so they're saying he's going to die in a fire? what an odd threat from NRO.

Oh, hey, someone posted a comment!

She hesitated even to affirm that she would remain in the party post-election. Her sympathies - pro-choice, pro-homosexual marriage, weak on taxes, sticking by the Teamsters and the SEIU on the "card check" program, which would deprive workers of a secret ballot in union-organizing votes - found her to the left of many Democrats and most Republicans. It was no surprise, then, that she enjoyed the support of such hard-Left elements as ACORN, the government-employee unions, and Daily Kos honcho Markos Moulitsas Zúñiga.

In other words, farkers, she's not a "moderate" just because some editor at the New York Times said so.

(Boehner) It's going to be a difficult road to walk with these relatively new entrants into the political system and work with throw pork at them to show them that, by and large, we are the party that represents their interests

Fixed.

"Carrie" is my favorite movie but "Sybil" was my favorite book. The Bellamy Bros. said it best: Abused chicks make beautiful lovers.

Michelle Malkin is the crazy mother.

moops: so they're saying he's going to die in a fire? what an odd threat from NRO.

Fitting for a pig though

/mmm roast pork... is it lunch yet?

Gulper Eel: In other words, farkers, she's not a "moderate" just because some editor at the New York Times said so.

I was not aware "some editor" selected her to run in this race?

it's just one more part of the republican purge of moderates. they'll win this seat, but they'll lose out nationally over time.

FlashHarry: it's just one more part of the republican purge of moderates. they'll win this seat, but they'll lose out nationally over time.

Cool story brah.

The tragedy of the teabaggers is that their anger threatens to benefit most those that got the country into the bailout mess in the first place. Years of lax regulation and reduced pubic spending left America with a huge bill to pay and a decrepit infrastructure. But they're blinded by easy accusations of socialism, and unwittingly seek to return to power the sort of mindset that has already proven not to work.

xtragrind: FlashHarry: it's just one more part of the republican purge of moderates. they'll win this seat, but they'll lose out nationally over time.

Cool story brah.

cool or no, it's happening.

vernonFL: Michelle Malkin is the crazy mother.

"I'ma gonna get you for that vernonFL!!

If she really wanted the Democrat to win, why didn't she just stay in the race? Just leaving your name on the ballot as the Republican nominee in and of itself would probably fetch you 20% of the votes, mostly from dyed-in-the-wool Republicans who aren't paying attention and just vote the ticket every year. Now those people will vote Conservative.

The Right Barter Town should be encouraged by the fact that Mr. Hoffman's campaign produced an easy partnership between the Tea Party populists Blaster and the Club for Growth Master.

Tommy Moo: Just leaving your name on the ballot

Her name isn't leaving the ballot.

FlashHarry: xtragrind: FlashHarry: it's just one more part of the republican purge of moderates. they'll win this seat, but they'll lose out nationally over time.

Cool story brah.

cool or no, it's happening.

Yeah....

"Conservative rumblings could unsettle plans by Republican party leaders for Senate efforts in Kentucky, New Hampshire, Ohio, Connecticut, Illinois and Colorado. Other House elections are seeing tensions emerge as well. In Ohio, conservative David Ryon said last week he would switch from Republican to the Constitution Party to join a race between freshman Democratic Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy and Republican Steve Stivers. Ms. Kilroy squeaked by Mr. Stivers last year."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125712355576421819.html

Tommy Moo: Now those people will vote Conservative.


I will give it a SWAG that, of "her" 20%: 5% say fark it and stay home, 5% goes to the Conservative Party guy, 5% goes to the D, and 5% still check her name (IIRC, she will still appear on the ballot)

Tommy Moo: Now those people will vote Conservative.

Perhaps. Perhaps not. Secretly I hope the Conservative wins and the GOP takes this as a sign to go full retard God, Guns, and Gays in 2010.

Moral conservatives are idiots and have sharp irony. They pretend to promote limited government, but annoy others allowing government take over their private lives such as abortion or gay marriage. If Republicans try to purge me, I will fight back. I would rather have years of in fighting for the Republican Party to straighten the mess out then win the Presidency for the next twenty years.

We suspect all those liberal pundits gleefully predicting a self-defeating GOP "civil war" will be sorely disappointed next year.

Sorry, brah, it's coming, no matter who wins this election.

Politician A runs as a Republican even though she does not support any part of the Republican Party platform. Politician B runs as a third party candidate; supports all parts of the Republican Party platform. A couple of days before the election Politician A realizes that she is going to lose badly (I wonder why???); quits the race; endorses Politician C (Democrat). Moral of the story? (1) Politician A is a two-faced liar, (2) Whoever nominated her as the Republican candidate is either completely out of touch with reality or is actively trying to sabotage the Republican Party's agenda.

DarnoKonrad: Tommy Moo: Now those people will vote Conservative.

Perhaps. Perhaps not. Secretly I hope the Conservative wins and the GOP takes this as a sign to go full retard God, Guns, and Gays in 2010.

