The American Spectator : It's Up to You, Upstate New York

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It's Up to You, Upstate New York

By Robert Stacy McCain on 10.21.09 @ 6:08AM

NY23: Hoffman's three-way fight ignites the right.

(Page 2 of 2)

"This election is going to be a referendum on two things," Ryan said in a telephone interview late last week. "First, it's going to be a referendum on the first 10 months of the Obama administration. And second, it's going to be a referendum on the future of the Republican Party."

NY-23: PREVIOUSLY IN THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR:

• Grudge Match October 19, 2009
• Video of New Ad for Doug Hoffman October 19, 2009
• Conservatives Ask, 'What Will Sarah Palin Do?' October 18, 2009
• Conservative Doug Hoffman: 'Citizen Who's Had Enough' October 16, 2009
• The Great RINO Hunt in Upstate New York October 16, 2009
• UPDATE: Conservative Hoffman Gains in N.Y. Special Election October 15, 2009
• Huckabee and Hoffman October 15, 2009
• The Importance of Doug Hoffman October 15, 2009
• RINO 'On the Run' in NY23 Special Election October 14, 2009
• Losing It Over Scozzafava October 8, 2009

Page: < 12

topics:
Republican Party, Doug Hoffman

About the Author

Robert Stacy McCain is co-author (with Lynn Vincent) of Donkey Cons: Sex, Crime, and Corruption in the Democratic Party (Nelson Current). He blogs at The Other McCain.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (30) | Leave a comment

Motown Mike| 10.21.09 @ 7:23AM

To offset the efforts of Acorn and others to steal votes, I suggest that members of the Conservative Party and conservative Republicans field their own poll watchers who are equipped with video cameras and who are ready to Twitter any irregularities they see. Keep the light shining on evildoers.

daddio| 10.21.09 @ 3:22PM

Be sure to stream the video to the web too.

louis tully| 10.21.09 @ 9:26AM

Lets face it, our system recognizes just two political entities--the incumbents and the opposition. Right now, conservatives are neither.

Conservatives are itching to take on the socialist incumbents, but they have to be the opposition first. That means they have to replace the GOP/Whigs. That is the battle that has to be fought and won first. Bring it on. Its time to start taking Whig scalps.

Tim| 10.21.09 @ 10:17AM

Whigs. Heh.

victor | 10.21.09 @ 11:10PM

Well then, we do what the Radical Republicans did in the beginning and forge ahead, do the Right thing and the heck with the Moderate RINO'S.
Yeah it would be nice if Sarah endorsed Hoffman, but we really have to "help" the RNC push the RINO's overboard.
Rush and Hannity coincidentally talked about Hoffman today and Mark Levin "coincidentally", yeah Right, had Hoffman on his show and linked to him on his website.
http://marklevinshow.com/Artic.....spid=32364

JP| 10.21.09 @ 11:09AM

NY lost 2 Republican seats last year that were held for years. Syracuse and Southern Tier/Corning. These are largely rural and farm districts who tend to be conservative. The money used to unseat the Republicans flowed in from NYC.
The party should be fighting to get those seats back as well.

Shamus| 10.21.09 @ 11:44AM

I've tended to vote Republican in recent elections because Republicans are less nuts than Democrats. When Republicans offer no choice at all between their party and the far left, then they lose my support.

Si Vis Pacem| 10.21.09 @ 11:52AM

Dede turned me into a Newt!!

Thanks Stacy. Keep sluggin'.

MikeN| 10.21.09 @ 12:58PM

I'd be surprised if Democrats don't make a bigger push. Losing this seat and the two governor's races in two weeks, would kill the Obama agenda.

Dan Francis| 10.21.09 @ 2:34PM

Hoffman does not even live in the district, and Owens is not even a legal DEM... Dede is imploding... what's left? WRITE IN A NAME AND SEND A MESSAGE.

daddio| 10.21.09 @ 3:23PM

vote Libertarian!

victor| 10.21.09 @ 10:50PM

Vote for the Conservative!
Vote for Hoffman!

victor| 10.21.09 @ 10:50PM

Vote for the Conservative!
Vote for Hoffman!

Bob Belvedere| 10.21.09 @ 2:45PM

Quoted from and linked to at:
23 SKIDOO

Joellen| 10.21.09 @ 4:15PM

Conservatives send in your CHECKS to HOFFMAN! Let the REPUBLICAN PARTY KNOW we are NOT going to let them continue to try and DUPE us! If they refuse to put up CONSERVATIVES who stand for the principals and ideals that we belive in, then they can continue to lose our monetary and voting support. Even if you dont live in NYS, send your support to HOFFMAN. Newt I am still waiting of an legtimate answer as to your support for LIBERAL DEDE!

Eric Dondero| 10.21.09 @ 7:07PM

And with the election of 3rd partier Hoffman to the Congress, a great precedent will be set. No longer will any Conservative have an excuse for not supporting a Libertarian Party candidate in a similar type of race.

