Conservatives better hope all politics are NOT local
I’ve been busy lately and just now paid attention to the Dede Scozzafava/Goug Hoffman race in northern New York. I haven’t studied either candidate so Scozzafava could be the second coming of Pelosi and Hoffman could be an up and coming Jim DeMint for all I know. But I’m not so sure what is happening there is a good thing.
Here’s my impression. Tell me where I’m wrong. Scozzafava is left of the Tea Party folks, true. But nearly everyone in this country is to the left of that group. Some on the right are on the warpath to impose ideological purity. This gave them an opportunity to do it in a manner that will give them false hope.
This is a special election in a lonely part of New York. Because it is a special election it enabled conservatives across the country to focus their time, money, and efforts to support the third party candidate. Many big names backed Hoffman and eventually eroded Scozzafava’s base until she had to withdraw – and subsequently endorsed the Democrat. Whether Hoffman wins or not, the race will likely encourage a similar uprising among hard right third party candidates in 2010 against Republican candidates defined as RINOs. Except with races in every House district there will be no national focus or pooling of resources. The circumstances that made Hoffman’s surprise surge against Scozzafava will be gone.
Now for Hoffman… Did you know he doesn’t even live in the district? Also, look at what the editorial board of one paper had to say about Hoffman’s knowledge of local issues:
In a nearly hour-long session, Mr. Hoffman was unable to articulate clear positions on a number of matters specific to Northern New Yorkers rather than the national level campaign being waged in a three-way race for the vacant seat of now-Army Secretary John McHugh.
Mr. Hoffman spoke only generally about the need to improve the country’s economy and to create jobs but provided no details, which were also lacking as well in his broadly stated willingness to help our military personnel. Help in what way he could not say.
Regarding the proposed rooftop highway across the top of the district linking Watertown to Plattsburgh, Mr. Hoffman said only that he was open to studying the idea that has been around for years and will require federal financial assistance to complete.
Mr. Hoffman had no opinion about winter navigation and widening the St. Lawrence Seaway with their potential environmental damage. He was not familiar with the repercussions of a proposed federal energy marketing agency for the Great Lakes, which could pay for Seaway expansion contrary to district interests.
A flustered and ill-at-ease Mr. Hoffman objected to the heated questioning, saying he should have been provided a list of questions he might be asked. He was, if he had taken the time to read the Thursday morning Times editorial raising the very same questions.
Ouch. This is the white knight of conservatives?! An interloper who doesn’t bother to even read the local paper or study local issues. Not to worry, though. Dick Armey has his back.
Coming to Mr. Hoffman’s defense, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, who accompanied the candidate on a campaign swing, dismissed regional concerns as “parochial” issues that would not determine the outcome of the election.
Local issues are “parochial?” He’s technically right, but that is an incredibly condescending way to put it.
Hoffman may well win this Congressional race. It is a right leaning district, after all. But his ascendancy just seems clumsy. I’m not sure that it represents a coming wave of conservative victories or merely the result of national publicity and support of an underdog candidate. I hope I’m wrong, though. But surely the template for victory does not involve third parties and unaware candidates from other districts.
By the way, Scozzafava may walk away from this as a big winner, of sorts. The Democrat Party brass pushed hard for her endorsement. Look for her to get some juicy appointment or some other pay back.
I thought this blog was about Alabama politics…last time I checked, New York was more than a stone’s throw from here??
Brian,
You really should have read more about this race before opining. Whatever Hoffman’s limitations, Scozzafava was a horrible candidate. On the issues — both fiscal and social — she is actually to the left of the Democrat. She’s so far to the left, in fact, that she also got the nomination of the ACORN-backed Working Families Party. When a reporter from the Weekly Standard politely but persistently tried to ask her some questions a couple of weeks ago, her campaign called the police. Is this really someone who should be in a position of power?
It would be understandable for the GOP to nominate a liberal candidate in a left-wing district loathe to normally elect a Republican. But this particular district has not elected a Democrat in over 100 years. So why would the dim-witted New York state GOP put her forward?
If the GOP had put forward a reasonbly conservative candidate in line with the district’s political leanings, Hoffman would not even be an asterisk at this point. The state GOP brought this on itself. Imagine, if you will, that Parker Griffith took a job in the Obama administration, and Mike Hubbard chose a local peace activist as the GOP candidate in the special election.
Hoffman may not be ideal in many ways, but he is far better than Scozzafava. As Mark Steyn said of her: “This isn’t RINO but DIABLO – Democrat In All But Label Only.”
