Posted on 10/30/2009 2:26:58 PM PDT by Edisto Joe
Anyone who doubts Sarah Palin as an up and coming major player on the political scene better find a doctor for a reality check. Her endorsement of Conservative Doug Hoffman in the New York 23rd Congressional District special election has caught the attention of thousands who are now donating to his campaign and pledging support. Hoffman, who is running as a third party candidate against Republican, Dede Scozzafava and Democrat, Bill Owens, is a Republican himself but had to enter the race on a third party ticket since their was no primary for the special election. Had there been one Dede Scozzafava would never have been in the race. Scozzafava is Republican in name only. She leans to the left and supports Democratic policy. Hoffman is a Regan principled conservative and was a natural to draw the support and backing from Palin. In a little over a week he has surged forward in the polls and now is dead even or ahead of Owens. Hoffman has been winning over GOP supporters and Independent voters as well.
Scozzafava, who has fallen to third, has been issuing warnings to voters to be wary of candidates whose backing comes from outside interests and have no interest in the 23rd district of New York. What she and the RNCC as well as House leaders John Boehner and Eric Cantor fail to realise is those outside interests are the little guys, like you and me, who give the 10 and 20 dollar donations. They come from all over the country because were tired of our party selling out to pretenders who turn left when they get into office. If these people thought the tea parties and town hall meetings over the summer....
(Excerpt) Read more at edistojoe.com ...
Paging Michael Steele!
Paging Newt Gingrich!
Paging The RNC!
Sarah opened the FLOODGATES and made it OK to support the REAL conservative Republican!! THANKS SARAH!!
Ping!
Each of them are in d Nile.
Go Cuda
Each of them are in d Nile.
Go Cuda
Regardless of what happens next Tuesday, Palin is a winner in this race. She came out early, came out vocally, and pulled Hoffman from a distant third to a likely winner.
In other words, she showed real courage, and leadership, while Mitt and Huck sit on the sidelines, probably hoping that Hoffman doesn’t win, so they can say it is Palin’s fault.
Huck had the nerve to go to NY, speak at a Conservative Party function, accept an award from them, and then not endorse their candidate.
Mitt couldn’t issue more than a wishy washy statement, and instead endorsed McDonnell of VA who is safely ahead by about 12 points. Not much leadership or courage there either.
But at this point even if Hoffman loses, Palin is still the winner, She did lead the charge in supporting him. Before Palin, Hoffman was mired in a distant third place. After Palin he's shot up the polls and raked in campaign contributions. He's a serious contender because she stepped up and spoke out. Romney and Huckabee can spin it all they want but they can't come out looking good by staying out of it.
Steele is now claiming that a win by Hoffman is a win for the RNC because Hoffman is “mostly Republican anyway”.
Me thinks for both "party's", its going to be a blood bath in 2010 for the entrenched "DC Elite".
I say good riddance!
a win by Hoffman will put to rest those stupid claims that voting for the conservative is like voting 3rd party... splitting the vote and would allow the dem to win
Thank you Sarah!
Sarah Palin: Kingmaker!
If the people on this site call for help in a race, anywhere, I’m sure the help will be there.
Free Republic Rocks!
I kinda like this Going Rogue stuff.
:^)
Anyone know the answer to this:
If Hoffman wins, will he have to run again next year at the regular election time? Or will he be guaranteed a full two year term and not be up for reelection until 2012? How does that work?
I say good riddance too! Every request I get from RNC or our state committee gets returned— but all that’s in the envelope is a note telling them that I’m only contributing to real conservatives individually this year.
I tell them that when they can prevent people like Olympia Snowe from getting elected, or control them better when they are elected, I’ll consider donating to the organization again.
Power to the people! And the people say we’re sick of the whole darn bunch of you! Say it loud; say it proud: NO MORE RINOs!
I don’t know much about Doug HOFFMAN , only saw him on Glenn Beck the other day, is he just a regular citizen running for congress ? ..... when I saw the interview, the thought, MR. SMITH goes to Washington.
A Real ( Mr. Smith goes to Washington ) ....
I expect they are getting the word....all of their correspondence asking for money goes in the trash can....and for sure I’m joined by a bunch of folks...
She made the difference here....no doubt about it.
