« BACK  |  PRINT

RS

EDITOR OF REDSTATE

BREAKING: Scozzafava Possibly Mulling Party Switch

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  October 16th, 2009 at 01:39 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

As I said in my previous post, the Democrat in NY-23 has a greater likelihood of voting with the GOP than Dede Scozzafava.

Now The Weekly Standard is reporting that when asked about switching to the Democrats upon election, the Scozzafava campaign was less than reassuring for the GOP.

Will Dede Scozzafava, the liberal Republican running in the November 3 special election for Army Secretary John McHugh’s open upstate New York seat, stay in the Republican party in the (unlikely) event that she wins? Would she run in 2010 as a Republican—facing what would likely be a tough primary? Or would she pull as Specter?

Her spokesman Matthew Burns won’t say. Asked via email if Scozzafava would commit to running in a Republican primary in 2010, Burns replied last night, “Dede is focused on the election that is Nov. 3.”

He wrote that Scozzafava currently “is a vote for Rep. Boehner” to be speaker of the House.

So definitive. Oh, and Dede, should she win, is going to be primaried in a Republican Primary where actual Republicans get to vote for their candidate instead of an anointing by party chairs.

Just brilliant.

Tags: , ,

COMMENTS

POSTING RULES  |  LOGIN TO COMMENT  |  REGISTER TODAY
  • Third Street

    None of this matters because Scozzafava can win! I know because somebody told me so!

    After this race is done we’ve got to get to work putting together an Obama/Scozzafava fusion ticket for 2012! He can win too!

  • danasdaddy
  • AceInTX

    is like watching one of those little cars riding into one of the rings at the circus and seeing 12 little clowns piling out and chasing each other around with rubber clubs….

    This would be the purist hilarity if it weren’t so tragically stupid!

    And here is Newt Gingrich and NRCC Chief Sessions in all their shining brilliance on the NY-23 race

    Gingrich

    “The special election for the 23rd Congressional District is an important test leading up to the mid-term 2010 elections,” Mr. Gingrich wrote in an endorsement letter. “Our best chance to put responsible and principled leaders in Washington starts here, with Dede Scozzafava.”

    Rep. Pete Sessions, chairman of the NRCC,

    …predicted Mrs. Scozzafava will woo back conservative voters with Mr. Gingrich’s endorsement and by signing a no-tax pledge from Americans for Tax Reform, a group that had criticized Mrs. Scozzafava for not signing.

    “They haven’t seen this and it just happened today,” the Texas Republican said Thursday.

    Mr. Sessions pointed out that Mr. Hoffman initially pursued the Republican nomination before accepting the state Conservative Party nod.

    “We selected the best candidate,” he said. “[Mr. Hoffman] just did not show as well. He did not have the best ideas, and Dede’s ahead.”

    I once held Gingrich in high rgard…it really stings that he is beclowning himself with the likes of Al Sharpton, Nancy Pelosi…and now Scozzafava!

  • Darin_H

    by a country mile.

  • shadowtax

    Noting that the highlighted “currently” is before the quotation starts, it reads to me like the spokesman did not say anything, It doesn’t prove anything.

    Scozzafava is a few weeks away from losing a three way race. Her stance makes sense. She is trying to win votes from the center and left of the electorate. It makes sense for her to dodge that question.

    The irony is rich. Here you suggest that Republican voters should vote for the non-Republican who is more conservative. To defeat party loyalty resistance, you present speculative evidence questioning the loyalty of the Republican to her party.

    So it is acceptable to party jump to the right, but not to the left?

  • Vegas_Rick
  • http://andrightlyso.com/ civil_truth

    Once again fitting that definition of the fanatic as one who having lost sight of the objective redoubles the effort.

    Or perhaps just simple pride in not wanting to admit he’s blown it, like Obama and Hillary regarding Honduras.

    When Mr. Sessions next writes about the Republican Party new ideas, he’ll just being inviting some rather pointed questions about Scozzafava’s “best ideas”.

    Nice job of shooting yourself in the brain, there.

  • AceInTX

    I meant to put it in bold:

    ?We selected the best candidate,? he said. ?[Mr. Hoffman] just did not show as well. He did not have the best ideas, and Dede?s ahead.?

  • AceInTX

    So it is acceptable to party jump to the right, but not to the left?

    at least in this case

  • shadowtax

    So we make the liberals and moderates swear loyalty oaths while allowing the conservatives to come and go at will. No wonder the establishment GOP is in the mess that it is in….

  • Xasteius

    We need to retire these fools ASAP.

  • http://andrightlyso.com/ civil_truth

    …and then check under your feet.