One of the other points that should be mentioned — and correct me if I am wrong — is that there was no primary. Everywhere I read about this race, they say that “Scozzafava was hand-selected by GOP chairmen”.
I agree with Ben, that she wasn’t even a McCain Moderate, which would have been bad enough. But had the Republican primary voters selected her in a fair primary, I would have been more inclined to support her. As I understand it, nobody in her district wanted her. Which was obvious when polling showed 33% D, 32% I, and 23% R.
You may be right that Hoffman isn’t the best choice, but he is the only person who had to courage to stand up to The Establishment, and make a positive change in NY-23. That alone makes him a better man than I am.
You are correct — there was no primary. The state GOP hand-selected her.
Let’s remember the editorial opinion piece for what almost all are: a hit piece on the more conservative candidate.
It isn’t as though Scozzafava didn’t have the backing of the national GOP. In fact, she was endorsed by Newt, then promptly endorsed the Democrat once she bailed on the election.
The lesson to be learned from this should be for the GOP establishment: Those of us who are true conservatives will no longer accept lip service from the GOP hierarchy. If you cross us, we will put up our own candidates. No more will we accept the lesser of two evils and simply vote for who you deem worthy. Ignore us at your peril.
There is some truth that the local issues for some people are going to outweigh the national issues, but in this next election year the national issues are going to overwhelm the local ones in most cases because of the blatant disregard the democrats have shown for basic American ideals. I voted for Bud Cramer every time he ran because I knew him from back when he was a DA and knew what kind of person he was, but with Parker Griffith all I know is a bit of his history and some of his voting record. The thing here is I always voted for Bud because I knew he would do what was good for this district but in the next election I will have to put everything aside except what candidate will do the most good to save our country from the most evil and corrupt administration we have seen in modern times (and after W with his egotistical corrupt henchmen that’s saying something). I will in all likelihood be voting for Mo Brooks not because I think Parker Griffith has done such a bad job, but because I cannot vote for someone that even stands the possibility of being subjected to arm twisting of the Democratic Party and its corrupt leaders. The thing here is that there may well be a wealth of independent candidates around the country and in many cases that might hurt the overall conservative movement and therein is my worry. We cannot stand another 2 or 4 years of Pelosi and company so anything we can do to end her reign is what I want for this country.
Doug:
Thank you.
Mo
Just a note here on the above assertion that Mr. Hoffman did not live in the congressional district in which he was running for office. A minor bit of reading told me that he actually had lived there for many years until some political gerrymandering took him out of that district so as with most editorial shots, it is just another convenient fact that was omitted. It is a sad state of affairs when Comedy Central has the most unbiased news in the country, but THAT is a whole nuther topic.
dcm
ps: I noticed about the time I finished this that Brad had made the same assertion. So consider my input a repeat :)
Doug, you raise a good point. Here in AL-05 we have the luxury of a proven, local conservative who knows the district very well running against Griffith.
NY – 23 is important because the President made it important.
The district has been a traditional GOP stronghold since the Civil War, but last year, the President won it. He then tried to parlay his success there by cherrypicking the district’s GOP congressman for his Administration, only to turn the seat blue. The local GOP establishment clumsily played along by nominating the liberal/ACORN candidate, Scozzafava – without a primary. So, the voters there – none too thrilled with the President’s time in office – were left with the options of a liberal Republican or a less liberal Democrat. Go figure.
Then, enter Doug Hoffman – a geeky, nerd from 8 miles outside the district (although he was in the district for years until recently gerrymandered out) – but a conservative geeky, nerd. Hoffman, with outside help, put out his conservative message, and it resonated. The voters finally had a choice who more reflected their views, and today, Hoffman will likely win as a result.
Despite what the media or the White House says, this is a rejection of the President’s policies in a battleground district – and they know it. The same is true for Virginia (and possibly New Jersey, depending on how many dead people vote today).
The implications and parallels for AL-5 and AL-2 (and statewide Democratic candidates) in 2010 are obvious. It will not be a good time to be a Democrat next November.
The President is learning a painful lesson – change always changes.
Brian got everything right in his original post on this except the name of the Democratic Party. The name is just as I spelled it, not “Democrat” Party. Or, Incidentally, the Democrat won in the historically GOP district. Sarah Palin’s skirttails weren’t involved — she wasn’t on the ballot, but she didn’t sway a lot of voters with her campaigning there. Meanwhile, in NJ, voters, including a lot of Democrats. elected a republican governor that is an out and out law violator himself, and a believer is using the Rove system of phony investigions, charging, indicting or somehow smearing Democratic politicians, regardless of any foundation of evidence of wrong-doing. Anyone interested in more on this go to Christie-Menendez and the whole story is there.
