First, here’s the link to Doug Hoffman’s Congressional Campaign site.
I live in a Bush-voting congressional district that is held by a liberal Democratic congressman. We’ll have a strong Republican candidate, but we’ll need every extra dollar to promote the candidate. And I’m watching Michael Steele’s RNC and Pete Session’s NRCC as they’re on track to spend $1 million unnecessarily promoting a far-left Republican for the November 3, 2009, special election in the New York 23rd Congressional District.
Yesterday, I complimented Mike Pence and Michael Steele for staying neutral on of this race. But The Hill reports:
The RNC will give $85,000 to the coordinated campaign efforts, the maximum allowed by federal law. And the RNC will give the New York state Republican Party what a source described as a six-figure transfer in order to run more advertising on behalf of Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava (R).
The Hill adds:
The NRCC has poured $567,000 into the race so far, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
It’s possible that Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman could win this election. The RNC and the NRCC is supporting Republican Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, who:
Related news:
My pre-reply to commenters who will state, “It doesn’t make sense for Republicans NOT to support Republicans. That’s the point of a political party.” No, that doesn’t necessarily make sense. The point of an organization is to exist and succeed long-term, rather than to merely succeed in the short-term and fail in the long-term. I’ll say the same thing about Chambers of Commerce when they actively oppose school choice, when school choice costs less and provides a better quality of education: when a group’s short-term actions cause long-term damage to the organization, no, it doesn’t make sense.
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Benjamin Hodge publishes the Web site KansasProgress.com, based in Johnson County, KS, in the Greater Kansas City area. Hodge is a delegate to the Kansas GOP and a former state representative. You can join Hodge’s efforts on Facebook, through his personal Web site, on Twitter, and through his PAC.
October 17th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Are we really suprised? I know one thing for sure, until we significantly change the Republican Party, the RNC, NRCC and the NRSC will never get a dime of my money. All conservatives with brains still working need to get behind Doug Hoffman and send him cash.
October 17th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Is this the same type of logic that is going to prompt challenges to people like Mark Kirk and Mike Castle? You can’t run a Mike Pence in a place like Delware or statewide in blue states. There are going to be moderate Republicans that we need to run in blue or even purple areas to actually win.
Now, I support Rubio over Crist in the Florida primary because Rubio can win statewide in the general election. However, in a place like New Hampshire, we’re going to have to run a Kelly Ayotte if we want to win. The Democrats run moderate-to-conservative candidates in purple and red districts and they can win. The left may not like them, but they don’t actively seek to defeat them either.
October 17th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
#2: Incorrect assumption.
I don’t object to Mark Kirk and Mike Castle. I was supporting Rudy Giuliani at one point.
I don’t have the perfect equation for the “ideal Republican” in any given district, but it’s my firm opinion that we can do better than the views promoted by this Republican nominee.
I don’t find that it’s fair for you to call this candidate “moderate.” This district narrowly voted for Obama — just as mine did, in Kansas. That doesn’t mean we should promote a Republican candidate who agrees with Obama on nearly everything.
October 17th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
To clarify a small point in my previous comment: for President in 2008, I was supporting Rudy Giuliani over many of the other candidates (Fred Thompson was my first choice).
October 17th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
#3:
I agree that Scozzafava is a miserable candidate, but Hoffman can’t win. At best, he’s been polling in the low 20’s, and I’ bet that those saying they’re voting for Hoffman would otherwise vote for the GOP candidate. Now, this is a special election, so the rules are different, but if Hoffman isn’t polling at least near 30 by now, he isn’t going to win.
How good is it going to look for the NY GOP and the national GOP as a whole if we lose yet another House seat in the Northeast? Let Scozzafava win this election, and have Hoffman challenge her in the 2010 primary. Keep her as a seat-warmer until we get a better candidate who won’t vote for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker.
October 17th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
#5, I disagree. Check the polling trends. Hoffman’s increased his vote percentage by 7% in two weeks time and gained support in every single category. He’s currently leading amongst Independents. If he can gain the remaining Republican voters – he can win the election.
Hoffman’s currently at 23%, the Dem is at 33%. With 3 weeks left in the special election and Scozzafava dropping faster by the day – Hoffman can win.
