Scuzzy lady sinks back into oblivion
AND in my opinion she should be made tp or sued to get the money back that was spent on her
this money was donated by real Republicans, and she was a Rino all the way

Donate solely to the candidate, not the party.

Though I am a bit disappointed and surprised we didn’t go 3 for 3 (what happened to those polls showing Hoffman winning the race easily?) I will take heart in winning NJ and VA and also that Hoffman will be back in 2010.

Basically the Democrats were barely able to eek out a victory against a divided Republican Party and a conservative candidate no one had heard of 6 weeks ago.

If Hoffman runs in 2010 and we oppose Owens on a united front I believe we’ll take back this seat easily.

and about 14% is not in. I would wait until at least 96% of the votes are in.

Your point is well taken.

you had a chance to change something, yet you chose the same old same old party loyalists. What have the D’s done for the NY-23? I know Plattsburgh is a shell of its former self as a military town, Utica and Syracuse are basically disaster areas of anemic job growth and massive population loss, accept for the college students of course which depend on Government. Sad really; however, my wife left district 23 of NY to live with me in VA, and we can say my wife has had the job opportunities in VA that she would never have had in NY.

She is a director, she moved up with no college degree. Try doing that in upstate New York without a college degree. I left MD for VA for a job in the high tech defense industry and R&D and I have never looked back. Shame really, I feel real sorry for those people because the teet of Government, then pull themselves up by the boot straps educate themselves, save money for the hard times and invest to get ahead in the world. Oh, well at least we showed that scuzzi couldn’t have given a damn about those who voted for Hoffman. I think the GOP is listening now.

Owens is underperforming Obama’s results in the district from last year. Also isnt it ironic that the first or second media outlet (i dont know if MSNBC has called it) was Fox, while AP, CNN and Politico have not called it as of yet. Given the historically Republican nature of the district I am sure we will get it back next year when we have a unified base.

Sink conservatives, there is no getting around the fact that taking even a single percentage from the Republican or conservative, the Democrats will win. Must work within the GOP. I myself and sending a donation to the Republican Governors Assocation, tonight is a night to celebrate and the RGA did an outstanding job (IMO). Way to go Christie and McDonnell…I am proud of the GOP tonight.

I loved watching PMSNBC tonight, they looked like they ate a live frog.

We sure showed them!

with 79% in
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/11/04/politics-us-gay-marriage-maine_7082410.html
http://elections.nytimes.com/2009/results/other.html

although we wish we can touch and feel all, we can’t undo a 20 year assault. Go to sleep now knowing that America is awake and all knowing and will not rest until the Republic for WHICH IT STANDS is not a memory, but the touchstone to all that reside.

We won tonight. Hoffman lost for a multitude of reasons.
Others won.
We need to take them all to task and make our Government work for us.

have picked up the stink of a rotting corpse?

Unless we have a miracle in CA-10, the Dems get one more House seat. I hope the general trend in these elections is enough to stop the more radical proposals of the Congress, but I fear otherwise. Maybe the upside is that the Democrats will believe their own spin, fail to adjust, and get creamed in 2010. In the short term though, there will be some very tough legislative battles.

Economics—repressive taxation was a principal locomotive force driving the American revolution. The Obama administration’s desperate effort to coolly downplay the political significance of the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia certainly flies in the face of Samuel Adams’ prescient words during our nation’s founding: “It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.”

The brush fires have begun.

This is not a victory, but an instructive lesson.

The analysis is correct on the two key lessons:
1. RINOs and liberal Republicans make for bad candidates and destroy Republican unity.
2. Third party candidates on the conservative side have a hard time winning and will ultimately be harmful for conservative unity
ERGO …
3. THE WAY FOR GOP VICTORY IS THE VA GOV WAY - TO GET SOLID CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATES AS THEIR NOMINEE and unite behind him. United we stand, divided we fall.

This does not mean that we would have been better off without Hoffman in the race, as Erick points out. Defumigating the liberals in our party is the first step to defeating them in the other party.

he will not only lose but be CRUSHED Creigh Deeds-like in 2010.

Against a divided Republican vote he still only “won” by some 4000 votes with many thousands of absentee ballots yet to be counted.

If he wants to go ultra left that’s fine: he’s already toast so you might as well stick a fork in him.

