Posted on 11/06/2009 4:17:46 PM PST by Clintonfatigued
Less than a day after Tuesday's election for the 23rd Congressional District, the fallout is smoldering hot.
Angry with the way Republicans handled their candidate selection, a Franklin County legislator says he will strongly consider running for Congress or State Assembly next year.
"The supporters of Dede should be ashamed of themselves," Paul Maroun, a Franklin County legislator from Tupper Lake, said in reference to Republican candidate Dierdre "Dede" Scozzafava.
THE CHOICE
Maroun was one of nine people Republicans were considering as a candidate when the race was set last summer.
The seat opened up after President Barack Obama named incumbent Congressman John McHugh, a Republican, as the new secretary of the Army.
Republicans chose Scozzafava, an assemblywoman from Gouverneur in St. Lawrence County, as their candidate.
Maroun finished second in the voting by the party chairs of the 11 counties in the district.
Scozzafava's selection as the candidate drew heavy criticism from the outset, as many Republicans complained that with her support of gay marriage and abortion rights, she was far too liberal.
In the wake of that criticism, Douglas Hoffman, an accounting firm owner from Lake Placid, emerged as the Conservative Party candidate. Hoffman had sought the Republican nod but did not get any support from the county chairs.
(Excerpt) Read more at pressrepublican.com ...
IMHO, Paul Maroun should be the Republican nominee. He should have been the nominee this year, instead of that uber-RINO.
I would imagine if there were fair primaries open to registered Republicans only, there would be very little of this sort of problem. You can at least vote for the candidate who will caucus with your party.
This time, there will be a primary and whomever looks best will win. Hoffman has until that primary to get more comfortable on the public stage. He was getting better as the campaign went on, but not fast enough.
I think everyone’s afraid to say it, but Mr. Hoffman was not an effective candidate. He did not communicate very well, which may be why the committee originally rejected him. A good Republican candidate would have won this time around. Hopefully they can find a conservative Republican who is a better speaker.
Please don’t read this as a knock on Hoffman. He’s a good conservative. He stepped up to the plate and did his best but some of us are not cut out for electioneering.
You’re absolutely correct. Hoffman was not great on the stump, and even more importantly, he was not well-informed about local issues. Some locals saw him as a tool of outsiders.
When is the recall going to begin.
Owens broke 4 promises his first day on the job.
There is no recall for Federal office-holders. Defeat in the next election cycle is the only option.
The voters of the 23rd district have just another year to put up with this a-shole. They can turn him out then.
It is unfortunate that we cannot put into office someone who is capable, competent, has integrity and intelligence, simply because they have not taken a "Toastmasters" course. Maybe that is why our congress is dominated by lawyers, and characterized by corruption.
I agree with your sentiment but the reality is it’s hard to get people to know and trust you if you can’t communicate.
At least Republicans do not usually go of the deep end with empty suit car salesmen types like Clinton and Obama.
I agree with you but if Dede hadn’t endorsed Owens and made robocalls for him on the 11th hour could Hoffman have still pulled it out?
I think the argument could be made that if Hoffman didn’t end up beating Owens he could at least have cut Owens lead in half to 2%.
Why is there not more outrage among Republicans and conservatives that Scozzafava turned traitor and betrayed her supporters, her local party executive and members, the GOP who gave Dede $900,000 and the American people who wanted to send a message to Obama?
You are right "janet", NO TENT FOR YOU!... Get out :)))
Franklin County Legislator Paul Maroun and Clinton County Republican Party Chairwoman Janet Duprey. P-R File Photos /
NY-23 is home to Fort Drum. I was wondering if the absentee ballots sent out 2 months ago had Hoffman’s name on them. Also, how many of the 6000 that voted for Dede would have voted for Hoffman if her name were removed from the ballot? May have tuned out totally different. IMO
Definitely would have made a difference.
Far as I can tell there is plenty of discord in Re[ublican circles for Dede’s betrayal. This article points to it.
If outrage from conservatives is what you seek, she didn’t betray us. There is outrage of how she came to be selected but for the betrayal itself she did what we said she would. She was no conservative. She didn’t pretend to be. Therefore no outrage. Except from perhaps those who donated to these Republicans committees that had their funds abused. I stopped giving to RNC years ago.
I’m more angry at people like Newt who pretend to be conservative yet orchestrate this betrayal. Or Republicans who give lip service to conservatives at election then trod us under their feet afterwards.
As for Hoffman good luck to him. I have nothing against him and if he is the best man at the end of the primary I hope he wins. But at least this time there will be a primary. I hope the best conservative wins.
IMHO, Paul Maroun should be the Republican nominee.
