yes it would have been better if he lost, but it wouldn’t have been much better if DeDe won. Would she have stopped Obama? Is adding 1 liberal vote to a rump GOP caucus going to make a difference?
From all the polls, DeDe was never winning anyway. It was either going to be Owens or Hoffman. If DeDe endorsed Hoffman he wins. End of story. Why that didn’t happen and how it broke down between her and the party I don’t know. It should have been better handled and the aprty should have been able to assuage her and give her something to keep her on board.
I think Hoffman and some conservatives got a little full of themselves when she dropped out and didn’t do what they needed to maintain her support. Oh well.
But nationally conservatives are energized and the party will do much better with them than they ever will courting moderates. You don’t win with moderates, you do with energized conservatives. And quite honestly, a party that wins with moderates and reflects Specter, Snowe and Chafee and Lowell Weicker isn’t one worth supporting anyway in my view.
But the big picture is that Obama and the dems went down hard in two states they won last year. In 2 states where Obama and Biden and Clinton and all the rest personally showed up and put themselves on the line. 2 conservatives won. Both pro-life, pro-free market, pro-growth, anti-Obama-care, anti Cap and Trade.
And all the blue dogs in the house and Senators in AR, NE, MO, IN, NC, VA and all the rest saw it.
We did win elections tonight. In VA and NJ that were way more important. O and the Dems are less powerful this morning than they were yesterday afternoon. Health care has less of a chance of passing. Cap and trade has less of a chance of passing. All good things.
Republicans won elections (and I am grateful for that), the spoiler conservative candidate Hoffman in NY-23 lost. The GOP could have won the NY seat but Rush, Palin, and out of state conservatives wanted to prove they could defeat a RINO. God help this country if RINOs decide to let conservatives send a message in 2010...a message which is "conservative would rather elect rats than compromise their principles in a liberal state that rejects conservatism...the GOP must pick unelectable conservatives despite the futility of their candidacy."
The question unasked tonight is how many Republicans held their noses and voted for Hoffman( a man who didn't even live in the district), despite their anger over out of state interference, and out of fear of giving 0 and Pelosi another GOP seat. The answer is...not enough to win.