I REALLY wanted Hoffman to win this one, but there’s a silver lining to this one. Aside from your points, he nearly pulled off a win, got the backing of some prominent national conservatives with guts, and established himself to run in 2010 if he wants to.
The silver lining is all for naught, however, if Michael Steele as well as the chairs for the senate and congressional committees for the RNC don’t realize that you can’t run left to win elections. The fact that Dede practically spent a million dollars to endorse the Democrat proves that you can’t trust liberals, even if they have an (R) next to their name. If the GOP leadership doesn’t get this, then we’re screwed for the next three years.
For Hoffman, continue to build on your successful business track record, become a quick study to the national issues, and bring in some big guns to prep for 2010. This mess won’t be fixed by next year, so the gains you made now won’t go unnoticed. You have RedState backing you up!

to you Red State for all you do, keep off the diversity folks yeah, but great job in keeping us all informed.

Can I hear a “yeah” RED STATE?

Just floating this on the air.

One could just as soon add Dede’s share to Owens’ totals and spin it the opposite way since she was a Hail Mary DIABLO meant to appeal to Liberals that would have otherwise voted Democrat.

To my eye: given her politics, I don’t think there is any reliable way to figure which way her voters would break except for Owens.

Either way, we’re going to have to listen to Democrats and liberal pundits try to “help” the GOP back into power by dangling the stupid strategy of being more like them to be relevant again.

…and you can be sure the GOP brain trust will read the outcome here incorrectly

“Look at what it got us in NY-23″ is not as sexy to the so-called brains of the operation as “You know, it might just work in most other districts….”

I Support Erick

But Look,

NY-23 is a GOP district. On their worst day they went a whopping +5 for Obama. They have not elected a Democrat in something like 50 years. By contrast, middle Maine went +18 for Obama.

This was not a war against moderates. Dede was not a moderate Republican. I dont even think she was a liberal Republican. She was a liberal, period. She’s the type who became a Republican to get get ahead. I know her ilk. Being GOP was the cool thing to do growing up and she wanted to impress, which was allabout being GOP back in those days.

The victory is the voice: I AM BASE HEAR ME ROAR. The victory is not translating this into a ‘RINO’ wipeout. Hoffman couldnt win a GOP district in a GOP seat in a GOP year. Someone, please tell me the strategy for winning Illiinois and Connecticutt seats by running primaries against them.

Under perfect circumstances, NY-23 is a draw. I’m a conservative. And I’m educated. And I’m a New Englander. Those who think- — just preach the gospel of conservatism to them, and they will come are morons.

God bless you all. But the hard work starts at home, in church, in schools, in the arts, in the media and pop culture , Think twice before you can start a revolution against Olympia Snowe. I said it before. use her.

P.S. I’ve bee drinking quite a bit. No work tomorrow. Don’t mind anything I say. It was a wonderful effort, the right move in a chess game, but some are using the Hoffman teffort for utter ridiculousmess.

The Owens win is another vote for Pelosi/Obama and their leftist agenda. I find it amazing that Obama knows the value of one representative but doesn’t know the value of $1 trillion dollars. One more vote in the house is precious, but $1 trillion dollars blown on a phony stimulus is no big thing.

nt

Erick,

This was a win for Pelosi plain and simple.

Yes, we were able to rally - but to what end?

While I think we all know Scozzafava would have been a vote for Pelosi - Rush put it best.. third party stuff like this ensures Democrat majority for years to come.

The problem, in a nut shell, is that the GOP leadership failed to pick the right candidate instead of running a primary. Still, even at that, Scozzafava probably would have lost and endorsed the Democrat.

Im not sure where this really leaves us - except tackling the problem of Scozzafavas and Jeffords present to us. These are people who are bitter losers and are without principle - who only seek what is in their best interest.

Any guesses on what Scozzafava’s new Czar post will be?

I hope the light you have shed on the problem of GOP endorsed liberals is taken to heart by the party at all levels.

Please forgive my presuming on you this way, but may I make a polite suggestion regarding the overuse of the term “And make no mistake” in your editorial work? It comes across as a finger wagging, much in the way that CAPS come across as yelling. When I get caught using it, my reviewers send it back with the word “hackneyed” scrawled across it. Your phraseology is always clear enough and strong enough to stand on its own without that flag in front of your salient points.

Oh, and thanks for RedState!

By the time it would become viable to any real degree, we would be a banana republic, and would be learning the words to a certain Harry Bellefonte song as our new national anthem.

-Dave

NY-23, along with every other House seat, will be up for re-election that day.

absentee ballots should not by so “liberally” distributed?

