Clearly winning is not. I've donated hundreds of dollars to FR and I've been posting here since 1999. Maybe you should look into clicking on the posters name before you make assumptions.
I used to call myself a conservative Republican...now I'm just a Republican. I want to defeat rats...something conservatives seem opposed to.
If you got kosclowns and ACORN saying that a RINO was the rat’s rat over another rat—then why would you want that in the House???
I have been reading through your posting history through the evening, it is clear that you do not like conservatism or conservatives, I didn't expect to come back to this thread and see you admit it so easily though.
It is very clear that you prefer Scozzafava over a conservative, period, you really seem to care about the woman and her place in the republican party. I hope you realize that she is finished in republican politics.
also, you have to give voters more credit than to just assume they decide based on a few sentences on facebook or a few minutes commentary from Glenn Beck. They’re not sheep.
I never saw Owens, but I know he campaigned for months, he participated in debates, met with editorial boards, got big paper endorsements. Had backing from state and natl dems, unions, and other big orgs. He’s an Air Force vet with ties to Fr Drum which is huge in the district.
Hoffman apparently didn’t debate at all, flaked out on meetings with newspapers and came off uninformed about the district. Had a bunch of non-NYers come in and flood the area. Not usually a good tactic. He basically had a few days once she dropped out to run a campaign. Owens had been the dem guy since the summer.
From the few appearances of Hoffman I saw on TV and on radio he was not exactly someone you’d man the barricades for. Personality and looks wise reminded me of Ned Lamont.
There’s also a dem WH and voters know that having a guy in DC who’s a dem will be good for their district. Owens will be watched after by the WH and likely to bring money and jobs and whatever in. He’ll get plum committee assignments. If Hoffman won, he’d have been shunned by the WH, mired in the minority, and the 23rd likely forgotten about. Voters have self-interest and you can’t blame them for wanting a congressman who has an in with the WH and the leadership. The GOP won plenty of races because of that factor in the 90s and early 2000s.
It’s entirely possible that Owens was simply a better candidate, better for the district, better prepared and more articulate on the issues and policy, and ran a better campaign. That Hoffman simply wasn’t a very good candidate. That happens sometimes.
I like Sarah Palin but a facebook posting isn’t going to swing an election. Barack Obama rode into NJ on his white horse and crown of thorns 3 times and couldn’t pull it out for Corzine. Had big rallies, speeches, ads, billboards, hope, change, fried up and ready to go. Was like Mick and Keith bringing out Jumpin Jack Flash and Brown Sugar, all the greatest hits. No one was fired up and the only one who’s ready to go is Jon Corzine.
Palin didn’t even show up in NY, maybe if she had things would have been different.
She also made facebook posts about NJ and VA, donated the max to McDonnell, and they both won so if she was really poison why didn’t her support for McDonnell and Christie turn people off? Hoffman likely did far better tonight because of her than he owuld have otherwise.
I think her post was more about asserting herself within the conservative wing and laying down a marker for future activities than it was about Hoffman per se. He was just the vehicle.
I do think the anger Scozzafava felt and her backing of Owens helped him. Some of the stuff Rush said about screwing all the rinos and some of the more personal attacks that he and Levin and Beck and others made didn’t help things. The radio guys can go over the top at times, to our detriment.
If you read Palin’s posting she never really said anything bad about Scozzofava personally or made any snide or biting remarks. She just said she was selected by the establishment, that she’s too close to the dem on too many issues and that the party needs to start electing real conservatives. She didn’t even mention social issues like abortion or gay marriage. She didn’t even mention Scozzofava by name. It wasn’t like she was some far right loon raving about Van Jones and the 56 Refounders. If you just read her post and din’t know who wrote it, anyone would think it was an entirely reasonable and fair statement. She never called on Scozzafava to withdraw and had kind words for her when she did stand down.
This race had so many special circumstances you can’t really extrapolate further. But 49-45 when it was 35-23 a couple weeks ago is a good start.
Nationally, tonight was a big win for the GOP and for conservatives. It’s a big deal to actually win something for a change. To set the tone for next year. To get people excited.
All this talk about independents is nuts. As we saw tonight, if unemployment is still at 10% or higher next year, they’ll flock to the GOP regardless of who’s running. If it’s still that way in 2012, they’ll abandon Obama in droves just like they did Corzine.
I used to call myself a conservative Republican...now I'm just a Republican. I want to defeat rats...something conservatives seem opposed to.
Another 6%er heard from.