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Author's Note: Republican Dede Scozzafava dropped out of next Tuesday’s NY 23 special election early Saturday morning. She did not endorse either of her two opponents, Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman or Democrat Bill Owens. Would one-party domination in any combination of Tuesday’s off-year elections really indicate where this country is going politically? You’ve got gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, a congressional special election in upstate New York, and a state Supreme Court race in Pennsylvania. “I see no particular harbingers for 2010,” says Purdue University’s Bert Rockman. “While people are deeply unhappy about current conditions, they are...

As conservative activists scored a political scalp, mainstream Republicans wasted no time in grasping at the coat tails of Conservative Doug Hoffman. The much-watched off-year special election in upstate New York's 23rd Congressional District that had Republicans scrambling to pick the right side turned into a stampede rightward Saturday, as stragglers rushed to endorse Hoffman after Republican Dede Scozzafava suspended a campaign that she appeared to have little chance of winning. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who’d previously warned that backing Hoffman in the NY-23 House race amounted to a “purge” of the GOP, told POLITICO Saturday morning that he...

Under pressure from conservative forces within her own party, Dede Scozzafava, the regular Republican nominee in the interim House race for New York's 23d District, suddenly withdrew from the race today. Though endorsed by the Republican National Committee and big GOP establishment names like ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Scozzafava had fallen to third place in polls of the upstate longtime Republican district next to the Canadian border. Her retreat came in the face of a vigorous campaign by Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, who was backed by Sarah Palin, Dick Armey and Fred Thompson, among others. Her surprise move sets...

In 568 words, what's wrong with 1,990 pages By: Byron York Chief Political Correspondent 10/31/09 10:44 AM EDT House Republican Leader John Boehner gave the Republican radio address today, and in 568 words made a simple and compelling case for what is wrong with the Democrats' 1,990-page health care proposal -- and for what should be done instead. "This 1,990 pages of bureaucracy will centralize health care decision making in Washington, DC," Boehner said. "It’ll require thousands of new federal employees. It’ll put unelected boards, bureaus, and commissions in charge of who gets access to what drug and what potentially...

Hoffman worries some incumbents By Reid Wilson - 10/31/09 04:23 PM ET The ascendance of the Conservative Party nominee in a New York special election suggests that some centrist candidates may be at risk to conservative challengers, strategists and members of Congress said this weekend. Businessman Doug Hoffman, running on the Conservative Party line, has seen his support surge in recent weeks. On Saturday, Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, the Republican nominee in the district, said she is suspending her campaign, and national party leaders rushed to back Hoffman. Strategists said the new developments are a shot in the arm for the...

There’s something weird about Law Abiding Citizen, and it isn’t simply the movie’s attempt to gussy up the legal thriller genre with gruesome, Saw-style theatrics. No, the most notable thing about the film is how it appears to inadvertently channel the recent, inchoate Republican anger at the Obama administration and use it to power a violent revenge fantasy. Don’t believe me? Here are four ways Law Abiding Citizen feels like a Republican wet dream. Mild spoilers ahead: Sympathy with the Devil Jamie Foxx’s district attorney Nick Rice is ostensibly our hero, struggling to put an end to the murderous schemes...

"Doug Hoffman and NY-23 is an earthquake in American politics, and is the first of many challenges to establishment Republicans that we will see for the 2010 elections and beyond. The stupid decision by Republican leaders to pour $900,000 into the NY-23rd race against a conservative has unleashed a fury that will lead to new GOP leadership.

Although I am very happy with the events so far in New York and I support both Hoffman's run against a liberal GOP Candidate and the conservative statement to the GOP, I have some concerns. I think that Hoffman's campaign will encourage more independents to buck the GOP establishment. While I think that this is necessary in showing the GOP that the conservative grass roots don’t want the establishment’s compromising, weak spined, unprincipled moderates, when will conservative enough be conservative enough? There are few politicians that espouse the (small l) libertarian, small government philosophies that I believe in. I am...

GOP Leader: “Only Republicans have offered solutions to lower health care costs and make it easier to obtain quality, affordable coverage without imposing a massive burden on the American people.” Washington, Oct 30 - Delivering the weekly Republican address, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) outlined Republicans’ plan to make health care more accessible and affordable for American families at a price our nation can afford. The address highlights the differences between Republicans’ smart, fiscally responsible reforms and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) 1,990-page government takeover of health care. More on Republicans’ common-sense health care solutions is available at http://healthcare.gop.gov. Audio...