How many of the votes for Scozzy would have been pulled back if they hadn’t already been dropped in the mailbox as a vote for the “Republican”? How many of those were cast by people who thought that they were casting a Republican party vote with their votes for Scozzy?

Your analysis was exactly right, Erick. We are no worse off with Owens winning than we would have been had Scozzy won. The lesson is obvious that had the conservative Republican been put up in the first place, he would have won (given the same support from the big conservative names). Those big names better be ready next year to provide similar support for less accomplished conservative Republican candidates.

Finally, how did the results vary so far from that final poll? Is there something fishy going on? Was that poll released to hold down conservative turnout?

Was our party’s trial balloon. We know where we stand.

After today, the GOP better play ball, because all of America is swingin’ for the fences.

made sure that the least liberal of two liberals won least liberal of Scozzafava & Owens won. Just imagine how horrible tonight would feel if the far-left liberal Scozzafava would have been able to hang on & win.

I really can imagine her mounting a Primary campaign against Owens next year saying that he’s not liberal enough for Democrats.

A DEDE WIN WOULD HAVE BEEN FAR WORSE THAN AN OWENS WIN!

It’s possible that the liberal label didn’t stick on him as well since he wasn’t even a registered Democrat & since she was registered as a seething RINO.

…and eat it too.

On the one hand, we lost a very solid Republican district by backing a third party candidate (Hoffman) rather than the Republican candidate (Scozzafava). On the other hand, a message has been sent to the GOP leadership, both locally and nationally; namely, don’t run ultra-liberals as Repulicans. It is this messge I believe the base has been trying to shout from the rooftops since the losses in 2006.

Some may decry the support given an independent or third party candidate, as happened here with Hoffman, just as many have been angry about GOP voters staying home in 2006 and 2008.

But how else does the base get across to those in power within the party that they don’t like the candidates that are being put up, or the direction that the party is taking?

People are going to vote their conscience, or they are going to stay home, its that simple. If the GOP goes off the rails, and does not support its own platform (at least nominally) in each race, then the GOP is going to keep losing. Republican voters were saying this in the run up to 2006, and the party did not listen. GOP voters were saying this in the run up to 2008, and the GOP did not listen.

The question is, do they hear us now?

How else do we send a message to the GOP country club that we want the party to tack back to the right, other than refusing to support their candidates, keeping back our donations, and voting for someone other than the GOP candidate? I’d rather lose voting for a real Republican than win with a Scozzafava.

Sometimes we have to lose in the short term to win in the long term.

That doesn’t mean that every candidate has to be perfectly conservative, with a 100% ACU rating. But they need to be at least conservative in some things. Don’t we have a party platform for a reason? To work with candidates that agree with at least some of the platform? Or is it all lip service.

Scozzafava was not conservative in any way. She was a leftist to the left of the Democrat she was supposed to be running against, and the GOP establishment tried to push her onto the voters of NY 23. And what happened? The GOP lost.

We can’t have our cake and eat it too. If we want to send the message that a particular GOP candidate is no good, or that the direction of the party is headed the wrong way, then we need to take our lumps and lose sometimes to get the message across.

NY 23 was a good hill to die on. It was a special election that we can easily win next year if we run even a half-way decent candidate. If we’d all gotten in line here and voted for Scozzafava, then we’d have a REPUBLICAN voting for Cap and Trade, Obamacare, Card check, and everything else the Dems are trying to Rahm through. Let Owens take the heat for voting for that crap.

…and eat it too.

On the one hand, we lost a very solid Republican district by backing a third party candidate (Hoffman) rather than the Republican candidate (Scozzafava). On the other hand, a message has been sent to the GOP leadership, both locally and nationally; namely, don’t run ultra-liberals as Repulicans. It is this messge I believe the base has been trying to shout from the rooftops since the losses in 2006.

Some may decry the support given an independent or third party candidate, as happened here with Hoffman, just as many have been angry about GOP voters staying home in 2006 and 2008.

But how else does the base get across to those in power within the party that they don’t like the candidates that are being put up, or the direction that the party is taking?

People are going to vote their conscience, or they are going to stay home, its that simple. If the GOP goes off the rails, and does not support its own platform (at least nominally) in each race, then the GOP is going to keep losing. Republican voters were saying this in the run up to 2006, and the party did not listen. GOP voters were saying this in the run up to 2008, and the GOP did not listen.

The question is, do they hear us now?