On Sept. 12, 2010 NY will have their primary. So Maroun will have a shot as a primary candidate this time should he choose to enter.
Except treason.
I agree that Maroun should have gotten the 2009 GOP nomination, and that he would be our strongest candidate in 2010, but after Scozzafava was hand-picked by RINOs for the GOP nomination Maroun was unwilling to accept the Conservative Party nomination, while Hoffman made the sacrifice and came very close to pulling off the biggest miracle in that district since the 1980 U.S. hockey team. That’s got to count for something. If Hoffman wants to run again, I would find it very hard to oppose him.
I agree that Hoffman’s effort was brave. At the same time, he didn’t show knowlege of local issues, which are paramount in this part of New York (isolated, overshadowed by NYC and Long Island). Hoffman, who doesn’t live in the district, was seen by some voters as an outsider doing the bidding of outsiders.
This is New York, not Californication. We don't have the "recall" aka "do-over" for stupid voters who couldn't figure it out the first time.So it's your opinion the brilliant voters in up-state New York figured it out right the first time and a do-over wouldn't be necessary even if they/you could...Government redress be damned!
Got it.
Maroun and another conservative, Doheny, split the conservative support in the district and so the 2 were behind Dede in the first round of voting, after which a fellow RINO legislator gave Dede the nod ... kind of how McCain won while getting barely above 1/3rd of the early primary vote and endorsements from fellow RINOs (eg Crist).
“Maroun was unwilling to accept the Conservative Party nomination, while Hoffman made the sacrifice and came very close to pulling off the biggest miracle in that district since the 1980 U.S. hockey team. Thats got to count for something.”
It might count in Maroun’s favor in that he went through a Republican nomination process and is a loyal Republican. We shouldnt hold his unwillingness to run against Republicans against him *as a Republican*. ... we should merely ask if he’s the best candidate. From what I heard/observed Maroun or Doheny would be strong candidates.
Hoffman went through the GOP nomination process, too, and when he didn’t get the nomination he was willing to call it a day. But then the Conservative Party approached him, explained the reasons why it was so important that a conservative run against the out Democrat and the closeted Democrat, and he agreed to run. Hoffman wasn’t the best candidate, but he was the best candidate brave enough to run. Coach Dale,when introducing the Jimmy-less Huskers in Hoosiers, said “this is your team” and asked the fans to support the 6 players willing to sacrifice and represent their town. Well, Doug Hoffman earned our support as well, and if he chooses to run again, I don’t think that I could deny him my support. I ask you this: had Hoffman won, would you be calling on him to step aside and let a more polished candidate run?
If Hoffman chooses not to run, then Maroun is my man, and if Hoffman and Maroun run and Hoffman proves to be a bad candidate and Maroun a good one, I will support Maroun. But I’m not going to cast Hoffman aside a year before the election just because he only got 94% of the way to a miracle victory.
Oh, and if Maroun doesn’t run, I’ll support Hoffman over Donehy no matter what. Donehy may be conservative by Upstate NY standards, but he’s pro-abortion, and I’m not going to support a pro-abortion candidate in a socially conservative district, especially when there’s a reasonable option.
Had Hoffman won this week, your reasoning is sound and would apply - he stays as the Rep and should be left alone.
OTOH, since he came up short, I dont see why the other guys would assume he’s automatically the best one for 2010. I would not be telling Hoffman to ‘step aside’ but I could completely understand Maroun’s choice if he runs for GOP nod.
Not my district so I’ll let them sort it out.
Yes. We live in a Republic. You get the representation that you vote for. Do you want elections every friggin’ month because the sheeple have regrets?
I certainly don’t have a problem with Maroun (or any other Republican) running, and, yes, Republican primary voters in the NY-23 should be the ones to sort it out.
I certainly don’t have a problem with Maroun (or any other Republican) running, and, yes, Republican primary voters in the NY-23 should be the ones to sort it out.
That’s a tough call. The stronger candidate or the guy with more political courage who probably deserves a second chance.
I’m not sure it’s true Hoffman was ignorant of local issues since that was the number 1 rat talking point. I read about the debate they had, Hoffman seemed knowledgeable to me on the issue of the Canadian border.
It’s true though that he doesn’t live in district.
It’s probably smarter to go with Maroun.
That's why I finally registered with the NY GOP. NY's primaries are closed. Otherwise, I would have remained in the Conservative Party.
Hoffman definitely deserves credit for exposing those RINOs, especially Scozzafava. Since he did it as a carpetbagger - not that being a carpetbagger carries too much weight in NY - who represents the Congressional District that Hoffman lives in? If it's a rat, then he should run in his own CD.
He lives like half a mile outside the dstrict, I believe.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.