October 17th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
#6:
Hoffman is still 10 points down on Democrat Owens. Scozzafava is going to retrain some support just because she is the GOP nominee. There are 17 days until the election; what are the odds that Hoffman gains 10 points in 17 days? Not as likely as Scozzafava regaining 5 points in that same amount of time.
October 17th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Sorry, if any of you bothered to look at the details of the Siena poll that was released the other day, you would see that where people are hearing about Hoffman and seeing his TV ads, he is winning. Currently, he’s winning in what is known as the “Central New York” portion of the district. This includes Oswego, Madison, and Oneida counties. He doesn’t live in this portion of the distict, but he’s leading with 34% of the vote, compared to 31% for Owens and 23% for Scozzafava. He has increased his percentage by over 7% in the last week, while Scozzafava has continued to fall since the beginning of the campaign. The fact is, Scozzafava is not a strong candidate. She’s not able to raise money on her own, which is shown by her weak fundraising totals. Scozzafava is diametrically opposed to the GOP’s adgenda in Congress, and she’s in lock-step with Obama’s radical march towards socialism. Fair-weather-conservative Newt’s endorsement of her is really dissapointing, especially when he apparently says that the “future of the party” is Obama-lite. Hoffman’s posted strong fundraising numbers and quite frankly has the grassroots support necessary to win in a conservative, Republican leaning district. A liberal Republican excuse for a candidate is not necessary, and ends up hurting our party.
October 17th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
#7:
Well, it’s interesting that the more people know about Dede Scozzafava, the lower she drops in the polls. 31% of the people in the district don’t know her. That’s pretty bad considering she represents a large portion of the district in the NY Assembly. By the way, 32% of people have a negative impression of her. She’s got 37% favorability, and only able to manage a week 29% second place.
Doug Hoffman on the other hand, has 23% favorability, 15% negative impression, and a whopping 63% have no idea who he is. Yet, he’s somehow still able to manage a 23% third place. Sounds to me like all that needs to happen is he needs to whittle down that 63% that don’t know him, and he’ll be the next Congressman.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
#9:
It just seems that this may set a bad precedent. Purists within the conservative movement might start feeling that they don’t need the GOP, or they can go win on their own. There is a place for the GOP establishment, just as there is a place for movement conservatives, but actively competing with each other isn’t going to help either group in the long run.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Jonathan is exactly right. The conservative candidate isn’t going to win. This isn’t rural South Carolina or Texas. It’s Upstate New York. This is where all of the tree-huggers go to die. Liberals from the city move to the Adirondacks for winter sports and the local politics have taken a leftward turn. This area was never represented by a Democrat in congress – yet Obama won the district by five points.
A conservative candidate isn’t going to win here in a three way race against the Democrat. I f*cking hate the Club For Growth. Scozzafava ought to win it and then she can be challenged later on. It does our party no good to “stand on principle” when a friggen Democrat wins the seat.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
I hate my party. Too many Republicans are too stupid and have zero sense of strategy.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
This is EXACTLY why we ought to fear Glen Beck.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
#12:
I’m loyal to the Republican Party first and foremost. It does the conservative movement or conservative ideology any good having American government dominated by the likes of Obama, Reid and Pelosi.
Republicans might not be perfect, but the GOP isn’t going to try and socialize medicine, raise taxes, scuttle the missle shield, abandon Israel, and apologize to the Ayatollah.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
#14 Should read
*It doesn’t do the conservative movement or conservative ideology any good having American government dominated by the likes of Obama, Reid and Pelosi.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
#14.
It’s exactly that sad type of thinking that makes party more important than principle that got our Republican majorities kicked out of Congress, and rightfully so. More of the same is insanity. Maybe when this party decides to grow some balls and actually stand for something besides doing a less-worse job than the Democrats, we’ll actually deserve the majority we’re trying to win back.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
#15:
I fail to see how electing a Republican that will support the Obama-Reid-Pelosi adgenda does any good.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
#17:
This special election is really not about the substance of each candidate, it is about perception and strategy. How will it look if the Dem’s yet again win another seat, especially in the region we are doing the worst in? How is it going to help the conservative movement to perform this self-serving exercise when the end result is a Democrat Congressman?