How else do we send a message to the GOP country club that we want the party to tack back to the right, other than refusing to support their candidates, keeping back our donations, and voting for someone other than the GOP candidate? I’d rather lose voting for a real Republican than win with a Scozzafava.

Sometimes we have to lose in the short term to win in the long term.

That doesn’t mean that every candidate has to be perfectly conservative, with a 100% ACU rating. But they need to be at least conservative in some things. Don’t we have a party platform for a reason? To work with candidates that agree with at least some of the platform? Or is it all lip service.

Scozzafava was not conservative in any way. She was a leftist to the left of the Democrat she was supposed to be running against, and the GOP establishment tried to push her onto the voters of NY 23. And what happened? The GOP lost.

We can’t have our cake and eat it too. If we want to send the message that a particular GOP candidate is no good, or that the direction of the party is headed the wrong way, then we need to take our lumps and lose sometimes to get the message across.

NY 23 was a good hill to die on. It was a special election that we can easily win next year if we run even a half-way decent candidate. If we’d all gotten in line here and voted for Scozzafava, then we’d have a REPUBLICAN voting for Cap and Trade, Obamacare, Card check, and everything else the Dems are trying to Rahm through. Let Owens take the heat for voting for that crap.

Just thought I’d see how the election was being spun on this extremist site. Congratulations on the big victories this evening … undeniable progress for a party in the middle of civil war.

Not all of us Dems are happy with all of the gov’t spending, but heck, it was the policies of Bush (and every Prez since Carter) that got us to this crappy point … and I’d rather gov’t spending go to internal spending as opposed to funding a war on a country that didn’t attack us, a glutonous military and tax breaks for the wealthy and corps. Furthermore, the simple answers to complex problems the Far Right offers are just TIRED!

And as long as the Far Right continues to have conservative social policy litmus tests for all of your candidates, you’ll never get the support of moderate Dems, like me, that would like to see more fiscal responsibility. Like it or not, the country is governed from the middle, not the extremes.

Hmmmmm … will this comment be posted, or will it disappear as so many of my comments at this site do.

In all the analysis of Hoffman’s campaign, I have yet to see anyone make note of the fact that the man was inarticulate at best, and painfully awkward in public if we are to be brutally honest. The fact that he garnered so much of the vote is a testament to his positions and the mood of the district, because I cannot seriously think that anyone saw him in action and thought “wow, that’s the guy I want in Congress.”

I’m not sure he really wanted to win the race, or expected to be a real contender when he started this. He seemed awfully eager to concede this evening as soon as he could.

If only the Republicans in New York hadn’t played such stupid games with their choice for the election, there’d be another Republican representative in the House. They lost this through their own high-handedness.

took serious aim at what we we’re doing here. They used slight of hand thuggery to defeat Hoffmann, and took their eye off the medium sized prizes, which’ll hurt them in the bigger picture-a referendum.

The goal posts just moved right today based off of our battle plan, blueprinted over the past 8 months.

…for the folks of NY 23, Bill Owens will be a more conservative representative than the faux republican would have been.

Dede was a horrendous selection for the RNC. ptooey!

Just awful. The republican hubris involved in that choice is just stunning.

Kudos to Doug Hoffman for going the distance for the real home team.

Newt can kiss it. Fie on his beltways.

I see NY-23 as a battle lost, but far more damage to the supposed “winners.” This shows the “establishment” that, as many have said, we aren’t going to stand for bad candidates - & Scozzafava was the worst Republican candidate I’ve seen be taken seriously. For praticality, Republican leadership should see that running candidates vulnerable to challenge from the right is dangerous. One would think the Dems who won in 2006 running as conservative would have awakened them?

NY-23 also shows that a solid ground game is essential, especially juxtaposed to Virginia.

I also agree that FL is the next stop, & we have the chance to do it right - win in the primary.

And WE (The American PEOPLE) are going to ALL countrywide amusingly chuckle at Gibbs’ retort in a few hours.

Bill Owens is a military man and has always been an Independent. Chances are he will vote more conservative than Scozzafava would have. He is a “Blue Dog” Democrat, and If he wants to keep his “lucky” win in a Republican NY district, he will have to vote accordingly. If not Hoffman, I say we are lucky to have Owens and not Scozzafava. That being said, Newt Gingrich has completely lost my respect with all of his last minute campaigning and justification for Scozzafava, and from what I am reading on the blogs, I am not alone. I hope someone will let him know he need not bother spending any time or money on himself in 2012.