If every American self-described as conservative identified with the Republican Party, nearly half of all Americans would support the GOP — while barely one-quarter would back the Democrats. Yet while our political parties increasingly divide themselves along ideological lines, those line are not always straight. Indeed, according to the latest Gallup poll, more than one in five (22 percent) Democrats describe themselves as conservative. This poll, which found that conservatives remain the largest ideological group in America, is welcome news to those of us who believe America is a center-right nation, but sobering to those of us who identify with...

The National Republican Congressional Committee will now be throwing its support to Hoffman, after endorsing Scozzafava and deriding the Conservative Party candidate in statements throughout much of the race.

Did you hear?Sarah Palin is a WOMAN! (gasp!!) And she's a REPUBLICAN! (the horror!!) And she's from ALASKA! (what, she's not even American?!) And she chose to have A BABY! (can you believe it?!) And she shops for CLOTHES! (where do we get people like this?!) And she had no knowledge of the "BUSH DOCTRINE"! (she really is stupid!! What's the Bush Doctrine, BTW?--a non-existent doctrine that some dippy reporter pulled out of his butt to prove how unqualified she is--oh, she's not just stupid--she must be retarded!!) And someone says that someone says that they heard someone else quote...

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said Friday that a victory by Doug Hoffman, the third-party candidate in the Nov. 3 New York special election, is a win for the GOP. “You’ve got two Republicans running in that race. My upside is that one of them will likely win,” Steele said. “We want to be supporting the one that wins.”

Mark my words - tomorrow is the game changer! Tune in to hear common sense solutions that bury the false accusations that conscientious members of Congress have no solutions to meet America's health care challenges. If you're like me, shaking your head wondering why all the miscommunication between Washington and the American people who have been saying, "Please hear what we're saying about our desire for health care reform," then tomorrow will be a refreshing time of clarity for all. All Americans, and especially colleagues of House Republican Leader John Boehner: please listen to tomorrow's weekly GOP national address. Rep....

I’m hearing that the NRCC is pulling out of NY-23. It’s coming from a credible source familiar with the operation inside of the beltway Committee. That being said I just reached out to Matthew Burns, Spokesman for the Scozzafava campaign, who denied this claim. He said it was “False.” Protecting the candidate or categorically true – we’ll let this flesh itself out in the public. I’ll also avoid giving you the analysis of what this could mean for now. Look for links in the comments. UPDATE: I’m on the ground and I have personal confirmation from an additional, credible source...

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), already under fire from the Democratic party’s base for vocally opposing the public option in health care legislation, now tells ABC News that he plans to support Republican congressional candidates next year: "I probably will support some Republican candidates for Congress or Senate in the election in 2010. I'm going to call them as I see them," Lieberman said in an ABC News "Subway Series" interview aboard the U.S. Capitol Subway System. "There's a hard core of partisan, passionate, hardcore Republicans," Lieberman said. "There's a hard core of partisan Democrats on the other side. And in...

House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July. The report appears to have been inadvertently placed on a publicly accessible computer network, and it was provided to The Washington Post by a source not connected to the congressional investigations. The committee said Thursday night that the document was released by a low-level staffer. The ethics committee is one of the most secretive panels in Congress, and its members and staff...

As political alliances go, few are more cemented in the public consciousness than the bond between the Republican Party and business. But, upon closer inspection, the GOP–big business relationship doesn't seem so cozy... --snip-- In the Senate, South Carolina's Jim DeMint accuses PhRMA, the D.C. lobbying powerhouse that represents the pharmaceutical industry, of a similar brand of self-serving deal-making. "PhRMA is infamous for sitting down and doing business. As long as they get their drugs sold, they'll support just about any policy." And sure enough, PhRMA reportedly cut a deal with the White House in which the organization promised to...

What should the Republican Party do in a special election, in a conservative district, at a time when the liberal policies of the Democrat administration are increasingly unpopular? Well, if you're the New York state GOP, you nominate a pro-abortion, pro-union, pro-ACORN Republican who supports almost every plank of the destructive, unpopular left-wing agenda that's destroying our nation. Better yet, the GOP is actively attacking the CONSERVATIVE choice, Doug Hoffman. This is how you spell self-destruction.