We Libertarians have been hoping for this for decades.

Thank you Doug Hoffman. You alone established what the Libertarian Party has fought for, for over 30 years.

victor| 10.21.09 @ 10:55PM

You're delusional, Conservatives won't vote for Liberalterriers. Period!
He's not setting a precedent, he's sending a Message to the RINO's that we're not putting up with their garbage any longer.
The guy is a regular businessman, not a professional pol.
Liberterriers are fiscally sound, but morally, they may as well be dems.

shoey| 10.25.09 @ 9:21PM

"Liberterriers are fiscally sound, but morally, they may as well be dems."

says the Big Gov. Repub. (who would use the State enforce to his morality)

plenty of conservatives are willing to vote libertarian.

go to a TEA party and open your eyes

Soulsamurai| 10.21.09 @ 9:29PM

It's time for Ed Cox to play Barry Goldwater

http://www.thenextright.com/ir.....-goldwater

Deances| 10.22.09 @ 5:31AM

this is nice article. i like it,after read people must be try think about this,thanks for this article.

http://acaiforcemaxreview.weebly.com

roadmaster| 10.22.09 @ 8:50AM

Not a good time to be a RINO. My wife and I have gone to several Tea Parties, besides demonstrating in front of our loony left Rep. Raul "supermex" Grijalva. She has never been involved in political movements and neither have a lot of other people we meet at these events. Conservatives are refusing to drink the KoolAid when it has a scuzzy flava.

Richard Baker| 10.22.09 @ 1:30PM

And then Newt Gingrich endorses Scozzofava! Has Newt turned his coat? Incomprehensible.

L. Banks| 10.22.09 @ 1:36PM

My sister lives in New York state and has been telling me about this race. It appears to me the Republican Party has run a dead mare trying to keep this district for the Republican Party. It is really unfortunate they have not learned any lessons from the Obama defeat. They played right into his hands. They are not offering a strong alternative to the Democratic Socialism being espoused by the Obama worshippers. The message they are conveying is unclear and who is listening? They have re-inforced this by nominating a woman who is clearly out of step with this rural part of the country. If the Republican Party became a party of less government, less taxes and supported the constitution, they might be able to show a difference people would support. I believe the answer for most people now is to chose the conservative candidate with the qualifications to execute his beliefs since the two major parties are too closely aligned. Doug Hoffman is a conservative who has the credentials and the desire to stop the spending and stop an out of control government. This may become the way of the future, conservatives running as independents. This is what made the United States great to begin with...

victor| 10.22.09 @ 9:24PM

NewsFlash!
Sarah Palin just endorsed HOFFMAN!
Go Sarah 2012
To paraphrase Joan Crawford:
NO MORE SPINELESS RINO'S!

Margie| 10.22.09 @ 10:50PM

And he is running in the Conservative Party in N.Y.

Juno| 10.23.09 @ 12:29AM

Conservatism is worth fighting for!

No more weak weenie republicans. The time to fight is NOW!

asdhjk| 10.26.09 @ 4:05AM

asd

Thom| 10.26.09 @ 5:40PM

It's true: Dede Scozzafava, the Republican candidate in northern NY's special Congressional election, doesn't toe the Right-Wing line on a number of issues. Staunchly pro-2nd amendment, she is also pro-abortion rights (consistent with the Supreme Court) and pro-Marriage Equality. My God, she almost sounds Golderwateresque!

But wait, there's more: her husband is a union organizer, and she has very tight ties with union leaders. Her district, along the Canadian border, contains a significantly higher proportion of union workers (and trade concerns) than most districts in the US, and so yes, she tends to side with labor on a number of issues. Hmmm...sounds rather Jack Kempesque, too....which isn't surprising, considering that her district is the remotest, most economically hardest-hit district in New York.

Sarah Palin has opened her mouth in endorsing rival Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, and Minnesota's Gov. Pawlenty is leaning in that direction. One has to wonder what these two know, if anything, about the 23rd District, and why they are sticking their noses into a New York race.

Even Newt Ginrich has weighed in for Scozzafava, saying

"I just think it is a mistake for the conservative movement to think splitting in the special election is a smart idea. If we give that seat to the Democrats, shame on us.”

He continued: “She has signed a no tax increase pledge. She is endorsed by the National Rifle Association. She has come out against cap and trade… She is opposed to the Obama health care plan. She will vote for John Boehner instead of Nancy Pelosi. All of those things together make her – it seems to me – a legitimate, authentic, Republican nominee.”

Republicans who do not support her are sending a clear message about their onw Rule-or-Ruin attitude: they would rather support the Conservative Party candidate who will lose, but enable unyielding ideologues feel warm and fuzzy at the purity of their vote.

When, oh when will the Republican Party cut off the Right-Wing tail that keeps wagging its dog?

[Disclaimer: I was a Conservative Party State Committeeman from the 5th CD of NY 1986-1988]