If you all want the Republican Party to nominate the candidates you like, you can’t just hold your breath when they do something you don’t like. In order to influence the process, you have to be involved in the process.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
#17,
We’re talking about an OBAMA district. We need MOMENTUM for the money to flow more readily to our candidates. I wouldn’t accept a Scozzafava in Joe Wilson’s district – but this ain’t Joe Wilson’s district. We had a golden opportunity to win an open seat in NEW YORK. Imagine what that would have done to the Kos assholes’ mantra that the GOP is a southern regional party. Instead we are pissing it away because the goddamn Club for (Democratic) Growth inserted themselves in the race to muck up the works again.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
#18:
Of course this race is not about substance. If it was, maybe we would have nominated a candidate that opposed the Obama adgenda. Am I the only one out here that thinks it’s crazy to to try to defeat somebody by sending someone who will fight on their side?
October 17th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
#19:
Ah yes, an Obama district. You mean the district where Rs outnumber Ds by 167,272 to 120,887?
By the way Adam and Jonathan, how’d that “Let’s Support Specter because he has an R beside his name” strategy work? Just thought I’d ask.
P.S. Conservative, “un-Electable” Toomey is leading polls in Blue, OBAMA Pennsylvania.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Oh, by the way, we’re supporting a Republican candidate that actively considered the possibility of running for this seat as a Democrat. Quality choice on our part.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
21,
If Pat Toomey, Mr. Club For Growth, hadn’t primaried Specter then Specter wouldn’t be 100 percent liberal now.
And no, Toomey isn’t ahead except in one poll.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Yep. That’s the one. The same district that Obama won by 5. Party registration doesn’t mean shit. You know that 50 percent of WV residents are Democrats, right? It didn’t do Obama any good last fall.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
#21:
Toomey isn’t Hoffman, Specter isn’t Scozzafava, and NY-23 isn’t the Pennsylvania Senate seat. This is a different race than in Pennsylvania. After he lost the primary in 2004, Toomey didn’t suddenly declare himself a 3rd party candidate. Toomey is doing things the right way. The fact that Specter switched party’s is because of his own cowardice and opportunism. Also, having the always looming threat of a viable conservative challenger might push Scozzafava to the right if she wants to stay in Congress. Pure survival instict could push her to the right.
Isn’t it better to try and make converts instead of burning would-be heretics?
October 17th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Toomey didn’t endorse Specter either.
By the way, I enjoy your Club for Growth hating comments. I’m just wondering when you’ll turn your wrath on Fred Thompson.
Jonathan, your logic is just plain faulty. Saying that supporting Scozzafava will make her a convert makes just as much sense as saying that re-electing corrupt politicians is a wonderful incentive to turn them into honest people.
The Republican Party is only good because of it’s principles. When it abandons those principles in its lust for power, it loses any right to the power it’s whoring itself out to get. It is disgusting that simply because somebody has an “R” beside their name, they can support bailouts, the stimulus, gay marriage, abortion, tax increases, Obamacare, the ACORN adgenda, and nobody seems to mind. Well, the conservative activists that give the party the backbone the elites don’t have is watching, the people of NY-23 are watching, and we’ll remember in 2010 how the national party played Judas for one Congressional seat.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
There are two kinds of folks that follow politics closely: those who route for the Democrats or the Republicans like people root for sports teams; and those who follow politics because they believe in certain principles and wish to see them implemented into policy.
To me, the Republican Party is not something that I root for as I do my beloved Vikings. I support the Republican Party because it is the only viable vehicle for the furtherance of the principles of individual freedom, free markets, free minds, and peace through strength which I strongly believe in.
Therefore, I see absolutely no reason to support or root for a candidate who does not believe in the principles that I outlined above. One who will probably stab us in the back as soon as the going gets rough and who will most likely assist Obama Pelosi in passng their agenda i.e. Snowe, Collins, Specter, Kirk, etc…
Winning NY-23 will not bring us one win closer to “home field advantage” for the playoffs folks. This is freakin’ Western Civilization we are talking about.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Look – I’ve commented here for years and I’m not about to pick a fight with the moderator if this site – but I respectfully and strongly disagree. I don’t view this as some sporting event. It will bring us one win closer to eliminating Pelosi as Speaker. That means conservatives, not moderates, and certainly not liberals control the committees. If Scozzafava’s win in NY-23 puts us over the top to topple Pelosi I can guarantee that card check and that asinine climate bill won’t ever make it to the floor.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
P.S. Scofazza’s people have already basically said she will switch parties if she faces a primary challenger in 2010. So the point of supporting her is what again exactly?