Look what Scozzafava’s favorite ACORN front group is up to now By Michelle Malkin  •  October 27, 2009 09:13 AM The Working Families Party, an ACORN front group whose ballot line Newt Gingrich-endorsed radical leftist Dede Scozzafava has embraced on multiple occasions, is up to no good again.The NYPost reports: The labor-backed Working Families Party has engaged in “an audacious scheme to violate the law” to help the party’s favored political candidates get elected, a sweeping new lawsuit charges.The first-of-its-kind suit says the WFP created a political outfit, Data and Field Services, that it is using to “circumvent state election and...

The Republican party has no national leaders. Its standing with voters is at an all-time low. It battens itself on an ideological purity that turns off the center and can’t appeal to an increasingly suburban and diverse electorate. If it is not fated to go the way of the Federalists or the Whigs, it is certainly a spent force. This is the rote obituary for the GOP that the Left can’t resist. It is all the more alluring for its elements of truth. A party that holds neither the presidency, the House, nor the Senate won’t be stacked with national...

The recent rash of endorsements in New York’s special election is putting Republican members of Congress between their conservative base and their party. The recent rash of endorsements in New York’s special election is putting Republican members of Congress in a tough spot between their conservative base and their party. Some are taking the chance to assert their ideological bona fides by backing Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, while others are trying to score political points within their caucus by sticking with left-leaning Republican Dede Scozzafava. But for most, it’s a situation they’d rather avoid. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said...

When the former Speaker of the House endorsed "Dede" Scozzafava's campaign in New York's special congressional election in New York's 23rd congressional district, he did not only endorse the positions of Scozzafava, who is as radical as them come in Republican clothing, he has endorsed everything Scozzafava has surrounded herself with, whether or not he meant to. When Newt Gingrich endorsed Scozzafava, he endorsed some of the most radical positions one candidate could take in the United States of America, while I do not question Newt's Conservatism, I do question his wisdom and poor choice in judgement, as Mr.Gingrich is...

Vote in Our Poll: Would You Support Jim Demint for President if Nominated by the GOP in 2012?

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Former Louisiana Gov. Dave Treen, who became the state's first Republican governor since Reconstruction when he was elected in 1979 but lost a re-election bid to the flamboyant Democrat Edwin Edwards four years later, has died at age 81. Treen's son, David C. Treen Jr., said Treen died early Thursday of complications from a respiratory illness at East Jefferson General Hospital in a New Orleans suburb. Funeral arrangements were not complete.

"Perhaps more ominously for his ( Newt's )rapidly fading hopes for a 2012 Presidential bid, conservatives are beginning to question his integrity. His constant repetition of the false "she's locally selected" mantra seems as off message as Scozzafava's numerous well documented campaign missteps.""Either Newt Gingrich is lying, or someone misled him."But how can "the smartest guy in the room", with a reputation as a scholar and seeker of truth have been so easily misled about a set of facts that could be discerned with half an hour's worth of phone calls?"

New Jersey independent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett shows in an interview with Hugh Hewitt that he doesn't know what corruption is, but he at least doesn't recognize it when he sees it with Jon Corzine.

TRENTON, N.J. — The independent candidate running for governor in New Jersey says a Massachusetts Republican has urged him to quit the race. Chris Daggett says he’s received two phone calls and an e-mail from Christy Mihos, who warned that Daggett would be blamed if Republican Chris Christie loses a bid to unseat Democrat Jon Corzine.

This was supposed to be a one post affair. But after a round of posts by some co-bloggers (links here at Blue Collar Muse) and some attention from Hot Air, it was obvious that someone in David Smith's office had their panties very much in a wad. Perhaps we didn't fly under the radar because I emailed Smith's office a link to my post. Hey, I'm a giver. Maybe he's got someone trolling the blogs for him. (Taxpayer money? It's a legit question.) Whatever the case, this comment began showing up on almost all of the blog posts on the...

A brand-new organization calling itself Common Sense in America is up with a major television ad buy in the New York special election, praising Republican Dede Scozzafava as the “best choice for progressives.” At first glance, the group’s ad looks like it’s an endorsement of Scozzafava. But it’s a dirty trick engineered by Hoffman supporters, looking to render her unacceptable to many Republican voters by detailing her liberal position on gay marriage, support of President Obama’s stimulus and connections to labor. “On Tuesday, progressives have one candidate to vote for with pride: Dede Scozzafava,” the ad says. “Dede supports President...

