TFred
Regular Member
imported post
This has to be one of the craziest political news stories in years... Look for the mainstream media and especially the White House to do their best to ignore and downplay this huge story...
TFred
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/nyregion/01upstate.html
Upstate Republican Abruptly Suspends Race for Congress
By JEREMY W. PETERS and ADAM NAGOURNEY
A moderate Republican whose candidacy for an upstate New York Congressional seat had set off a storm of national conservative opposition, abruptly withdrew on Saturday, emboldening the right at a time when the Republican Party is enmeshed in a debate over how to rebuild itself.
The candidate, Dede Scozzafava, said she was suspending her campaign in the face of collapsing support and evidence that she was heading for a loss in a three-way race on Tuesday involving Douglas L. Hoffman, running on the Conservative Party line, and Bill Owens, a Democrat.
Ms. Scozzafava had been under siege from conservative leaders because she supported gay rights and abortion rights and was considered too liberal on various fiscal issues.
The Republican National Committee, which had strongly backed Ms. Scozzafava’s candidacy, issued a statement applauding her decision and announcing it was now supporting Mr. Hoffman.
“Effective immediately, the R.N.C. will endorse and support the Conservative candidate in the race, Doug Hoffman,” the party’s national chairman, Michael Steele, said. “Doug’s campaign will receive the financial backing of the R.N.C. and get-out-the-vote efforts to defeat Bill Owens on Tuesday.”
Yet other prominent Republicans expressed concern that Ms. Scozzafava’s decision seemed likely to encourage conservatives going into next year’s midterm elections, raising the prospect of more primaries against Republican candidates that they deem too moderate. Party leaders — including Mr. Steele and Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker — had argued that local parties should be permitted to pick candidates that most closely mirror the sentiments of the district, even if those candidates vary from Republican orthodoxy on some issues.
“This makes life more complicated from the standpoint of this: If we get into a cycle where every time one side loses, they run a third-party candidate, we’ll make Pelosi speaker for life and guarantee Obama’s re-election,” said Mr. Gingrich, who had endorsed Ms. Scozzafava.
“I felt very deeply that when you have all 11 county chairman voting for someone, that it wasn’t appropriate for me to come in and render my judgment,” he said. “I think we are going to get into a very difficult environment around the country if suddenly conservative leaders decide they are going to anoint people without regard to local primaries and local choices.”
Ms. Scozzafava, a state assemblywoman and former small-town mayor, was nominated this summer by Republican county leaders who quickly found their choice second-guessed by the party’s conservative wing. Many officials in the district, a vast expanse from the Vermont border through the Adirondacks to Lake Ontario, were deeply resentful of the outside involvement.
“They’re trying to bang 435 elections across the United States into the same mold,” said James Ellis, chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party. “It’s a detriment to democracy.”
Ms. Scozzafava’s withdrawal leaves a clear two-way race between Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Owens, a Plattsburgh lawyer. As such, the contest on Tuesday could offer a test of the debate that Republican leaders are having: whether it needs to adjust itself ideologically to expand its appeal to places like New York.
Mr. Hoffman, though running as a Conservative, had been endorsed by some Republican luminaries, including Sarah Palin, the party’s 2008 vice presidential nominee, and Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a likely candidate for president in 2012. The swell of opposition to Ms. Scozzafava was reflected on conservative radio talk shows and in a heavy diet of television advertising supporting Mr. Hoffman that was financed by conservative groups.
Ms. Scozzafava did not say whom, if anyone, she would endorse. Polls in the district showed that Mr. Owens and Mr. Hoffman were each drawing about 35 percent of the vote; several Republicans said that at least in theory, her withdrawal should help Mr. Hoffman as Republican voters join his campaign.
The district has been solidly Republican since the 19th century and had been represented by Representative John M. McHugh, who stepped down after Mr. Obama named him secretary of the Army.
“In recent days, polls have indicated that my chances of winning this election are not as strong as we would like them to be,” Ms. Scozzafava said in a statement. “The reality that I’ve come to accept is that in today’s political arena, you must be able to back up your message with money — and as I’ve been outspent on both sides, I’ve been unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made about my record.”
The decision by Ms. Scozzafava to suspend her campaign is a clear victory for conservatives in the party at a time when there has been a pitched battle among party leaders over whether Republicans needed to change their ideological appeal as part of an effort to recover from the losses of 2006 and 2008.
Ms. Scozzafava fit the model of candidate advocated by Republican leaders like Mr. Steele and Senator John Cornyn of Texas: one whose views might not be in keeping with much of the national party, but are more reflective of the district that is sought.
A primary is unfolding in Florida, where Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running for the Senate, is facing a challenge from a conservative, Marco Rubio, the former Florida House speaker. Mr. Crist has come under fire from conservatives for, among other things, supporting Mr. Obama on his economic stimulus package.
Republican officials said that Ms. Scozzafava decided to drop out after reviewing private and public polls that convinced her that she was going to come in third place.
One Republican who had spoken to Ms. Scozzafava about her decision said she was concerned that her candidacy was too divisive for the party and that the decision was hers alone.
“She didn’t want to be labeled as a spoiler,” said the person said, who requested anonymity because private conversations were involved.