The Republicans lost tonight in NY 23. Try to understand this it is the first rule of politics in Congressional elections.

The first vote that a member of the House or the Senate casts is for the Speaker of the House or the Majority Leader. There are many who argue that it is the most critical vote they cast.

Bill Owens will vote for Nancy Pelosi. We lost.

Oh yes for all of those people who trashed Newt Gingrich he has done more for Republicans and conservatives then anyone posting on this blog.

I think the lesson for the GOP is that when you support RINO’s, you end up benefitting the Democrats no matter the election result. I am angry about the $900,000 the Republican Party poured into electing a Democrat.

Redstate brought Hoffman to the forefront TWO weeks ago and for that short a period of time it was a tsunami WE have everything to be PROUD of in this election and the GOP has everything to be AFRAID of! I have always said they can work with us or they can work against us but they CANNOT have it both ways!

I will note that BOTH Governors in VA and NJ made acceptance speeches outlining PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!!! They DID NOT talk about BIGGER government EVER!!!

GOP run people who will CUT spending and taxes and GOVERNMENT and you have a winning formula ANYTHING else is a loss!

Whoever has his enemy at his mercy &
does not destroy him is his own enemy

I just email my Texas Senator, John Cornyn, and told him to support Florida’s Marco Rubio for the Senate now, and forget about Charlie Crist. Everyone needs to be looking at Marco. This guy is smart, conservative, and awesome. He has my money and support. Presidential? I think so! Check him out!
http://www.marcorubio.com/
http://www.CharlieAndObama.com

who voted on absentee ballots for Scuzzy before she dropped out of the race. Seriously. These people thought they were voting for someone who would at the very least be IN the race, and I bet most of them would’ve been voting for the conservative had they know it was a two man race.
What of the Military ballots? There were 10,000 or so of them. Counted?
I saw last night there were also questions of ACORN style fraud, any news on that?

Erick, what makes you say third parties aren’t viable? Hoffman went from unknown to within 5 points of a win in 30 days. Had he been in from the start, he might very well have won.

Without at least the THREAT of a third party, the GOP will just roll its fat, squishy self over and scream “SERVICE ME WITH YOUR DOLLARS AGAIN, YOU HELPLESS PROLES! YOU HAVE NOWHERE ELSE TO GO!”

Not a pretty thought.

Alternatively, maybe it’s time to put the GOP out of its misery entirely, and start over with the Conservative party. That would keep us at two parties.

Come on now…”conservatives win”? What exactly did conservatives win with the NY-23 results - another Democrat seat in congress?

Was it a good thing that the moderate was chucked in lieu of a conservative? Absolutely. Was it a good thing that ANOTHER Democrat joins what will now be a parade (coerced or not) to vote for the Democrat bill in the House (regardless of support for the public option)? Absolutely NOT.

I love the spirit, but let’s not call an apple an orange. Conservatives won two HUGE governors seats last night, but NY-23 hurts - especially with votes on health care just around the corner.

But ACORN and the Working Families Party committed their usual election fraud via absentee ballot-stuffing to hand a win to the Democrat.

Clearly, anywhere in the country ACORN and its Working Families Party exists, we should be screaming ELECTION FRAUD!

That’s good spin, but you can’t count a democrat pick up as a win. There were many reasons why Hoffman didn’t quite make it across the finish line. One would be Scozzafavas endorsement of Owens, and her union support going to Owens. I actually think if she’d stayed in the race Hoffman would have had a better chance. Her and Owens would have split the union and liberal vote, making Hoffman the plurality winner…

You are right that conservatives must work within the republican party. The problem with this race was no primary process. 2010 will be very different…

a point about why Scuzzy dropped out. She didn’t want to split union vote. Her campaign office was in AFL-CIO office. Hoffman probably would have won if she had stayed in race.

Main lesson here is Conservatives need to follow Coldwarrior’s advice and get involved in local Rep party positions so we can influence choice of candidates. Giving money to good candidates helps but if we want good candidates we have to get off our rears and get involved.

Let me see if I have this straight:

1. Drum out the GOP candidate with a right wing kook that’s not even from the district? Check!

2. Democrat opponent wins seat held by GOP for the first time since Reconstruction. Check!

3. Call it a “win”. Check!

USA!!!! USA!!!! USA!!!!

Oh, and………….. WOLVERINES!!!!!!!! also.

… it’s a win for Republicans? I like the way you think, Erick.