We must continue to support and elect constitutional candidates all over this nation, whom we know beforehand will take their oath to the constitution seriously and fufill that oath, and who are committed wholly to stand on and support constitutional principle.
When WE, the citizens and voters of this nation insist on that course of action ourselves, in large numbers, we will inact change.
That is what is happening here with Sarah openly supporting Hoffman...and it is what MUST happen with each of us. By doing so we will pull the GOP back to the constitution and to its own platform.
When we do, the right candidates and the right parties will rise to the top like cream rises to the top of fresh milk because we will have insisted and forced it to be so.
The FR alliance:
RESTORE THE CONSTITUTION EFFORT
which is an FR Alliance web site, is about precisely that. Please join us, and a lot of other FREEPERS there, as we work together and identify and support candidates dedicated to doing precisely that at all levels.
“Pete Sessions, the RNCC Chairman said Thursday that Hoffman would be welcome, with open arms and the House Republican Leadership said he would be welcomed into the ranks.”
If Hoffman wins I hope he remains independent. He needs to keep his distance from the RNCC, especially the leadership. These people are poisonous snakes, & as long as they have power in the GOP, the party will continue to fail America.
After winning independently DISPITE opposition from the RNCC, it would be foolish & self-defeating to place yourself under the thumb of these people. Hoffman may find himself in the company of SEVERAL Independents in just over a year from now. I certainly hope so.
This is a special election to fill the remaining term of McHugh. There will be another election in 2010.
Actually only Gingrich needs to be paged. Steele and the RNC are basically obligated to support the GOP candidate at least publically and the GOP candidate is the choice of the state as in NY state GOP.
We should roll dice and see who can predict the % of the vote Scuzzy gets.
He said that??? wah?
Someone who supported Scuzzy whose ACU rating is lower tha Liebermans should never use such a dismissive term while claiming someone in the party.
Scuzzy is 100% Republican while Hoffman is "mostly Republican anyway"??
I will gladly follow you, for you are a natural leader. God Bless you, Hoffman and all who are attracted to common decency and sense
The good news is the latest polls show Hoffman ahead Scuzzyfavors running a distant third. Seems to be about,
Hoffman 33%
Owens 30%
Scuzzy 18%
As the old joke goes, it seems there’s a big problem with the Republiticians choice in dog food. The dogs won’t eat it!
Scozzafava Collapses, Republicans Refocus (That thud you heard was Scuzzy under the bus)
NY Daily News ^
Posted on Friday, October 30, 2009 2:36:22 PM by mnehring
The events of the last 24 hours have pretty much clinched it: NY-23 is now officially a two-man race between the Democratic nominee Bill Owens and the Conservative Party upstart Doug Hoffman.
From NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions to former Gov. George Pataki to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (through his operative, Jake Menges), Republicans are quickly abandoning their nominee, Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, and backing Hoffman in a last-ditch effort to keep former Rep. John McHugh’s seat in GOP hands and, perhaps more importantly, deny the Obama administration a much-needed political victory.
“I think it’s now to a point where we’ve got to win the Republican seat; it’s not about liberal or conservative,” said a GOP consultant. “It’s about if we don’t help (Hoffman) over the finish line, Owens is going to win.”
“Dede’s out of it,” the consultant continued. “The bottom has dropped out on her. She can’t win it. Looks like Sessions and the national Republicans are seeing that. It was a poor choice on Sessions’ part to go with her in the first place.”
Another Republican on the ground in NY-23 said the Republican rush to embrace Hoffman was motivated in no small part to yesterday’s DailyKos poll that found him in a dead heat with Owens (33-32) with Scozzafava trailing badly at 21 percent.
The third and final Siena poll of the NY-23 race will be released tomorrow Sunday. When Siena last weighed in on this race on Oct. 15, it found Owens leading by four percentage points with Scozzafava losing ground and Hoffman moving up fast.
The political world is scrambling to make sense of all this.
On The Fix, Chris Cillizza suggests that a Hoffman win - which seems to be more than just a possibility at this point - won’t really be a victory for the GOP, although it will surely be spun that way, but proof of a growing anti-incumbent sentiment that should strike terror in the hearts of any pol seeking re-election in 2010.
