Free Republic

STATEMENT ATTRIBUTED TO MICHAEL CAPUTO CAMPAIGN MANAGER PALADINO FOR THE PEOPLE March 20, 2010 Carl Paladino is deeply disappointed in the Conservative Party for not having the courtesy to allow us to compete in what turns out not to be a democratic process. It’s a shame that a personality conflict between Ed Cox and Mike Long has forced the Conservative Party to choose a weak candidate who’s a certain loser and who doesn’t support key tenets of the Party platform. Today’s endorsement of pro-abortion banking lobbyist Rick Lazio for governor may mean the end of the Conservative Party. The Paladino...

Three months after a rift between GOP party leaders and grass-roots conservatives led to the special election loss of a historically Republican-held seat in upstate New York, another campaign melodrama is taking shape in the same district. Doug Hoffman, last November’s Conservative Party nominee in New York’s 23rd District who is vying again for the seat, is refusing to rule out running as a third-party candidate this year if he fails to win the Republican primary. And his leading backer, Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long, told POLITICO that he refuses to endorse any candidate other than Hoffman — raising the...

First returns, Clinton Co: Owens 103 Scozzafava 8 Hoffman 340