SYRACUSE, N.Y.
"I got into this race to win it," 23rd District congressional
candidate Doug
Hoffman said today at a press conference here when asked if
he was surprised by his recent surge in the upstate New York
special election. "Most of all, I'm surprised by the support
we're getting nationwide. . . . It's overwhelming. I never
expected it."
Indeed, as endorsements have poured in -- and Michelle
Malkin and
other conservatives have begun to demand the
withdrawal of liberal Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava -- the
momentum in NY23 appears to have shifted decisively toward
Hoffman.
Hoffman appeared this afternoon with former House Majority Leader
Dick Armey at a press conference in front of the Federal
Building in Syracuse, where the Conservative Party
candidate endorsed the flat tax. "Even though I'm a CPA, the
flat tax is the way to create an environment for economic
growth," said Hoffman, noting that simplifying the tax code would
result in a substantial loss of tax-preparation business for his
firm.
Armey said that Scozzafava lost the election "the day she was
elected," since her record and policy stances place her
far outside the mainstream of the conservative 23rd
District. Armey expressed the hope that "the Republicans will
learn a lesson" from the defeat of Scozzafava.
Local volunteers supporting the Hoffman campaign got a pep talk
Wednesday night from Armey at an event in nearby Cicero, N.Y.,
reported by Nina Wegner of the Syracuse
Post-Standard:
"You're sitting right in the eye of the storm. This country is
at a crossroads," Armey told the group. "We have a special
election. This is the game-changer. We've struggled with a
Republican party ... that has lost its way. They don't remember
about Reagan ... they don't remember about small government.
They let their thinking be controlled by self-serving political
objects. And frankly, they made a lot of fools out of
themselves."
There is a strong
feeling of momentum for the Hoffman campaign,
but there have been some bumps in the road,
including a
contentious interview today with the publisher of the
Watertown (N.Y.) Daily News. Despite the
"fireworks" during that interview, however, nobody called the
police.