October 17th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
#26:
There were many conservatives who felt that it would be good for the GOP to lose in 06 and 08 to “teach them a lesson”. How’s that working out for us? We’ve been getting clobbered in election after election, moderates and conservatives alike. All it is doing is helping Democrats and liberals win more and more elections. Whether you support ideology above party or vice-versa, having the liberals and Democrats win is not helping anyone.
We have to actually win elections before we can implement conservative principles.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
29,
My understanding was that an overzealous staffer ran his mouth about that and it was later retracted.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
And if we don’t flip the house (which is what is truly likely) Scofazza is one more GOP vote for Card Check and Cap and Trade which Obama and Pelosi will use for cover and the MSM will trumpet as an example of a “reasonable and sensible” Republican.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
We have to actually win elections before we can implement conservative principles.
Yep. And the Democrats have figured out that you run candidates that are suitable to individual districts and you don’t cannibalize. If only the GOP had the wits to do the same.
If we 235 GOP congressmen, then by all means, primary Scozzafava.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
And how’s the management of that coalition been goin’ so far? Pretty much how Sean Trende and Jay Cost said it would.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
32,
Maybe. But it’s just as likely she would be spooked by the prospect of a challenge from the right. Scozzafava picked up party support and the GOP apparatus was solidly behind her. The only thing Hoffman does is cement a Democrat into office – possibly for a generation if he plays the Fake Moderate card like his buddy Arcuri in the neighboring district.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
34,
Right. But that’s also because, as Cost points out, the Democrats are much further to the left of the political center (because they hail from D+30 districts in urban centers) than the Republicans would be. There aren’t too many R+30, or even R+18 districts out there – not nearly as many as their Democratic counterparts. The strategy could WORK for us.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
I mean the leadership on the D side are all from radical liberal districts. Our leadership guys aren’t nearly as far from the center
October 17th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Can we find some compromise here? If Hoffman wins, great, more power to him for running a good campaign. If Scozzafava wins, we’ll keep a close eye on her to see that she doesn’t go off the reservation. But what if Owens wins? The headlines the next day will be terrible “Divided GOP loses another House seat to Dems” “Dems regaining momentum” and “Dems widen their already big majority”.
Will conservatives pat themselves on the back in the event of an Owens victory and say “well, at least Scozzafava didn’t win. In that way, we really won.”
October 17th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Owens is going to win. Corzine is going to win. McDonnell is going to win. That makes us 1 for 3. Hardly bragging rights.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Yep. And Erick Erickson already thinks he’s more important than he is. Wait until the day after Election Day.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Adam,
If you want to support a “Good Government” Republican (i.e. one who believes in balanced-budgets, law & order, low taxes, etc…) who just happens to be Pro-Choice and Pro Gay Marriage for NY-23, you can sign me up too.
But Dede Scofazza is not only Pro-Choice and Pro Gay Marriage, but also supports Cap and Trade, Card Check, the Stimulus, the SEIU and ACORN. So I will gladly take a pass on Dede and encourage every Republican in American to sit this one out and take great joy in her defeat. In just a few months, Republicans in NY-23 can nominate an immensely better candidate than her for 2010.
We need to draw the line somewhere for the sake of the coherence of the principles that our party stands for. As I have written before, I believe that there are legitimate Conservative Pro-Choice and Pro-Gay Marriage positions (although I do not subscribe to them myself.) Electing someone to Congress with an “R” next to their name that does not subscribe to even most basic principles of what our party supposedly exists to fight for telegraphs that we, perhaps, do not even believe in them ourselves.
October 17th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
#27 Amen.
We may differ in what principles we hold but Dede Scozzafava is unacceptable for economic conservatives, social conservatives, or heck any sort of conservative.
If Scozzafava is too far left economically for me then she’s too far left economically for 80% of the party.
Part of coming back as a party involves showing voters Republicans care about something more than just power. Supporting Scozzafava shows voters we have no principles we care about enough to lose on.
October 17th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
#41:
But Kavon, losing yet another election just telegraphs that we are losers. Again, the headlines will tell John Q. Public that the Republicans still don’t have their crap together. That will scare off donors, and potentially strong candidates (moderate and conservative). Winning this will embolden the Democrats and give them yet more momentum.