Meanwhile, the DCCC has launched a new attack ad in an effort to halt Hoffman’s rise.
For all those who think that the conservative party in New York acts as an independent party, let me all tell you once again, you are wrong. Hoffman is a Conservative Republican, and sought the Conservative Party nomination only after the NY GOP's insider's club anointed Scozzafava.
There was NO primary for this special election, so the only way for Hoffman to beat the liberal Scazzafova was to run on the Conservative Party line - a party that usually backs the GOP nominee. But there is no question that Hoffman has made clear that he is a lifelong Republican, and now the Republicans can see their error and if Hoffman wins, they want him back in the fold.
I'm from NY23, I know how politics work in that Congressional district and in NY State, and I can tell you that this is Hoffman's way to reform the GOP, and every Republican endorsing him knows that this is the way to reform the party and advance the conservative agenda.
He is going to win and the GOP will get the message that Republicans want to nominate conservatives and they want conservatives to win. Once he wins, he isn't only going to caucus with the GOP conservatives (as Hoffman himself has said), but he will run as the GOP nominee in 2010.
This is how you reform the party - work within the party and move it to the right. It's the same strategy that Sarah is employing. She has lots of supporters with the goal of reforming the GOP from within, as a more conservative force.
You don't reform the party by sitting on the sidelines and being a little, peripheral third party. The NY Conservative Party isn't representative of national third parties. The Conservative Party in NY doesn't see themselves as a third party, but as the conservative voice of the GOP constituency.
Excellent post! My daughter lives in NY 23 and is backing Hoffman. Glad you & she are kinda neighbors. Keep us posted Tuesday, OK?
Correction: It's all about liberal and conservative. Conservatives won't vote for an ACORN/SOROS liberal regardless of whether they put an R next to her name. Hopefully the Republiticians will learn a lesson in time for 2010.
“I’m from NY23, I know how politics work in that Congressional district and in NY State...”
Is there any chance that the gal will back out of the race and say something like “The voters have obviously picked Hoffman as the alternative to Owens rather than myself. While I disagree with many of his policies, he would better serve this district than Mr. Owens....”.
Or, he can remain an independent & cast his votes with America rather than the GOP. As an Ind., both Rats & Pubs will HAVE to “lobby” Hoffman for his votes, giving him much more influence than as a mere GOP freshman.
Party loyalists & leaders have been saying the same as you for as long as I can remember. I don't buy it anymore. It hasn't worked in the past. I believe the Pub leadership is just as corrupt, immoral, greedy, & power hungry as the Rats. To submit yourself to that evil is to become a part of it.
It is pretty obvious that the GOP's selection of Scazzafova was based not on her principles, but on her LACK of principles. Now you would have Hoffman submit to these very same people?
If Hoffman does submit to the Pubs, he will be ignoring the lesson of his own election, & become just another party loyalist doing the bidding of the party, not the people who elected him. If he does this he risks losing the independent vote in 2010 - likely a large & still PO’ed block of voters. I believe many more Independents are gonna run & win in 2010. Voter are weary of only 2 choices on a ballot: Crony (D) or Crony (R).
Here's an idea you may not like: Instead of Hoffman changing his (I) to (R), how about some of the patriotic, conservative Congressmen switch to Independent, & then vote as a block to play spoiler to the big gov’t , tax & spend proposals of BOTH corrupt parties. That, it seems to me, the quickest way to end the bipartisan collusion that wastes our money, rewards corruption, & restricts our freedom.
excellent post Victoria.
Conservatives by their nature are not attracted to politics. Hustlers, power seekers, attention whores and assorted grifters are. However political parties are a necessary evil.
From time to time we conservatives must give them the necessary enema.
Sarah is just beginning the process.
She has already dropped out of the race. Check this out:
Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava has suspended her campaign, in the wake of a new political poll that contains devastating news for her.A tearful Scozzafava broke the news to supporters Saturday morning at her campaign headquarters in Watertown.
She is not endorsing either of the two other candidates - Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman or Democratic Party candidate Bill Owens.