The Republicans need many more “wins” like this to earn a place in the dumpster of history. They will be in good company, with “trickle-down economics” and “separate but equal” to keep them warm.

The “third party route” you push is splitting voters away from the Republicans because the biggest 3rd party is the Independents, who used to vote Republican far more often than Democratic. Not anymore.

Independents now see the Republicans have become the worst kind of Liberals, burning through money, troops, goodwill and the Constitution at a rate that makes Democrats look like the love children of Hetty Green and Jack Benny. (Famous misers, for those under 60.)

The GOP lost in a district they have held since the Civil War, for two reasons. Changing demographics (less WASPs per acre) and changing the GOP from a pro-business party to a pro-death funeral party.

Look at the new Republican values. Torture, race-baiting, warrantless wiretapping, protecting companies from lawsuits by rape victims, wife-swapping, coke-snorting, child prostitution rings and death squads, secret prisons, clinic bombings, assassinations, prison without trial and of course, war, war, endless war.

The GOP should change their logo to the “Totenkopf” death’s head favored by the Nazi SS. Maybe they could dig up the corpse of the benzedrine-addicted sociopath and rape-fantasy writer Ayn Rand to run her on the “I ? Serial Killers” ticket with Edward Wycoff.

Oh, wait, that would be truth in advertising. Never mind.

America has changed

by Doug Hoffman, posted election night 09

America has changed, and you have helped. Although we did not succeed in winning this election, we have succeeded in making sure political parties and special interests no longer take the people for granted. I believe we have sent a powerful message and laid the groundwork for future conservative campaigns.

I congratulate Bill Owens on a hard won victory. In our tradition of free elections, our country continues. And although Bill Owens has won, I believe America is turning the page to a new dawn.

The ideas of freedom, sound fiscal management and citizen government have sprung back into our consciousness. Our founding fathers would be proud of New York 23. It was here that our principles, those that have been the foundation of our nation, came back to life with a vengeance. And it was here that the people rose up against the political bosses who tried to impose their will. It was here that people reached out to control their own destinies again.

Despite the election results, I am optimistic for our future, because now I know that I am not alone in wanting to repair our great nation. Throughout this campaign I have been inspired by the outpouring of support and the intensity of that support.

I’ve met many different people in this campaign, from many walks of life and many professions; each with a different personal story to share. Yet we are all united in the belief that by participating in democracy, we could inspire change.

I urge that no one feel defeated, for this was only one of many elections. We came close, we put our agenda in front of the nation and the nation took notice. The worse thing we could do now, is not continue forward. Next year there are other elections and other candidates who have drawn inspiration from our efforts.

I would like to thank all of you who placed your faith in me, who worked tirelessly and shared your enthusiasm with those around you. You are all patriots, you have all stood up for your country and I am honored to stand among you.

Thank you,

Doug Hoffman

We won nothing in NY 23. We gave up a Republican seat to a Democrat.. Is that what you call winning? We are losers. And, I am a sore loser. You show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a REAL loser. One more vote for the Democrats, gosh, as a conservative I feel all warm and fuzzy now..

We won nothing in NY 23. We gave up a Republican seat to a Democrat.. Is that what you call winning? We are losers. And, I am a sore loser. You show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a REAL loser. One more vote for the Democrats, gosh, as a conservative I feel all warm and fuzzy now..

Friend, you are talking sense to me and I hear you. God, how I wish I could vote Libertarian, and know it would mean something. Since I was 20, I was an advocate of Austrian Economics and limited government. So, I am by all counts a true Libertarian. The problem has always been I had to pick the lesser taskmaster; that’s the one who would deliver only ten lashes instead of 20. I would rather be free of our government, and receive NO lashes. But alas, we have a two party system. And voting my true conscience would only water down the chances of getting the lesser taskmaster.

Can conservatives live with moderates? I have for all my life. Do I like it? Absolutely not. And, I often remain a sore loser. It is very hard for me to crawl off and just lick my wounds. I have to unload on someone, and Eric was the target of choice today.

Sometimes I feel our position is hopeless. Honorable , but hopeless. Between the liberals and a liberal biased media, we must fight on too many fronts. And, when we then fight among ourselves, we are really in trouble. Where was the GOP when Hoffman came onto the scene? Where were the funds he needed to put up a better fight? How did Scorzzafava get into Congress in the first place as a Republican?… See what I mean? This is the stuff I dwell on, and at times, it seems a hopeless battle. To change the Republican party is going to be a major undertaking. But you are right. We have to do it.