue. FOXNews (not a real news organization, but what you gonna do?) said that Scozzafava was "pro-Choice and pro gay marraige." Are those her crimes?
Posted by: jk at November 2, 2009 12:19 PMPro-choice, pro-homosexual marriage, pro-Big-Labor, pro Card Check, pro-ACORN, pro-high-taxes, pro-government-owned healthcare. This wasn't a case of a purge of someone failing a litmus test or two. This was a case of a candidate with an R after her name being farther left than her Democrat opponent.
I, like most people (I hope), understand that I'm never going to get everything I want from a candidate; politics today boils down to getting some or most of what you want instead of none of it. If a candidate agrees with me on 75% of what's important to me and his opponent disagrees with me on 75%, I'm not going to withhold my vote - hell, I held my nose and voted for McCain.
The issue in the NY-23 is that Scozzofava had zero percent in alignment with conservatives. She didn't fail a litmus test; she failed the entrance exam.
Posted by: Keith at November 2, 2009 12:33 PMOh no, Keith, this was a supposed reporter, not an op-ed columnist. The article was masqueraded as news.
Trust me, if it had been that blowhard Rich, I'd have remembered it with his holier-than-thou, smug smile.
Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at November 2, 2009 2:03 PMApparently the "journalist" and Frank Rich are both working from the same talking points:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/opinion/01rich.html?_r=1
Posted by: Keith at November 2, 2009 2:35 PM"In a Republican Party struggling to find its identity, the surprise withdrawal of the chosen GOP candidate for a New York congressional race — forced by a rising conservative upstart — renews a lingering national debate: Are moderates welcome in today's Grand Old Party?"
I'm tasting bile in my mouth again.
Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at November 2, 2009 8:30 PMShe was a big Cap'n Tax supporter as well, as I heard it. Barely a Specter of a Republican :-)
[Aftermath computing]: if the 7000 absentee ballots for the Scofflaw had all gone to Hoffman, he'd have won the seat. Bad GOP, easy on the eye of Newt!
Posted by: nanobrewer at November 4, 2009 12:24 PM | What do you think? [10]