  • AceInTX

    now I’m not so sure…

    To be fair…Sessions had her thrust upon him since it was the NYGOP that hand picked Scozzafava…but to make the statement he did in my post is just about as dumb as anything I’ve heard a Republican say…EVER!!!

    ?[Mr. Hoffman] just did not show as well? my question is this…since there was never a choice made by the Republican electorate…Hoffman didn’t show as well with whom?

  • AceInTX
  • AceInTX

    and in this case…Republican voters weren’t given a choice…Scozzafava was hand picked by the NYGOP….and she was the most liberal of the 4 or more candidates that were interested in running…there was no vote…it was an appointment by arrogant LIBERAL REPUBLICAN elitists!

  • shadowtax

    What’s your point?

  • shadowtax

    The NY GOP is in bad shape. It will not be fixed in this special election.

    We are faced with a no-win scenario. There are 3 possible winners: a Dem, a liberal GOPer, or a non-GOP conservative.

    Three losers.

  • http://andrightlyso.com/ civil_truth

    Or to use another analogy, you’ve gone so far out on a limb that there’s no way back.

    To reset, let’s start by your telling us, what distinguishes a Republican from a Democrat other than the party letter next to their name? And what distinctives would lead a voter to prefer a Republican in office over a Democrat? Or why should a voter pick a “me too” candidate over a candidate whose party has backed their positions for decades?

    “Meet the new boss same as the old boss” isn’t going to work any longer in the present regime.

  • http://impudent.blognation.us/blog kyle8

    this is the reason I have not made a donation in half a year. You got to get your crap together or we will vote with our feet. NO MORE LIBERALS! None! that means, NOT ONE!

    When you decide to help liberals win you don’t get my dollars, simple as that.

  • Vegas_Rick

    Is it party above all, for you?

  • AceInTX

    what distinguishes a Republican from a Democrat other than the party letter next to their name?

    Challenge members to come up with an explanation for what the modern day Republican Party represents and what she stands for.

  • shadowtax

    The Republican candidate is supported by the Republican Party.
    The Democrat cadidate is supported by the Democratic Party.
    Each party has rules for nominating candidates for office.
    The party label has legal significance for balloting purposes. It also has implications for fundraising because of the brand name.

    The Republican Party in New York picked a very bad candidate in Dede Scozzofava. By rule, the selection process was not a primary. The fact remains that she is the Republican candidate. Some members of the Republican party support her. Many do not.

    I am saying that her Republican supporters should not be maligned for supporting the lawfully selected GOP candidate.

    I believe in solid conservative principles. I also believe in fair process. Sometimes my ideas and my candidates lose. If it is because of a bad process, then that process should be changed. But I do not like to see conservatives flip-flopping on procedural fairness. I want consistency even if sometimes that puts the conservative at the disadvantage.

    On another thread I addressed the subject of local party autonomy. Should the National GOP be involved in candidate selection in cases like these? If so when? I recall reading many posts complaining about the NRSC meddling in primaries by endorsing Crist. Should the NRCC have meddled in the NY-23 nomination? Rather than constructive discussion about party-building, I am reading destructive personal political attacks.

    The bottom line is that when a candidate loses the GOP nomination, he should not expect GOP support or even GOP neutrality. That is asking a party to go against its very nature. A party exists to help nominees win elections.

    One may achieve freedom by divorcing a spouse for serial adultery, but only a fool expects future Christmas gifts from the in-laws.

  • shadowtax

    Like a soul needs a body, principles need political power to come to life.

    A conservative victory likely leads to destructive conservative schism. The Conservative Party will claim it is independent and will fight with the GOP. The GOP will remain more liberal. The conservative feud will benefit the liberals.

    The best path to power for conservative principle is through the GOP.

  • randy streu

    Fact: Hoffman ran first as a Republican.
    Fact 2: Hoffman will caucus with Republicans.
    Fact 3: CPNY has a history of working WITH Republicans, especially up here, so long as the Republicans aren’t betraying principle for politics. In fact, this break between the GOP and CPNY is a DIRECT result of the “Eleven’s” stupidity in choosing Scozzafava over one of several more palatable potential nominees.
    Fact 4: Scozzafava has been actively and publicly courted by the Democrat party, and was mulling the switch before being selected as GOP nominee. But sure — SHE’ll caucus with Republicans. Whatever.

    Likelihood: Hoffman will switch party affiliation TO REPUBLICAN on election in order to run the next as the Republican candidate.

