The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : NY23 UPDATE: Conservatives Ask, 'What Will Sarah Palin Do?'

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The Spectacle Blog

NY23 UPDATE: Conservatives Ask, 'What Will Sarah Palin Do?'

By Robert Stacy McCain on 10.18.09 @ 4:49PM

Supporters of Conservative Party congressional candidate Doug Hoffman -- whose special election campaign in upstate New York's 23rd district is drawing nationwide attention -- have begun to wonder why former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin hasn't endorsed Hoffman.

"In doing so she will join former Presidential candidate Fred Thompson, and the fiscal conservative group Club for Growth to endorse Hoffman over the Republican nominee," conservative blogger Dale Gordon wrote yesterday.

Hoffman supporters say a Palin endorsement would counterbalance the GOP establishment's backing of liberal Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava.

Josh Painter of the Texas for Palin blog says an endorsement from Palin "could be posted on the former governor's Facebook Notes page, and it would be an instant sensation among Sarah's 928,739 Facebook supporters . . . and the media would give it an audience of millions more."

Painter notes that Palin, who energized grassroots conservatives as the 2008 GOP vice-presidential candidate, has declared her desire to support "candidates who believe in the right things, regardless of their party label or affiliation."

More than anything, Hoffman campaign officials say, they need a quick injection of cash to match the big money the two major national parties are giving to their candidates. There is a rapidly escalating money battle in the three-way NY23 campaign. Both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are planning fundraising events for the little-known Democratic candidate, Bill Owens. The Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee have enraged conservatives by giving "six figure" contributions to Scozzafava.

Hoffman's grassroots supporters say time is running out for Palin to make an endorsement, if she is to have any impact on the Nov. 3 election, now barely two weeks away. Hoffman is endorsed by the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, and some of Hoffman's pro-life supporters have reportedly launched an e-mail campaign -- including prayer requests -- to secure the endorsement of Palin, whose pro-life bona fides would carry weight with the significant share of conservative Catholics in the rural upstate New York district.

View all comments (14) | Leave a comment

Josh Painter| 10.18.09 @ 8:22PM

Stacy has the Hoffman campaign contacted Sarah Palin or her spokeswoman Meg Stapleton?

- JP

cjohnthan| 10.18.09 @ 8:25PM

bill clinton can have a big impact. he got a lot of money from world leaders.

when bill run out of money, hillary will come to china, clamouring HR for chinese ordinary people.

OMG, i understood them very well.

Harold| 10.18.09 @ 8:50PM

Conservatives are as lost as Republicans, well no backbone. They are continually manipulated by the media and special interest. They just don't care, just like the Dems. Both parties are controlled by corruption. Palin doesn't want any part of the current Washington. She doesnt' believe in it or trust it.

Robert Stacy McCain| 10.18.09 @ 10:19PM

Stacy has the Hoffman campaign contacted Sarah Palin or her spokeswoman Meg Stapleton?

Don't know. Didn't ask them. This came from grassroots Hoffman supporters who contacted me after seeing my earlier NY23 reporting.

My unofficial understanding, Josh, is that Fred and Jeri Thompson have been influential in rallying support for Hoffman.

Your specific mention of Meg Stapleton is . . . interesting. But I'll invoke my Miranda rights. IYKWIMAITYD.

victor| 10.18.09 @ 10:39PM

Then the best thing to do is send, call and write Sarah as soon as possible.
She could just go and support any and all Conservatives for the next two years and thus keep her name in the papers.
Also giving agita and incontinence to any and all democrats would just be icing on the cake.

Lee| 10.19.09 @ 7:20AM

It's not Palin's job to go wading into every little campaign in the country where a candidate is Right of center, especially if she has not been asked to do so by the campaign. Maybe she eventually will endorse, maybe she won't. But stop crying about it. It doesn't help the candidate, it doesn't help Palin, and it doesn't help conservatism.

Plus, it's freaking New York state! Regardless of this particular campaign's outcome, that place is a lost cause.

Sapwolf| 10.20.09 @ 5:35AM

You're wrong Lee.

District 23 of New York is a conservative district. It is an easy district to get a real conservative. There is NO EXCUSE putting a lefitst GOP hack into that seat.

NONE.

rt| 10.19.09 @ 10:46AM

I love Palin but her actions tell me she just does not have what it takes to be a powerful voice for conservatism. I am starting to think she may be tone deaf to some degree. I hope things change for her but right now she isnt doing anything to promote conservative causes.

Johnno| 10.20.09 @ 10:21PM

rt, screw yourself, concern troll.

callingallcomets| 10.19.09 @ 7:41PM

Sarah is now her own boss. She will decide what to do and she won't be pushed or threatened into any particular stance to please anyone from the right or left. And for crying out loud stop checking boxes over her position on various issues. nobody owns Sarah Palin except Sarah - and if you don't like it then go and campaign for Cotter...

Sapwolf| 10.20.09 @ 5:38AM

Normally, I would agree.

However, this is a perfect situation for Sarah to support the common sense conservative, which would raise her standing as a conservative in the GOP, help to get the seat for the GOP since Hoffman will caucas with the GOP (he is a Repub.), strengthen her reputation with the Tea Party Movement but not be its stooge.

Very little risk for Sarah and tremendous upside for the country.

Johnno| 10.20.09 @ 10:20PM

Has Sarah even been asked? Jumping to hasty conclusions here.

T Christopher| 10.23.09 @ 11:17AM

She is anything but a genuine conservative. She is a fair-weather sideshow coming in at the final hour on this race only to seal the unfortunate fate of Doug Hoffman. If he was gaining any momentum it will surely be lost as the news of her endorsement spreads through the District. For every vote she may bring to the polls through her "popularity" she will bring three Democrats into the fold. Her endorsement called upon images of Reagan and true conservatism - sadly this is a vision she can only play lip service to as it is certainly not a reflective of her own ideological composition. http://republicanredefined.com.....dorsement/

James Schaeffer| 10.24.09 @ 10:57PM

It is really interesting to see what the Republican Party is doing. It is going through a kind of Stalinist purge. This creates a very interesting dynamic. Will the Democrats follow suit and go through a similar split of extreme liberals from the more centrist wing? The country could then wind up with a left wing party, a right wing party, and a (probably) group of moderate, centrist, or specialist interest groups/parties more or less in the middle. The Conservatives would more than likely split into two groups of Fiscal/Goldwater conservatives vs. Social/Fallwell conservatives. The permutations seem virtually endless. I am an ex Democrat in Tennessee who has voted for Thompson, Alexander, and many other Republicans, but am wondering where the GOP is really headed.