This is a big loss for conservatives. The analysis will be that moderation won, extremism lost. That while Obama lost clout in NJ, Palin, Limbaugh et al lost clout in NY-23. That the winners in NJ and VA were moderate republicans. By putting so much attention on this one stupid race, and then losing it, the conservatives take some of the sting out of the DEM losses.
It is pure BULL!
It is very rare, in this country, for a 3rd Party candidate to do as well as Hoffman.
Conservatives did NOT suffer a loss in the 23rd. Instead, conservatives fought the good fight, were wildly outspent, and have an excellent shot at taking this seat in 2010 -— at the same time conservatives probably ended the career of a RINO!
McDonnell is not a moderate. His tone was moderate but his rhetoric was conservative. I’m 27 and have been following politics since ‘88 and I’ve never seen a Republican run as good of a campaign as McDonnell did. He had conservative solutions to the critical issues. Christie may be more moderate, but he ran pretty conservatively for the past month or so. He’s certainly more conservative than Christie Todd Witless.
Yes, to some extant. The RINO’s will be out in force over this one, declaring that they have what it takes to win - and conservative should meekly sit in the back, stay quiet, and vote for the other version of democrat. In all such cases, there’s endless room for conjecture, which the talking heads will be making to no end. If Hoffman hadn’t existed would Scuzzy have won? Who knows? Or if conversely Hoffman had been the nominee all along, would those 6k votes that Scuzzy leeched off have automatically flowed to him, ensuring his win?
In any event, the race was close - which just shows the work we have ahead of us, saving the country from it’s worse self.
Good Lord....no sniveling please.
Take your big boy pill.
Perhaps.
But if you look at this race + the other 2, the incumbent party lost all 3 of them. Hoffman looks like he’ll end up being the closest, and it really looks like her endorsement of Owens on Sunday really tipped the scales.
If she had stayed on the team or even remained silent, Hoffman probably wins.
But I don’t see this as a repudiation or anything. A 3rd party guy got 45% in what has to be close to a record for a conservative party candidate in NY. He was around 20% 10 days ago.
The media will try to paint it as such, but the same people supporting Hoffman by and large also backed McDonnell and Christie and they both won.
Also, Hoffman was a bit of a latecomer, unknown, apparently didn’t debate, had never run for anything or even been involved in politics before etc... Christie and McDonnell were campaigning for months, were known figures involved in their states for years, crossed the state, etc... It’s tough to just show up and win in the last 2 weeks, especially with a fractured party and what happened over the weekend with her backing the dem.
It’s a much bigger repudiation of Obama who actually campaigned heavily for Corzine and put up billboards with him on them and was all over his campaign ads and literature, same in VA to a lesser extent.
For the Obama backed incumbent billionaire to lose in NJ when Obama won it by 15 and VA when the dems had been on a roll there the last few yrs is much bigger than a guy who no one in NY-23 had likely heard of as of Columbus Day losing by a few pts in district Obama carried and one where he was at 20% 10 days before the election.
It’s not like Palin or any of these other conservatives heavily campaigned for him or did rallies or anything(as seen in GA maybe that makes a difference). They basically gave him a boost and made him a viable candidate.
We really have to see the exit polls to get a better idea. If Indys went heavily for Owens maybe something’s there, but until you know why the vote ended up as it did, it’s premature to speculate on the reasons.
I'm with you on your analysis as to the way it will be spun. But they are wrong; it was lost because of the crappy candidate the GOP put up; lost because of the nearly million dollars the national party put up supporting a bad candidate, and lost because by the time the conservatives focused on the seat, ballots had already been printed and time to take action was limited.
The win was that we didn't end up with a RINO/DIABLO that made a mockery of our values and showed her true colors with her support of Owens. We are well off to be rid of her. And another win is that it sent a message to the national GOP not to support RINO's. Of course, whether that message is acted upon is another matter.
How are Christie and McDonnell moderates? Both are pro-life, support banning partial birth abortion and waiting periods and all that, support vouchers, merit pay, against gay marriage, etc... all conservative positions.
Pretty much no different from Hoffman and certainly more conservative than Scozzofava. Christie is more conservative than Whitman in NJ, for example.
Palin, and the other talk hosts you mentioned also endorsed the two of them and supported them. Of course in NJ and VA the part ydid the right thing by having primaries and making sure a strong candidate was nominated from the start and not having htis fiasco with a liberal nominee and intra-party division.
The 3 of them are pretty similar in terms of the issues. It’s not like they’re Specter or Snowe and won. McDonnell is just as conservative as anyone, and Christie isn’t a moderate by any means. Both are way more conservative than DeDe.
“This is a big loss for conservatives.”
The GOP officeholder McHugh held a lifetime ACU rating of 71.55 through 16 years. His previous two terms ratings were 60 then 40.
I think what LOST was the notion that outsider conservatives would impose a hardline conservative on them, versus their local process.
Had Hoffman won in a primary as a Republican, he would have likely won this election in this longtime GOP district; but not a hardline conservative district.
IOW he would have been selected locally.
I think the locals said: “Screw you national bigshots. We’ll pick who we want, and here is the result.”
That, plus there is a big difference between 71.55 and 60 and 40, where McHugh was, and the likely rating of Hoffman at 90+.
Hoffman didn’t fit the profile of what wins this district. Then finally he wasn’t exactly Mr. Charisma or much of an orator.
The race was close despite Hoffman being a total underdog just weeks ago. Had he had the proper full backing from the get-go, he could have pulled it off.
Remember too that most of the absentee ballots were filled out before this big switch in momentum and Scuzzy was still the GOP / DIABLO candidate. Is not the 10th Mountain Division in that electoral district? Once again the military vote gets screwed.
Remember too that Scuzzy didn't win. Came in dead last. Threw in with the other side. Did a Jeffords / Specter pirouette but thank goodness before potentially taking office. No, conservatives have much to rejoice from this near victory against terrible odds.
Spot on.