AUSTIN, Texas — Former Vice President Dick Cheney will throw his support behind U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s campaign for Texas governor. Hutchison’s campaign confirmed today that Cheney will endorse the Texas Republican’s March primary challenge of Gov. Rick Perry at a fundraiser next month.

History shows the Yankees can't lose with Obama in White HouseThe Yankees are in the World Series and there's a Democrat in the White House. There can only be one outcome. You might think that the Bronx Bombers and the GOP go together like hot dogs and mustard. With their enormous payroll and glittering new stadium, money is never an object. They woo superstars with huge salaries and the luxury tax they pay for doing so helps subsidize the poorer teams. If ever there was a sports team that behaved like a stereotypical rich Republican, it's the Yankees. But that...

Luigi ZingalesAn Economic Agenda for the GOP Republicans need to be pro-market, not pro-business. Autumn 2009 For 30 years, the Republican Party dominated American political life, winning five of the seven presidential elections before 2008. But the GOP has taken its lumps of late, culminating in its loss of Congress in 2006 and the White House last November. As the party suffers not just from a leadership vacuum but from considerable internal division, its future direction is unclear. This much, however, is certain: as America struggles to emerge from a financial crisis, any renewal of the Right will require...

If her Evening News gig doesn't work out, maybe Katie Couric will seek work as a Republican strategerist . . . Couric dabbled in her possible new profession in her Notebook segment yesterday, offering some carefully considered advice to the GOP. According to Katie, Republicans should get the focus off Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin. They're nothing but "fringe" elements, "sideshows" that drive people out of the Republican Big Tent. View video here.

THE hard-fought battle be tween the left, the near-left and the right being waged in New York's 23rd Congressional District has attracted national attention because of its serious implications for scores of congressional races across the country next year. The stakes for national Democrats and Republicans are enormous. The three-way North Country contest is a referendum on President Obama's policies and on the GOP's willingness to back RINO (Republican In Name Only) candidates in traditionally moderate-to-conservative districts.

Right now, the Virginia House of Delegates has 53 Republicans, 2 independents who caucus with the GOP, 43 Democrats, and 2 vacant seats. I hear Republicans watching the state delegate races closely think they have 11 challengers currently within the margin of error or better. They're worried about one or two of their own incumbents. You can do the rest of the math.

It's the Democrats who won't tolerate a diversity of views. BY JIM DEMINT Sen. Arlen Specter's defection to the Democratic Party this week is no reason for Republicans to cheer. But his reason for leaving -- he faced an unwinnable primary election next year -- is no cause for soul searching. There is a question Republicans do need to ask: What is it that binds our party together? In the wake of two successive electoral defeats and the likelihood of a 60-vote Democrat majority in the Senate, what does it even mean to be a Republican today? Moderate Republicans are...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: In NY-23, Real Clear Politics: "Doug Hoffman, plus five."  Doug Hoffman may in fact win this with nowhere near the amount of money the two Democrats have.  I know there's a Democrat called a Republican, but we actually have two liberal Obama Democrats, one calling herself a Republican, and you've got the Reagan conservative Hoffman in there.  Tim Pawlenty threw in with him today, by the way, so you have Sarah Palin, Fred Thompson, Rick Santorum, who else?  (interruption)  Sue Collins endorsed -- so?  Is that a surprise?  That's going to sway a lot of votes.  Susan...

Talk-radio icon Rush Limbaugh says the Republican Party has a death wish – and is as dangerous to the United States as the Democrat Party and its czars. Limbaugh's comments came today as he was discussing the race for Congress in New York's 23rd district, where the GOP picked a liberal nominee to oppose a liberal Democrat, passing over a conservative candidate who wanted to represent the GOP, a candidate now pursuing the seat as a third-party candidate. "They have a death wish. The Republican Party has a death wish. Gallup: 40 percent of Americans now say they are conservative,...

GOP Candidate Scozzafava, Husband Have Ties to Union-Backed ACORN Front But on closer inspection, the bond isn't so strange. For one thing, Deidre "Dede" Scozzafava isn't a typical Republican. Despite her support for gun rights (she's received an endorsement from the National Rifle Association), she is a reliable supporter of Democratic initiatives. She supports cap-and-trade anti-global warming legislation, the $787 billion Obama stimulus plan, and state-sanctioned gay marriage. More to the point, she is a strong supporter of federal "card check" legislation that would force private-sector employers to recognize a union as the sole collective-bargaining agent if a union organizing...