"It's clear the campaign is lagging," Scozzafava told 7 News. "It was time to do the right thing, which is to release the Republican County chairs, they've stood by me this entire time, and let them do what's best for the Republican Party." link
And from The Corner on National Review
Rush on this Curious Campaign [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
In response to the NY-23 news, Rush Limbaugh tells me: “Hmmm... I thought the Era of Reagan was over? Who was it that said that? Oh yeah, the smart people on our side who told us the only way we could win was with moderate/liberal candidates like Scozzafava. Hmmm...”
But why didn’t she endorse Doug..that’s what I don’t get
Only she knows for sure. We could speculate, but it’s not very meaningful.
Thanks, and yesterday I predicted that Hoffman was going to win, before Scozzafava announced she was dropping. :-)
Here's an idea you may not like: Instead of Hoffman changing his (I) to (R), how about some of the patriotic, conservative Congressmen switch to Independent, & then vote as a block to play spoiler to the big gov’t , tax & spend proposals of BOTH corrupt parties. That, it seems to me, the quickest way to end the bipartisan collusion that wastes our money, rewards corruption, & restricts our freedom.
This is not about something as self centered as personal likes - this is about reality. Third parties don't win elections, and you are right, they tend to act as spoilers. Perhaps this is your preferred outcome in politics.
You keep talking about “submitting” over and over again. Try and add the word 'leading' to your lexicon and you'll have a better picture of what Hoffman will be doing if he goes back to the GOP. His victory would stand as a strong example that conservatives strongly influence the GOP, and therefore are well positioned to strongly influence national policy.
He will be leading, not submitting. It is called 'ascending conservatism' and Rush has said it very well. Hoffman's voters are mainly conservatives and Republicans who want their party to go back to their basics and the principles set forth by Ronald Reagan. We want conservatives and this is the way to get them.
Listen to Hoffman's own words when he was asked in the debate why he is running.
Ronald Reagan didn't believe in third parties, so what better than his own words to highlight my point:
Excerpt:
Rather than a third party, we can have a new first party made up of people who share our principles. I have said before that if a formal change in name proves desirable, then so be it. But tonight, for purpose of discussion, I’m going to refer to it simply as the New Republican Party.And let me say so there can be no mistakes as to what I mean: The New Republican Party I envision will not be, and cannot, be one limited to the country club-big business image that, for reasons both fair and unfair, it is burdened with today. The New Republican Party I am speaking about is going to have room for the man and the woman in the factories, for the farmer, for the cop on the beat and the millions of Americans who may never have thought of joining our party before, but whose interests coincide with those represented by principled Republicanism. If we are to attract more working men and women of this country, we will do so not by simply “making room” for them, but by making certain they have a say in what goes on in the party. The Democratic Party turned its back on the majority of social conservatives during the 1960s. The New Republican Party of the late ’70s and ’80s must welcome them, seek them out, enlist them, not only as rank-and-file members but as leaders and as candidates.
Our party must be the party of the individual. It must not sell out the individual to cater to the group. No greater challenge faces our society today than ensuring that each one of us can maintain his dignity and his identity in an increasingly complex, centralized society.
Extreme taxation, excessive controls, oppressive government competition with business, galloping inflation, frustrated minorities and forgotten Americans are not the products of free enterprise. They are the residue of centralized bureaucracy, of government by a self-anointed elite.
Our party must be based on the kind of leadership that grows and takes its strength from the people. Any organization is in actuality only the lengthened shadow of its members. A political party is a mechanical structure created to further a cause. The cause, not the mechanism, brings and holds the members together. And our cause must be to rediscover, reassert and reapply America’s spiritual heritage to our national affairs. source.
And this is Hoffman's point – take back the party!
Unless she’s coordinated it with Hoffman already...today she drops oiut, tomorrow she endorses him..gets more media exposure..
Could be and a great point, indeed.
One other point. Much speculation as to why the sitting, long-term GOP congressman gave up his seat to become Sec of the Army under Obama. NY will lose 1, possbly 2, CD’s after the redistricting from the 2010 census, and with the Dems controlling Albany, this district was going to disappear..so Doug will, sadly, be a one-term wonder...
One other point. Much speculation as to why the sitting, long-term GOP congressman gave up his seat to become Sec of the Army under Obama. NY will lose 1, possbly 2, CD’s after the redistricting from the 2010 census, and with the Dems controlling Albany, this district was going to disappear..so Doug will, sadly, be a one-term wonder...
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