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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

The Public Option and NY-23

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  November 4th, 2009 at 07:00 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

While the Democrats are crowing a bit this morning over the unusual circumstances of NY-23, they might want to pay attention to one under-reported fact: Bill Owens, the man NY-23 sent to Congress last night, campaigned against the public option.

That is not exactly a ringing endorsement of Obamacare by the voters up there.

Democrats might want to rethink how they view NY-23.

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COMMENTS

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  • archer52

    It’s been a running battle and now Allahpundit is showing a little too much smug “I told you so” glee for comfort.
    ————–
    To: Allahpundit

    From: The real world

    Re: How people see things when not swimming in “I told you so” soup.

    I’ll try to keep the bouncing ball slow enough for you to follow.

    1. Comparing the character and the acts of Dede to Hoffman it is apparent she was unreliable at best as a Republican. She would have undermined any effort on fiscal matters, taxes, and unions. Hoffman, on the other hand, has shown class, patience and humility. Traits we WISH politicians had before they went to D.C.

    2. Having Pelosi gain one seat makes no difference in her plans. The damage is minimal compared to the reality the Democrats witnessed tonight.

    3. Hoffman, a quiet average guy, without the backing of the Republican party, and after being sabotaged by Dede in an act of juvenile spite (read standard SOP of democrats), still managed to garner 45% of the vote in this “moderate” to liberal area of NY. Worse, Owens, who should have benefited from all the conflict on the other side, picked up less than fifty percent of the vote.

    Believe me, added to NJ and VA the message is clear, and one the Blue dogs ignore at their own peril.

    Remember, the House term is only two years. That will give Hoffman time to build a base and unseat Owens next time. Sometimes you have to take one step back to take two steps forward.

    Should we run third parties as a rule? No. That would be stupid. I much rather just hijack the Republican party and make the liberals/moderates like McCain and Graham sit at the kiddie table in OUR big tent.
    —————–
    They ran the party and the country for years, into the ground.

    Enough already.

  • itdiehard

    Steak and Potatoes are even better…

  • Marcus_Traianus

    Besides the fact I have watched many of my neighbors continue to vote for fiscal destruction by continually voting for Democrats at every level of government, there is a severe warning for both parties. The ideological puritans in this state are marginal voters.

    As Lincoln said ” You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time”. New Yorkers are not that different, just a little slow to change, en masse, sometimes.

    This state is a fiscal wreck under the tutelage of generations of Democrat leadership. Taxes are up in every sense of the word. They egregiously tax your income, your cell phone, your property, tolls and school taxes are out of control. People are leaving the state in droves for greener pastures. Sooner or later, those who are left will realize this type of mindless, drone Democrat voting is self destructive and is making the state unlivable for the next generation. When push comes to shove, the SEIU and any other union folks are waving the flag for won’t pay your property taxes.

    That said, Owens needs to represent his district very closely. These folks upstate will have very little patience for the Pelosi-Reid-Obama-Dkos brand of socialism, including socialized medicine. Don’t expect Owens to vote against the troops in the shadow of Fort Drum or shed tears for prisoners at GITMO- lest he be resigned to serving one term. Welcome to the world of “moderates”.

  • becolt

    You mentioned NYers leaving the state in droves…
    At least hundreds of thousands more of us would be leaving the state if we could afford to, but because of the fact we live in New York and have been taxed all to hell, we can’t. Every week either the Governor or the legislature come up with “GREAT NEW IDEA” of a way to fine or tax us more…
    About 10 years ago a farmer came up here in his big ol’ truck to Albany from a southern county, parked next to the capitol building, and sprayed the entire side of the building with chicken s**t.
    We cheered.

  • http://www.letfreedomringblog.com ggross56

    The scariest headline of the night was the Washington Times’ headline that said “Independents fuel GOP victories in Va., N.J.”

    I wrote a summary post here. If I’m a Democrat elected in a swing district, I’m best off being a bit more attentive to the voters this morning than I was a month ago.

  • dhorowitz3

    We need to find someone to run against scizoid in her legislative district. This time it will be a primary with only Republicans voting. We need to teach these treacherous RINOs a lesson once and for all.

