(H/T: Big Government) I’m actually not upset about this, seeing as I knew all along that he’d break his word.  Fish swim, birds fly, ‘conservative’ Democratic legislators betray their principles on cue.  And so it is, here:

GOUVERNEUR, NY - Congressman-elect Bill Owens was sworn in at noon today.

Owens indicated in a press release that he was now in favor of the bill in direct contrast to his earlier position during his campaign.

According to Politico.com, Mr. Owens assured voters that he felt the public option had no place in the health care reform bill.  Contrary to that position, Mr. Owens now indicates that he intends to vote in favor of the bill even though it now contains a public option.

More at the link, including the three other promises that Owens has already broken. I would like to believe that this is a record of some sort, but it’s probably not.

Moe Lane

PS: Do not expect any so-called ‘Blue Dog’ or supposed ‘conservative’ Democrat to voluntarily get in the way of their party’s health care rationing bill.  They vote as they are bid - and the ones doing the bidding are not their constituents.

Crossposted to RedState.

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.

The race has now been called for Democrat Bill Owens.

This is a huge win for conservatives.

“Whaaaa. . . ?” you say.

There are two big victories at work in New York’s 23rd Congressional District.

First, the GOP now must recognize it will either lose without conservatives or will win with conservatives. In 2008, many conservatives sat home instead of voting for John McCain. Now, in NY-23, conservatives rallied and destroyed the Republican candidate the establishment chose.

I have said all along that the goal of activists must be to defeat Scozzafava. Doug Hoffman winning would just be gravy. A Hoffman win is not in the cards, but we did exactly what we set out to do — crush the establishment backed GOP candidate.

And make no mistake, despite the Beltway spin, we know for certain based on statements from the local Republican parties, that they chose Scozzafava based on advice from the Washington crowd.

So we have demonstrated to the GOP that it must not take conservatives for granted. The GOP spent $900,000.00 on a Republican who dropped out and endorsed the Democrat. Were we to combine Scozzafava and Hoffman’s votes, Hoffman would have won.

Secondly, and just as importantly, there has all of a sudden been a huge movement among some activists to go the third party route. We see in NY-23 that this is not possible as third parties are not viable.

Third parties lack funding and ability for a host of reasons. Conservatives are going to have to work from within the GOP. The GOP had better pay attention.

For all intents and purposes, NY-23 is a trial run for Florida. And in Florida, the conservative candidate is operating inside the GOP. If John Cornyn and the NRSC do not want to see Florida go the way of NY-23, they better stand down.

There is poll volatility (PDF) in the NY-23 race. PPP has Hoffman over 50%. Sienna has him at 41%.

Both have Owens hovering in the mid-thirties.

Isn’t it interesting, by the way, that for the last month Owens has held in the mid-thirties while everyone else has bounced around him and in New Jersey Corzine has held around 41% while everyone bounced around him.

I wonder if that is because of the negativity associated with the Republican brand. People don’t want to vote for Owens or Corzine, but they just aren’t sure that voting for the R will leave them better off. That may very well be why Hoffman benefited from not being the Republican in the race for so long.

And it should serve as notice to the GOP that conservative polls better than Republican.

(H/t Ironman)

According to PPP, Doug Hoffman has raced into the lead against Owens, taking 51% to Owens’ 34%

The race, however, is not over and there is no guarantee the polling is even halfway accurate. That is not to slight PPP, it just happens to be a crazy race, with a last minute drop out, and lots of weekend polling scores to make up the foundation.

But, and this is a bit but, a lot of third party and internal polling does suggest Hoffman has gone into the lead. Likewise, it looks from PPP and other polling that even before Scozzafava dropped out, Hoffman had a big lead among Republican voters. Additionally, of the votes Scozzafava was holding on to, they were loyal Republicans and women.

If Hoffman can appeal to women, he should be okay. Scozzafava’s Republican votes will either go to him or stay home.

Dede Scozzafava is throwing her support to the Democrat, Bill Owens.

She and her husband are working with union activists to drive the vote up for the Democrat.

The Republican Party spent $900,000.00 to help her and this is how she repays them.

And Pete Sessions, Chairman of the NRCC, and Guy Harrison, Executive Director of the NRCC, still have their jobs and are failing to take responsibility for this disaster, instead blaming conservatives.

Editor’s Note: I suggest you read carefully as I am not an advocate of purging people like Susan Collins or the typical “RINO” as there are some races where a conservative really cannot win. I am, however, serious that the GOP must purge its staff and leaders who have decided to always go with the liberal. In particular, the NRCC, NRSC, and RNC need some wholesale job terminations of senior staff.

The race for NY-23 has taken a startling, exciting twist. Regardless of what happens on Tuesday, we know for certain the Republican candidate will not, after getting $900,000.00 in support from the Washington GOP Establishment, will not win. Scozzafava dropped out.

This is a stunning rebuke to the Republican Establishment in Washington.

The RNC and the NRCC deserve the rebuke — a rebuke they will get even if Hoffman loses because it is now virtually impossible for the Republican to win.

How much did the NRCC and RNC spend to elect a leftist? Roughly $900,000.00 of your donated money. And let’s not mince words about it. Objectively, despite what her Republican supporters say, Dede Scozzafava is a leftist, to the left of the Democrat on a host of issues that will matter in this 111th Congress.

Scozzafava’s supporters have called her a “moderate,” but her views on abortion, marriage, forced unionization, taxes, the environment, etc. etc. etc. are opposed by most Americans and most people in NY-23.

How many “great” men are going to have egg on their face when Scozzafava loses?

Pete Sessions, the Chairman of the NRCC, is now batting his eye lashes at Doug Hoffman. He is hiding behind a fig leaf. Having gone all in for Scozzafava, hoodwinked good men into soiling their reputations by standing behind this leftist, and wasting valuable resources on a victory he will not see, only now is Sessions tacitly declaring defeat.

Relationships between the Republican establishment in Washington and the conservative movement are in rubble. Thanks to Pete Sessions NOT Doug Hoffman, there is new inspiration for a third party movement to challenge the GOP — a movement that will only help the Democrats.

Good men in the GOP are now going to be challenged in primaries because of the ill-will the NRCC has generated in New York’s 23rd Congressional District.

Of all the talk of “purity test” straw men, everyone must remember it was the GOP who insisted on purely Republican candidates. It was Scozzafava’s supporters who claimed we conservatives wanted a “purity test” for candidates. That was and is nonsense. Conservatives are willing to make compromises and choose lesser Republicans who can win in races a conservative most likely cannot. NY-23 was never one of those places and now the GOP is in a world of hurt.

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Dede Scozzafava has dropped out of the NY-23 race.

In her statement, she said

I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so. I am and have always been a proud Republican. It is my hope that with my actions today, my Party will emerge stronger and our District and our nation can take an important step towards restoring the enduring strength and economic prosperity that has defined us for generations.

She did not endorse Hoffman or Owens. No doubt she’ll vote for Owens.

More importantly, WE WON!

Now, I hope everyone rallies behind Hoffman and gives him the momentum and energy he needs to win on Tuesday. Let’s rally.

I said this was our hill to die on, but to paraphrase Patton, we won my making the other guys die on our Hill!

Democrat Bill Owens wants to succeed former Congressman John McHugh in New York’s 23rd congressional district. McHugh was a faithful representative of the center-right views of his district; in contrast, Owens is doing his best to earn the support of the extreme Left of the Democrat party.

For example, here’s Owens during his opening statement in last night’s candidate debate:

owens-healthcare-reform

Congress needs to overhaul the world’s best health care system ‘as rapidly as possible?’

Who does that sounds like?

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