This has to be one of the craziest political news stories in years... Look for the mainstream media and especially the White House to do their best to ignore and downplay this huge story...
TFred
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/nyregion/01upstate.html
Upstate Republican Abruptly Suspends Race for Congress
By JEREMY W. PETERS and ADAM NAGOURNEY
A moderate Republican whose candidacy for an upstate New York Congressional seat had set off a storm of national conservative opposition, abruptly withdrew on Saturday, emboldening the right at a time when the Republican Party is enmeshed in a debate over how to rebuild itself.
The candidate, Dede Scozzafava, said she was suspending her campaign in the face of collapsing support and evidence that she was heading for a loss in a three-way race on Tuesday involving Douglas L. Hoffman, running on the Conservative Party line, and Bill Owens, a Democrat.
Ms. Scozzafava had been under siege from conservative leaders because she supported gay rights and abortion rights and was considered too liberal on various fiscal issues.
The Republican National Committee, which had strongly backed Ms. Scozzafava’s candidacy, issued a statement applauding her decision and announcing it was now supporting Mr. Hoffman.
“Effective immediately, the R.N.C. will endorse and support the Conservative candidate in the race, Doug Hoffman,” the party’s national chairman, Michael Steele, said. “Doug’s campaign will receive the financial backing of the R.N.C. and get-out-the-vote efforts to defeat Bill Owens on Tuesday.”
Yet other prominent Republicans expressed concern that Ms. Scozzafava’s decision seemed likely to encourage conservatives going into next year’s midterm elections, raising the prospect of more primaries against Republican candidates that they deem too moderate. Party leaders — including Mr. Steele and Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker — had argued that local parties should be permitted to pick candidates that most closely mirror the sentiments of the district, even if those candidates vary from Republican orthodoxy on some issues.
“This makes life more complicated from the standpoint of this: If we get into a cycle where every time one side loses, they run a third-party candidate, we’ll make Pelosi speaker for life and guarantee Obama’s re-election,” said Mr. Gingrich, who had endorsed Ms. Scozzafava.
“I felt very deeply that when you have all 11 county chairman voting for someone, that it wasn’t appropriate for me to come in and render my judgment,” he said. “I think we are going to get into a very difficult environment around the country if suddenly conservative leaders decide they are going to anoint people without regard to local primaries and local choices.”
Ms. Scozzafava, a state assemblywoman and former small-town mayor, was nominated this summer by Republican county leaders who quickly found their choice second-guessed by the party’s conservative wing. Many officials in the district, a vast expanse from the Vermont border through the Adirondacks to Lake Ontario, were deeply resentful of the outside involvement.
“They’re trying to bang 435 elections across the United States into the same mold,” said James Ellis, chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party. “It’s a detriment to democracy.”
Ms. Scozzafava’s withdrawal leaves a clear two-way race between Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Owens, a Plattsburgh lawyer. As such, the contest on Tuesday could offer a test of the debate that Republican leaders are having: whether it needs to adjust itself ideologically to expand its appeal to places like New York.
Mr. Hoffman, though running as a Conservative, had been endorsed by some Republican luminaries, including Sarah Palin, the party’s 2008 vice presidential nominee, and Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a likely candidate for president in 2012. The swell of opposition to Ms. Scozzafava was reflected on conservative radio talk shows and in a heavy diet of television advertising supporting Mr. Hoffman that was financed by conservative groups.
Ms. Scozzafava did not say whom, if anyone, she would endorse. Polls in the district showed that Mr. Owens and Mr. Hoffman were each drawing about 35 percent of the vote; several Republicans said that at least in theory, her withdrawal should help Mr. Hoffman as Republican voters join his campaign.
The district has been solidly Republican since the 19th century and had been represented by Representative John M. McHugh, who stepped down after Mr. Obama named him secretary of the Army.
“In recent days, polls have indicated that my chances of winning this election are not as strong as we would like them to be,” Ms. Scozzafava said in a statement. “The reality that I’ve come to accept is that in today’s political arena, you must be able to back up your message with money — and as I’ve been outspent on both sides, I’ve been unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made about my record.”
The decision by Ms. Scozzafava to suspend her campaign is a clear victory for conservatives in the party at a time when there has been a pitched battle among party leaders over whether Republicans needed to change their ideological appeal as part of an effort to recover from the losses of 2006 and 2008.
Ms. Scozzafava fit the model of candidate advocated by Republican leaders like Mr. Steele and Senator John Cornyn of Texas: one whose views might not be in keeping with much of the national party, but are more reflective of the district that is sought.
A primary is unfolding in Florida, where Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running for the Senate, is facing a challenge from a conservative, Marco Rubio, the former Florida House speaker. Mr. Crist has come under fire from conservatives for, among other things, supporting Mr. Obama on his economic stimulus package.
Republican officials said that Ms. Scozzafava decided to drop out after reviewing private and public polls that convinced her that she was going to come in third place.
One Republican who had spoken to Ms. Scozzafava about her decision said she was concerned that her candidacy was too divisive for the party and that the decision was hers alone.
“She didn’t want to be labeled as a spoiler,” said the person said, who requested anonymity because private conversations were involved.
