Mr. Hoffman acknowledged his continued bid has rankled some Republicans. He said Wednesday, “I never promised that I would support Dede Scozzafava.”
“I did indicate that I would be happy to support a conservative Republican candidate, especially if it wasn't me,” he said. “It never occurred to me that the party would pick the only liberal in the race.”
Mr. Ellis said the nine hopefuls seeking the Republican nomination were asked as a group if they would support whichever candidate emerged as the nominee. He did not recall Mr. Hoffman being questioned individually
He raised his hand in reply to the question addressed to the group of candidates, in a room with hundreds of witnesses. And then there's his written pledge.
BTTT
THat’s interesting, but not surprising given that they picked a liberal. Most smart organizations get the pledge in writing. If they just had the 9 guys verbally agree as a group, they were really saying “we don’t care what you do, but our rules require that we pretend we do”.