You’re nothing if not predictable, Ivan. If the New Jersey race had involved a Democrat who was a former federal prosecutor challenging an empty-suit windbag Republican who had done a lousy job and was trying to buy his reelection using his extensive personal wealth, you would be bloviating about “common folks” taking it to the “rich Republicans.”
I may not always agree with Brian, but at least he actually thinks for himself, rather than being a party hack noise machine. Personally, I don’t see how you live with yourself.
Ivan,
Quick question… How many aquittals in Christie’s “phony investigions, charging, indicting or somehow smearing Democratic politicians, regardless of any foundation of evidence of wrong-doing”?
Answer: Zero.
http://www.nj.com/columns/times/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1228107911137890.xml&coll=5
The facts won’t hurt you.
One aspect of Christie’s career i was referring to derogatorily was his subpoena of democrat Bob Menendez in 2006, a couple of months before election, to smear him on a phony charge and try to cripple his campaign. pure rove tactic. issue was pure garbage, Menendez proved it, and the investigation died when election was over. Christie’s first campaign was a primary against republican incumbents for local office. he won, they filed defamation suits. christie settled out of court. in office, he got architect on a new jail fired (hey, wish he had been working in madison county when jail was in the works) for charging too much. architect sued for defamation. i think it was settled out of court. he lost his next election for state legislature and got himself so messed up in that one he lost his next primary for his old county office. So he became a state lobbyist. he lobbied to deregulate the utility industry, and to protect fraudulent security dealers. he was good about giving multi-million dollar no bid contracts to friends — john ashcroft got one, his predecessor got one after he let brother todd christie off the hook in a securities fraud that netted 11 fellow traders and three or four firm bosses. When he was prosecuting he didnt lose a single case — credit to him assuming all the cases were justified, which i do.
ben asks how i can look at myself in the mirror, seeing a loyal party Democrat (he calls party loyalists “hacks”) , and i have to tell him, it aint easy. the face in the mirror used to outshine the handsomest movie star and now, age … — just kidding. i believe in strong political parties. but that’s for another report.
I believe in strong parties, too. I also believe in integrity. I understand that there is a “game” that has to be played by politicians (e.g., Pelosi can’t come out and say Charlie Rangal is a crook because it would cause her all kinds of downstream headaches and allow the GOP to pile on in the meantime). I don’t like it, but it’s like being a defense attorney — Sometimes you have to do stuff you don’t like.
That said, I see no reason for a private citizen or commentator to either smear someone of the other party or blindly defend someone in their own party simply out of party loyalty. If something’s wrong, it’s wrong.
Like any legal action taken against a sitting politician, Christie’s 2006 subpoena of Bob Menendez was red meat for Democratic partisans, but there is little if any indication that there was anything untoward about it. Ronnie Earle’s bogus indictment of Tom DeLay, on the other hand, was complete crap, and Earle only barely pretended otherwise. I’m sure you weren’t up in arms about that one, though. DeLay is/was a scumbag, but Earle’s actions were a blatant abuse of power.
I no longer reside in the state of Alabama, though I vote in Zip Code 35016 by absentee ballot. I’m not sure how strong the “teabagger” movement is down there, but I think NY-23 has implications for Alabama. It appears to me that Democrats are about to receive a huge boost in 2010 that they really can use. Let’s face it … if right-wing activists (”teabaggers”, if you prefer) are successful in their goal of toppling Republican moderates in gubernatorial and congressional races across the country (Dick Armey’s stated goal), most of their seats will go to the Democratic Party … just like Tuesday in NY-23.
The “teabaggers” represent a third-party that will steal votes away from the GOP, but won’t garner any from Democrats, and precious few from moderate or independent voters. Keep in mind that NY-23 in upstate New York has been in Republican hands since the Civil War. Yet, Tuesday, the Democratic candidate took 49% of the vote; more than in any election held since … well, since forever. That congressional seat has been in Republican hands for over 100 years. In over 70 elections, Democrats best showing, prior to yesterday, was 38%. New York state has a total of 29 congressional seats. Of these, only two remain in Republican hands.
This was a tremendous success for the Democratic Party in that district. Who do they have to thank for it? The Conservative Party. The “baggers” and “birthers.” Americans, obviously, see them for what they are, and they are repulsed by the sight. They are excellent, though, for Democratic fundraising and campaigning.
2010 is going to be an amazing election year.
If you think that this was anything but a crushing defeat for Democrats you are crazy.