  • AceInTX

    there was no input from the party outside the establishment party hacks who selected her…she is not supported by the voters of the party…only the bosses….why that’s so hard to understand is beyond me…

    It’d be different if there were even the slightest evidence that she ws the best candidate out of the field she was chosen from…but she was/is not…there in lies the rub…you have a few party bosses deciding they know better than everyone else…and shoving an unacceptable candidate down Republican voter’s throats. The NRCC was dealt a bad hand by the NYGOP…and they’re doing the best they can in a bad situation…but Sessions…and Gingrich’s comments are absurd on their faces and I see no reason not to call them on it

  • shadowtax

    I hope that you are correct.

    I did know that Hoffman has stated that he will caucus with the Republicans. Where did you learn that he will switch to GOP? Has there been a definitive statement or a non-answer like Scozzafava’s spokesman?

    I am grateful that you acknowlege that there is a schism. I hope that it mends, but in the course of a campaign grudges are born. Politics is a nasty business, especiially local politics.

  • shadowtax

    Even if you don’t believe me. :)

    Again, I see this as a no-win scenario. I want damage control and containment.

  • randy streu

    as I said above, this is a likelihood — a conjecture based on the evidence I’ve seen, and my understanding of politics and fundraising.

    First, Hoffman’s campaign is built around the idea that there is ONE actual Republican (and CPNY, etc. use the word “Republican” here, not “Conservative”) in this race, and that it ain’t Dede. That alone says something about his intentions.

    Second, Hoffman already is a Republican. He’s running on the CPNY ticket, but his affiliation already is as a Republican.

    Third, if Hoffman wins, he’ll want to be able to count on the local and national parties for fundraising and support to keep the seat. Neither he nor the CPNY, if he manages to pull this off, has the resources to do battle against TWO major opponants, esp. if he doesn’t have to.

    So all that said, it simply stands to reason that, if Hoffman wins in NY23, he’ll be a REPUBLICAN Congressman.

  • Illinicon

    that an Owens win would be better than Scozzafava winning. This way Hoffman becomes the favorite to win the nomination in 201 and gets elected next November in a 2 way race ( unless Scozzafava wants to run on the WFP line, though I think the Anti-Barry setiments would still make Hoffman the favorite. If Scozzafava wins she will vote conservately enough to edge out Hoffman in the primary and then show her true colors in the next congress.

  • bs
  • http://andrightlyso.com/ civil_truth

    Your procedural concerns are quite legitimate and in general are in accord with the positions held by most RedStaters. The moderators/directors throughout the last election cycle argued against 3rd party actions – and this is a Republican site.

    However, all rules do have their exceptional circumstances, and several are operating here, and randy streu and others have been pointing out since the start of this election cycle.

    In brief, party leaders picked the most liberal candidate in a district that is rather conservative on no discernable grounds other than a bizarre belief that running to the left of the Democrat is a winning path.

    True, this is the prescribed procedure, but since leaders are representatives, not monarchs, when they go against their constituency, the constituency has the right to take back power.

    In addition, New York is a state where a 3rd party (the Conservative Party) is a viable safety valve when the Republican Party leaders go off the rails, as they have here. So we’re not talking a futile protest vote, but a genuine possiblity to win.

    Randy and other can fill you in on details since they are locals, but to sum, the old saying is true here, that this is the exception that proves the rule.

  • randy streu

    you’ve summed this up nicely.

  • penguin2

    A political body or party that has lost its way is never going to have power. Conservative principles provide the “soul” for the body. The GOP has been losing because it does not stand on principle and do anything different from the Democrats. Having nothing to distinguish one side from the other leads to exactly what we have today. The GOP has/had its’ opportunity. We will do what we can to support them, but first in primaries, we want the Conservative candidate. What is happening in NY-23 is an example of politics as usual from the GOP. Your vision of the GOP is an old one, and we are tired of it.

    I don’t think we have to worry about a “destructive conservative schism.” The liberals in our party are the ones causing this, let them reap the “rewards” of that.

  • http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

    of Republican Party precinct committeeman slots are vacant?

    Thanks,

    ColdWarrior
    www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com

  • randy streu

    (and, in fact, there was supposed to be a local meeting on that subject among other things, but I’ll have to call the guy who was organizing that and see what happened). I’ll find out and let you know.

  • http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

    what percentage of the available PC slots were filled in the 2008 election cycle and what number of Republicans have come into the local Party organizations throughout the congressional district since Election Day 2008 indicating they want to become precinct committeeman.
    And what percentage of that group are conservatives.
    Thank you.
    ColdWarrior
    www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com

  • http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

    I only give donations directly to candidates and to “real” conservative organizations. And I hope all conservative grass rooters are doing the same as we are doing.

    Thank you.

    ColdWarrior

    www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com