This is why you lose elections. GOP officials: We won't abandon DedeThe National Republican Congressional Committee remains committed to embattled GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava in the upstate New York House special election, even as many of the party's top names throw their support to Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman. Two party officials tell POLITICO that the NRCC will continue to air TV ads propping up Scozzafava in the days leading up to the Nov. 3 contest and plans to keep up a near relentless barrage of press releases slamming Hoffman. Scozzafava, a state assemblywoman who supports gay marriage, abortion rights...

New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver isn’t commenting on a Republican who said the orthodox Jewish lawmaker might be an anti-Christ. Erie County Executive Chris Collins, who’s considering a run for governor, says he made the “poor joke” at a Republican dinner in Buffalo. He soon after issued an apology to Silver, the powerful Democrat from Manhattan, and called him directly. Collins was reportedly joking about the astrologer Nostradamus’ prediction the world would be visited by three anti-Christs. Collins said many believe the first were Napoleon and Adolf Hitler, and he was pretty sure the third is Silver.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is warning conservative activists

Pollster Patrick Murray says that the turnout model on a Suffolk University poll released this morning is based on a 93% turnout in a race where less than half of the state's registered voters will turn out. The poll, which included all twelve candidates for governor, has Gov. Jon Corzine leading Republican Christopher Christie 42%-33% among likely voters, with 7% for independent Christopher Daggett. "...Normally, likely voter models have little impact, as they tend to be only a couple of points different from the results for all registered voters. However, that is not the case in this election. The Monmouth...

In little more than a week, New York's 23rd congressional district has become Ground Zero in the battle for the soul of the Republican Party. What was previously an intense, yet relatively low-key struggle for the GOP's identity has exploded into a full-fledged civil war. Businessman Doug Hoffman took the Conservative Party line when state GOP county chairs nominated Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava to run for the seat made open by incumbent John McHugh's selection as Secretary of the Army. Hoffman believes Scozzafava to be too liberal for the district. In a New York Post op-ed, he declares: I’m a lifelong...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is warning conservative activists that their support for a third-party candidate in a key upcoming New York special election is a “mistake.” In a video captured last week and posted on YouTube Friday, Gingrich told tea party organizer Lisa Miller at a book-signing event that conservatives are inadvertently hindering the cause by backing Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman over Dede Scozzafava, the Republican Party’s nominee. “I just think it is a mistake for the conservative movement to think splitting in the special election is a smart idea,” Gingrich said. “If we give that seat to...

For years, Tom Coburn’s lectures on spending have been met with aggressive resistance by fellow Republicans who defend their right to send money back to their home states. But at a closed-door meeting of GOP senators this month, a tirade by the Oklahoman about the hypocrisy of using deficits to decry Democratic health care plans while voting for pumped-up appropriations bills was seconded by several senators. If there was dissent in the room, no one voiced it. “I don’t know that there’s another side,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who argues that Republican rhetoric on deficits is right but the...

That the GOP should somehow do whatever it takes to become more moderate, to build a bigger tent over those in the center and on the center-left, is exactly the wrong answer for the party and, more importantly, for the country which depends upon its traditional common sense, values and restraint. The Republican Party must instead patch the holes in the proverbial tent over those on the political right who have been left out in the rain since George W. Bush began his second term. Republicans must focus intently on the proper role of the federal government with regard to...

Newt Gingrich, once the leader of insurgent conservatism, seems annoyed that we conservatives cannot do the partisan math: NY 23 is a Republican district; the special election is to replace a Republican; if conservatives fail to fall in behind Scozzafava, then a Democrat will win the special election and Republicans will have one less procedural vote to stop Nancy Pelosi. The problem for conservatives is that other than being a Lincoln Chaffee, Jim Jeffords, or Arlen Specter "Republican," Scozzafava has very little in common with the philosophy of those whose votes she seeks. One of the reasons why Republicans are...

The feeble pulse of moderation in the Republican Party is in danger of flat-lining in the Nov. 3 Congressional election in upstate New York. Luminaries like Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich have taken opposing sides over whether the party dare tolerate the official Republican candidate in the 23rd district — Dede Scozzafava, a six-term assemblywoman whose record includes refreshing tinges of centrism. Ms. Scozzafava was nominated by local party leaders as eminently electable despite — or because of — her defense of women’s abortion rights and her tolerant views on same-sex marriage. She is already shunned by many more ideologically...