The GOP’s biggest problem was they couldn’t get out of their own way in NY-23. That seat will be back in the GOP column in 2010.
What a hoser.
Since you readily admit that you “no longer reside in the state of Alabama,” yet still vote via absentee ballot in Arab, AL, might we have your real name? I’d like to forward it to Troy King to open a vote fraud investigation.
As for your “teabaggers” comments, I’ve got a pair you can drop in your mouth – though that’s something with which I’m quite sure you’re very familiar.
Forget my request for your real name. It’s already been posted to the AG’s office. Hope you enjoy hearing from them very soon.
Am I to understand correctly that you reside in Canada but still vote absentee in Arab, AL where you no longer reside?
>> Am I to understand correctly that you reside in Canada but still vote absentee in Arab, AL where you no longer reside?
That is correct.
Charles
Charles Aulds makes a lot of sense. hope republicans don’t listen to him.
Incidentally, expatriate Americans (and many are serving their country abroad) are fully qualified to vote by absentee ballot.
The ballots are mailed by the local Board of Registrars office (in my case, from the Guntersville Courthouse.
Voter fraud in Alabama can be reported directly to the office of the Secretary of State. Military and overseas voting requirements for Alabama are also available from this site: http://www.alabamavotes.gov/AbsenteeVotingInfo.aspx?m=voters
Please educate yourself about this so you don’t end up looking like a fool to others.
Charles Aulds
Charles,
Regardless of how you are voting in Alabama it appears you are out of touch with most people here but that is an aside. The main thing here was the mythological assertion that you think the Democrats will have a big happy party in 2010 based on your observations of the NY-23 election. Well since opinions are not is short supply here I thought I would drop mine, that being that that race was the Republicans to lose and they did mainly because of their reluctance to go against the local political machine which it seems now was corrupt and hardly a boon to the Republican party. I am sure that there was a lesson learned and that was to get a bearing on what the local folks really wanted (it was not this woman that turned on her own party in a childish fit of ego). If they had gotten behind one candidate early they would have won and whatever you think of them, they DID learn a lesson which won’t be repeated. I urge you to continue to live in your fairy tale world where 2010 will be a great year for Democrats and the rest of us will just go to the polls and burst your bubble.
Douglas C. Meeks
Not that you feel, out of a lack of confidence in your position (or maybe your manhood) that you need to attack me personally, right? :-)
At least you had the backbone to use your real name.
You ever grow as tired of sniveling weakness and cowardice as I have grown?
Charles Aulds
I always thought that if I was ashamed to let someone know what I said, it stands to reason that I should not have said it. I ran 2 BBSs here in Huntsville for years and then posted on the HSV General newsgroup sporadically, this all said to assure you that as personal attacks go mine was like a 1 on a scale of 10 :) I try not to get too personal (while admitting I fail spectacularly at times) since most times it fall in the Old Farmer adage about not fighting with pigs because you both get muddy and the pig likes it (and NO that was not directed at you or anyone). I have done my time in the Army and served with DoD for many years, been to Saudi and many other places in that part of the world and while most people would consider it racist my observations lead me to believe that anyone who trusts a Muslim to act as though they are part of any 21st century desire for peaceful existence is naive and borders on stupid. Racial profiling as it applies to the Arab world should be enforced rigorously so our government can actually do its job of keeping us safe. I only throw this randomness out so if you or anyone has an overwhelming desire to be personal, take your best shot. I probably won’t respond. I am neither uneducated nor stupid, but I take what I believe is a realistic approach to today’s problems and while I can wish to be left alone in peace, I find it difficult to remain silent when the government continues to encroach on me in my own home. Well thats enough mindless rambling for today, maybe I should have put this elsewhere :)
Douglas C. Meeks
Uh … Dateline BBS, circa 1988, perhaps? If so, thanks a million!
Charles
I remember being thrilled when I got my first 14.4 modem, yea, been at this stuff a long time :)
Beast of Burden BBS, Unknown BBS (after its originator bailed), and helped out with The American BBS since we were all kinda right wing radicals back then and Rush was still an old rock group and not a talk show :) Ahhh, the good old days, now I know I am old since I have more good memories than great expectations. Does this consist of being “off topic” ?? Guess I will move this rambling to my Facebook page . Oh and let me drop one small bomb, I always got back a tax refund until Regan became president and took away most of my deductions, which is why I like to think Independent because both parties have done me in at some point in my life. I voted for Ralph Nader 5 years ago because seat belts saved my life and that was more than any of the other candidates could say. (ok that should save me from the editors knife)
Douglas C. Meeks