October 17th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/10/scozzafava_to_switch_parties_u_1.asp
October 17th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Jonathan #43,
The GOP losing a NY Congressional race in a district that dropped for Obama will hardly do that.
McDonnell winning big in VA will be a much bigger story. And the NJ race is not over by any means either.
October 17th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
“But Kavon, losing yet another election just telegraphs that we are losers.”
I’d rather be a loser than a whore.
(BTW, I’m not calling you a whore Jonathan, as I respect your opinions, but the GOP has GOT to stop whoring itself out for the sake of power.)
October 17th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
What are the odds that Scozzafava would be THE deciding vote for Speaker? Not good.
What are the odds that Scozzafava would be a useful idiot for the Democrats, demoralize principled Republicans, and cause division and dissension within the party? 100%
October 17th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
#46:
I will say this; the NY GOP really stepped in it when they picked Scozzafava. If they had picked Hoffman or someone else, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. They need to have a much better process for picking their candidates instead of just some smoke-filled room. If only there was a way for NY-23 Republican voters to choose the candidate they wanted. I think I’ve heard of it somewhere before; it’s called a primary.
October 17th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
I’m not too sure about that.
October 18th, 2009 at 7:48 am
“Again, the headlines will tell John Q. Public that the Republicans still don’t have their crap together.” That train has left the station, the fact that we nominated a Communist shows that NY Republicans are a disgrace, a laughing-stock and that we do not have are ‘crap’ together. Call me when the GOP has gotten its act together, learned its lesson, grows up and comes away from Communism. Until then, I am for the Conservatives and the Democrats are actually the next best thing to the Conservatives. Better that we lose NY 23 now than to be a failure in 2010.
October 18th, 2009 at 8:19 am
Hoffman and Daggett are doing the same thing: running because of gigantic egos. The practice in New York with a special election is that the party chooses who to run. In this race, they chose someone with name recognition who was well-respected on both sides of the aisle and in her community and within the New York State Assembly. She was chosen to run by the Republican leaders in her district; many of whom are more conservative than the most conservative on this site. Why? Because they felt she could win and hold a seat for their party. Hoffman didn’t like that. So, he and his huge ego decided to run. Hoffman could have easily run against Scozzafava in a primary only a year away. Instead, he is going to be giving a seat to Owens, making it much more difficult to challenge him in 2010. I have donated to GWB, McCain, Palin, the RNC, and I am tired of losing these elections because folks not even in the district where the race is happening start destroying the R candidate. Again, Toomey and Rubio will never win seats if Republicans like Scozzafava don’t vote for them.
October 18th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Where’s Palin?
http://spectator.org/blog/2009/10/18/ny23-update-conservatves-askin
“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.”
Didn’t Palin vow to campaign for conservatives, no matter what their party affiliation? This is a perfect opportunity.
October 18th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Perhaps the NRA’s endorsement of Scozzafava has her torn.
http://www.nypolitics.com/2009/10/08/nra-endorses-dede-scozzafava/
October 18th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
A loss by Owens will only identify the district to be eliminated for 2012
October 19th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Get a copy of this 2 hour documentary about abortion and Black Genocide ( Maafa21) and learn why no politician should side with Planned Parenthood. 2 minute clip here: http://www.maafa21.com
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:56 pm
[...] While gathering support from high profile Republicans and groups such as Newt Gingrich, House Minority Leader John Boehner, the RNC, and the NRCC as well as the National Rifle Association. More surprising to most were her endorsements from Leftist organizations ACORN, the AFL-CIO, the Daily Kos, Planned Parenthood, SEIU, and NARAL. [...]
October 24th, 2009 at 1:04 am
[...] HOFFMAN (Conservative) Rino/Leftist Dede Scozzafava (P-R photo) DEDE SCOZZAFAVA (her website) – Dede is a lefty – GOP endorses Dede Scozzafava, an ACORN-friendly, union-pandering, tax-and-spend radical [...]
October 28th, 2009 at 3:07 am
[...] by the liberal blog The Daily Kos to be to the left of Democratic nominee Bill Owens: Scozzafava won a “Maggie Award” from Planned Parenthood, voted for New York state bailout-type legislation, and is or has past been supported by ACORN, the [...]
November 4th, 2009 at 10:25 am
[...] [...]