Wendy Long could walk on water, and it still wouldn’t make it right for Mike Long to give her the CP nomination before the GOP primary field was even set (he set up the vote of the CP “leaders” back in March, before redistricting was even done in NY and prior to the closing of the filing deadline). The only thing that can come out of such a strategy is for the conservative vote to be split in the general election and thus allow the Democrat to win, as happened in NY-23 in 2010 when Mike Long did the same thing. If Mike Long refuses to allow the CP to have a primary on the same day as every other party, and instead relies on a vote by his group of pals to decide the nomination (Wendy Long got 91% of the CP “vote” over Maragos and whoever else was running prior to Turner’s announcement; was it 10 out of 11 or 20 out of 22 votes?), the least he can do is hold the vote after the other parties’ primaries so that the CP won’t divide the conservative vote unintentionally. If the GOP nominates a Scozzafava, the CP should go ahead and nominate a real conservative (BTW, Mike Long gave the CP nomination to the virulently pro-abortion Congressman Hanna; funny, he waited for redistricting to be done before nominating pro-abortion House candidates, but was all in a hurry to nominate Wendy Long for the Senate), but if the GOP nominates a conservative, the CP nominating a different conservative merely gives the election to the Democrats without any benefit to conservatives.
As for your argument that Wendy Long is more electable than Bob Turner, reasonable minds may disagree. Turner is old and a male, but surely you don’t believe that DioGuardi lost in 2010 solely because he was an old man. and Turner has actually *run for office before*, and . . . wait for it . . . won an election. Wendy Long is mounting her first ever campaign run, and while I think that it’s terrific that an intelligent, female conservative is willing to run for office, I don’t think that the fact that she’s making her first race ever a U.S. Senate race in New York State is a point in her favor.
And, yes, Wendy Long proposing to abolish the Department of Education gladdens my heart, but I don’t see how taking a position to the right of most Republican Senators makes her more electable *in New York* than a Bob Turner with more mainstream conservative views. I wish New Yorkers voted like Texans, but they don’t. Wendy Long’s views on the Dept. of Education are a bug, not a feature, when it comes to her electability.
If NY Republicans prefer Wendy Long to Bob Turner, then Mike Long will have lucked out, and conservatives will all rally around a single standardbearer in our longshot attempt at defeating Gillibrand. But if Turner wins, Mike Long will once again have needlessly turned the CP into a spoiler party, all in an attempt to feed his big ego and give the middle finger to NY Republican voters. Wendy Long announced that she’d stay in even if she lost the GOP primary, so Gillibrand’s reelection will be a fait accompli; the only question is whether Long will be able to get 50,000 votes statewide. Unless, of course, Mike Long tells Wendy to move to New Jersey so that he can place Turner on the CP slate, as he was shamed into doing in 2010 when Lazio had to run for a judgeship so that Long could make Paladino the CP nominee.
imo, you need to take your disagreements re: Mike Long to another thread. As I said I was registered with the NY Conservative Party, but left them. HOWEVER, I won’t take it out on good candidates. It is what it is, and we can’t harm the state/country because we don’t care for Mike.
Again, would you support Bob Turner if he received 91% from Mike Long’s Party and they put him on their Conservative Party’s line? Wendy did say she would support the Republican candidate after.
I never said that DioGuardi lost because SOLELY because he was an older man, but having Gillibrand’s opponent being around her age, and a woman helps. It will be far more difficult for Gillibrand to pull out the so-called “war on woman” card.
But it’s not just because WENDY Long is a young woman, of course. Wendy is brilliant, and VERY well spoken. Wendy would make Kirsten Gillibrand look very uneducated in a debate, imo.
More about WENDY Long:
“The following Gothan Tea Party June 20, 2012 press release explains why Long is the best choice.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
snip
Gotham was impressed by Wendy’s grasp of our core ideals of fiscal conservatism, constitutional government and the preservation of free markets. In several meetings we saw that Wendy is far from a one-dimensional conservative. She has proven to be a quick learner and is now fluent on a variety of fiscal issues.”
excerpt http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/gaynor/120620