Posted on 10/28/2009 8:43:51 AM PDT by ellery
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.), who is considered a 2012 presidential hopeful, appeared at an upstate New York Conservative Party dinner last night.
Huckabee has not yet endorsed a candidate in a highly-contested upstate special election that has attracted widespread national attention. Several Republican presidential hopefuls have thrown their hat in for Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman, who is running to the right of Republican nominee state Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava.
The dinner was held in a suburb of Syracuse, N.Y., which is just over an hour south of the 23rd district.
"The greatest threat to America’s freedom is not a takeover from the left. The greatest threat to America’s freedom is to become satisfied with mediocrity," Huckabee said at the dinner.
"While [Huckabee] is obviously a Republican, he has been such an outspoken advocate for conservative values and principles. He also puts those principles ahead of party politics," said Scott Chatfield, an upstate Conservative Party official, said at the event.
Chatfield added that Huckabee's appearance was the first time a Conservative Party recognition dinner has featured a national political figure.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) and ex-Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) have endorsed Hoffman in the race, citing his conservative viewpoints. Hoffman backers have also accused the Republican nominating committee of lacking transparency.
On the other hand, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) backed Scozzafava, who supports gay marriage and abortion rights.
Gingrich on Monday called Republican support for Hoffman a wrongful "purge," saying that Scozzafava was "adequately conservative" for her district. Gingrich cited her opposition to healthcare reform and cap-and-trade.
The leader of the 1994 Republican Revolution attacked Hoffman's knowledge of local issues and said Scozzafava represents the best chance for Republicans to regain a majority in the House of Representatives.
Scozzafava, Hoffman, and Bill Owens (D) will square off in the special election to replace Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.), who resigned to become Army Secretary. The contest will be held next Tuesday.
Way to take a stand, Huck.
He must have been wishing he hadn’t scheduled this dinner—long before this race turned into a referendum on conservatism vs. GOP leftism.
Are you kidding me? Chuck Schummer would "run to the right" of Dede Scozzafava.
And take your RNC friends with you.
Huck wasnt so conservative when he was Governor of Arkansas. Im sure his record there will be brought up again as time goes by.
If a viable third party is going to surface it had better do so quickly.
Gutless.
Huck is a worthless POS.
Oh my God. Huckabee didn’t take a position in NY 23 ! He’s doomed ! Doomed I say !
Is the new inquisition going to be, “Do you now or did you ever support the GOP candidate in NY 23 ?”
Honestly, this Sczzfzz lady has been so marginalized I think she’s probably only pulling votes from the Dem. In a strange way, it might turn out that her staying in the race might be the best way for Hoffman to win.
He may do like the Soviet Union when they declared war on Japan--2 days after Hiroshima
You are right about Huckabee’s record...... According to the Tax Foundation, the state and local tax burden on the average Arkansan increased from 10.1 per cent to 11.3 per cent under Huckabee. When he came into office in 1996, Arkansas ranked 30th in the nation as the state with the highest taxes. When he left at the beginning of this year, it had risen to 13th. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/huckabees_record_on_taxes.html
The evidence of Huckabee’s record as governor... is that he helped create Arkansas as a sanctuary state, serving the interest of the Arkansas corporations that wanted to exploit the cheap labor readily available from an open flow of illegal immigrants. http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=45060
He has issued more commutations and pardons than all of the six neighboring states combined. http://www.arkansasleader.com/frontstories/st_08_11_04/huckabee8.html
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0108/Rush_Huck_not_a_conservative.html
Rush: Huck Not a Conservative
Due to lack of spine.
I’m sorry to see the NY Conservative Party reaching out to Huck like this. But they are actually not all that demanding. Split tickets like the one in the 23rd district are rare, usually because the candidate is just too far to the left for the party to support.
They do help keep the Republican party in NY at least somewhat more honest.
One more reason to never trust him.
The three easiest way for a used car salesman to gain power
is to become a preacher, a politician or get a TV show.
I still think a 3rd party is not the answer.....so we’ll just have to run the RINO’S and moderates (liberals) OUT of OUR party and get CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS to run and get elected. I’ve said before, it’s going to be up to the baggers and Conservative base to get the job done. We can’t depend on the RNC or the party to do it......the gutless wonders. If we all band together, we’ll take our party back and make it the party of Reagan once again. :) JMHO..
Hey Mike.......stay in New York, do your weekly show on FoxNews and don’t run again. You’re a sure loser.
Hey at least this article mentioned Hoffman. The Daily News ran a story on this race, and only mentioned it as a race between Scozzafava and Owens. It didn't bother reporting that Hoffman was even in the race. This was probably done to spin this as a victory for Obamao, should Owens win because of Scozzafava splitting the vote. Instead of Owens getting lucky, because Scozzafava split the vote, which if he wins is the real reason. Should Owens win the SRM will try to pump this up to down play the Dem losses in Virgina and elsewhere. Races which are true referendums on Obamao.
The Huckster likes to talk the talk but my feeling is that he’ll sell us out whenever a critical issue comes up. He’s been sipping from McShame’s Kool-Aide cup.
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