Saturday 31 October 2009

Carpetbagging Teabaggers

The teabaggers have won the battle in a special congressional election in upstate New York. Just three days before the election, the Rethuglican candidate drops out, leaving the field to a local Democrat and a carpetbagging, teabagging nutbar (emphasis lovingitly added by moi).
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.

Woowee. Newt Gingrich supported a candidate that the whackjobs called a 'radical liberal'. I think I just saw a formation of porkers overhead.

Here's some information on the carpetbagger and on the Democrat, who sounds like a good, smart guy. Law professor, even.

And here's the scoop on the dirty tricks the teabaggers employed, including fake websites and astroturfing.

The Teabaggers pulled out their really big guns. Sawah Palin not only endorsed the carpetbagging teabagger, but also 'trashed' the Rethuglican.
Hoffman [the carpetbagger] couldn’t answer the simplest questions on local economic and transportation issues posed by the editorial board of the Watertown Daily Times, whining that they were “parochial” and should have been given to him in advance. In my parochial school that was called cheating.

Palin, who resigned as Alaska governor in July, didn’t have to leave home to toss her grenade. She did it from the privacy of her laptop. I guess she also can see upstate New York from her front porch.

Yeah, well, they've won the battle but according to many pundits, they've likely handed the Dems a district held by Rethuglicans for nearly a century.

The wait won't be long. Election is Tuesday.

BONUS: Go read Frank Rich.

4 comments:

croghan27 said...

That is the areas of my dear-ro-my-heart. Her father was a Republican member of the 'local authority' - until, running for re-election he was casually asked what he thought of Bush.

He did not have kind words for Mr. Bush - even if such national matters were beyond the perview of his post.

The entire Democratic local immediately declined to put up a candidate - feeling their views were already expressed.

The Republican executive immediate brought up one of those "third party' candidates (as he had been selected by then) which they supported.

He lost the election - some Dems could not bring themselves to vote Repub and most Repub trusted their executive.

CK said...

So it's true. The tea-baggers have officially begun their hostile take-over of the Republicans.

I read about this awhile back; certain notable tea-baggers like Armey had spoken of attempting to get rid of certain candidates for being 'too moderate' and must be replaced by their ultra-wingnuts and they hinted there would be some kind of hell to pay.http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28157.html
Read it if you dare. I thought it was amusing at first reading how stupid they sound. Now we get serious and stupid given this last piece of news. YIKES!!

They might as well call themselves the tea-bagging party

croghan27 said...

I just spoke to my 'dear-to-my-heart'. She is a member of the Republican Party. She reports that most Republicans she knows are shocked that this interloper is running on their ticket.

Tradition is strong in this mostly rural area - but they tend to be well grounded. Bush had a genuine following, there is a huge military base in the area (Fort Drum). Mr. Hoffman is not popular, even within his own constitutency.

fern hill said...

What does your dear-to-heart plan to do, croghan? Stay home? Vote for the interloper?

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