  • frankmac

    I don’t believe for one second that Owens actually won this election straight-up. This is a seat the GOP held for over 120 years, and all of a sudden it’s gone blue? No way. Any locals up there know if ACORN was involved “registering” voters? It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if ACORN voted illegally for Owens all over this district. ACORN just doesn’t commit voter registration fraud; they commit out-and-out voter fraud! That’s how Obama “won” states like Indiana, North Carolina, and Virgina last year. We need to keep the pressure up to investigate voter fraud!

  • equality4all

    Too bad too sad!

    You know last night would have been pretty bad without the sweet NY 23 victory. I’m SO proud of NY 23 for rejecting the poltics of extremism represented by the Palins, Rushs and Becks. And now I hear the tea party folks are going to Florida to cause a civil war there too, great stuff guys keep it coming!

    What happened in NY 23 will happen all over America as you guys find out the hard way most Americans are in the middle like President Obama and not the extreme right.

    YES WE CAN!

    PS If you want truth: watch Keith Olbermann!

  • equality4all

    Too bad too sad!

    You know last night would have been pretty bad without the sweet NY 23 victory. I’m SO proud of NY 23 for rejecting the poltics of extremism represented by the Palins, Rushs and Becks. And now I hear the tea party folks are going to Florida to cause a civil war there too, great stuff guys keep it coming!

    What happened in NY 23 will happen all over America as you guys find out the hard way most Americans are in the middle like President Obama and not the extreme right.

    YES WE CAN!

    PS If you want truth: watch Keith Olbermann!

  • nycenterright
  • Xasteius
  • nycenterright

    Might not be safe though, he seems a little diseased. Watching Keith Olbermann can do that to you.

  • nessa
  • Streiff

    nt

  • http://andrightlyso.com/ civil_truth

    So we ended up with the closest thing to a “moderate” Democrat” instead of a Republican to Owens’ left who supports the anti-conservative Democratic position on every key Congressional issue.

    Given the cards we were dealt, it’s an acceptible outcome for the next year.

    In the marketing world, Dede represents trademark dilution – which is deadly for a brand.

    So, we’ve just successfully defended the Republican brand.

    Again, Dede was an extreme example who was on the ticket due to a hijacked non-primary nomination process. Extreme measures were required.

    Both parties have battles going on between the grassroots and our elected officials. 2010 will be interesting.

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    http://www.lonelyconservative.com/2009/11/04/hey-what-happened-to-keith-olbermann/

    Bye, by the way.

  • http://cooperscopy.blogspot.com/ cooperscopy

    You can’t count a loss a win. Let’s not try to spin this the way the democrats would. Ultimately Scozzafava dropping out probably hurt Hoffman. Her and Owens would have split the liberal vote and made Hoffman the winner. Remember also they would have split the union vote…..

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    If you keep spamming the same comment sitewide you will be banned.

    This is your one warning.

  • rec0n

    Working Family Party, headed by Bertha Lewis, & Data & Field Services. Scozzafava’s husband is also a union leader. I don’t have a clue what went down there in the nitty gritty, but there was room for more dirty politicking.

    Owens will do for the one year he gets. He’s still to the right of Scozzafava, the camel in our tent.

  • Castor

    Be that as it may, Mr. Owens will enjoy a one year hike through the paths of Pelosi?s congress and then be retired by a united Republican party in 2010.

  • reason60

    which to my way of thinking means that the voters of NY-23 are not flaming liberals, nor are they Tea Party conservatives; so they are moderate Republicans after all.
    Or to put it another way, millions of dollars and mountains of blogs and endless hours of talk were expended just to put a conservative Democrat in a seat that would have otherwise gone to a moderate Republican.

  • illinoisconservative

    Independents voted for the GOP candidate 2 to 1 in VA last night. That’s great news!

    Scary for Dems, maybe.. but great news for us!

  • Flagstaff

    missing from all of the televised discussion.

    And Owens has only one year to consolidate his victory. His next election is in less than 12 months. Republicans need to start now to build up Hoffman’s support and also to turn him into a more polished speaker.