Which makes me wonder if that is the meta behind Newt's endorsing the R in this race. I think he was thinking they need a few token Rockefeller R's to keep their big tent charade going for a few more electoral seasons.

mike0023: (1) Politician A is a two-faced liar

Why specifically is she a two-faced liar?

mike0023: (2) Whoever nominated her as the Republican candidate is either completely out of touch with reality or is actively trying to sabotage the Republican Party's agenda.

"The six-term Assembly member picked up the endorsement Wednesday after a meeting of the 11 Republican county committee chairs, who had interviewed the candidates at a series of regional meetings over the past month."
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/gop_picks_candidate_for_congre.h t ml

Are all 11 of them traitors to the cause?

swahnhennessy: pubic spending

I spent my pubic on a girl in a gypsy costume this weekend.

The seat's a freeroll for the Dems at this point. If they lose, they send the far-right deeper into electoral madness and it was just a Blue Dog running anyway. If they win... this seat has been in Republican hands since the Civil War. That's something you're going to hear over and over if Owens swipes it.

Clarence Potter: Are all 11 of them traitors to the cause?

Well if they aren't Glen Beck fellating teabaggers, then yes.

mike0023: Politician A runs as a Republican even though she does not support any part of the Republican Party platform.

Clarence Potter: I was not aware "some editor" selected her to run in this race?

I'm referring to the Times headline on the story that she was leaving the race, in which they referred to her as a "moderate". I'm sure to them she is - but outside their cocoon, not so much.

Why she was endorsed by the Republican party is what is wrong with the republican party.
Her endorsement was by a rudderless, floundering party with a severe identity crisis.

Tyee: Why she was endorsed by the Republican party is what is wrong with the republican party.
Her endorsement was by a rudderless, floundering party with a severe identity crisis.

well, it looks as if the palins and bachmanns of the party are making a dive for the tiller. and that means it will end up foundered on the rocks of marginalized irrelevancy - to take your nautical metaphor one step farther.

Gulper Eel: Clarence Potter: I was not aware "some editor" selected her to run in this race?

I'm referring to the Times headline on the story that she was leaving the race, in which they referred to her as a "moderate". I'm sure to them she is - but outside their cocoon, not so much.

Tto the "cocoon" of upstate New York, where 11 Republican county committee chairs selected her for this race, she fit right in.

mike0023: Politician A runs as a Republican even though she does not support any part of the Republican Party platform.

It's been said before in the other threads but:

Upstate NY GOP =/= National GOP

Scozzafava may be to the left of a Republican in, say, Idaho or Oklahoma, but she is probably much closer in ideology to her constituents than Hoffman is.

I will say this yet again.

Upstate NY Republicans =/= Texas Republicans.

Scozzafava was very much in line with the Republicans that she represented.

If Hoffman wins he will be an utter disaster for the people he is supposed to represent. An ideologue with no local ties is going to screw over the people of "his" district and the GOP will rejoice in the short-term and probably lose big time in the long term.

NY Republicans are NOT, in the main, fundamentalists and they resent the sale of the GOP to the Religious Right.

What the teabaggers fail to grasp is that they aren't a minority- they are a minority OF a minority. It will be really funny if Hoffman wins this, because they will think it's some kind of vindication that they are a real power. They will learn a bitter lesson when they start putting candidates up in moderate and liberal districts.

Gulper Eel: Clarence Potter: I was not aware "some editor" selected her to run in this race?

I'm referring to the Times headline on the story that she was leaving the race, in which they referred to her as a "moderate". I'm sure to them she is - but outside their cocoon, not so much.

Let me get this straight - it is more important to you that an elected representative be an ideologue catering to national politics than to actually represent the people that elect them?

roadmarks: Gulper Eel: Clarence Potter: I was not aware "some editor" selected her to run in this race?

I'm referring to the Times headline on the story that she was leaving the race, in which they referred to her as a "moderate". I'm sure to them she is - but outside their cocoon, not so much.

Let me get this straight - it is more important to you that an elected representative be an ideologue catering to national politics than to actually represent the people that elect them?

COUNTRY PARTY FIRST!

Hoffman 41 (+6 vs. last poll, Oct. 31)
Owens 36 (nc)
Scozzafava 6 (-14)

Latest poll data. For what its worth it seems to me that asking people to vote for Owens isn't happening. But I wouldn't and shouldn't put too much faith in the polls.

Tyee: Hoffman 41 (+6 vs. last poll, Oct. 31)
Owens 36 (nc)
Scozzafava 6 (-14)

Latest poll data. For what its worth it seems to me that asking people to vote for Owens isn't happening. But I wouldn't and shouldn't put too much faith in the polls.

as has been noted, it looks like the hoffman will win. but it is likely to be a pyrrhic victory for the GOP as it will continue to fuel their purge of moderates, which will leave them a much smaller party nationally.

mike0023: Politician A runs as a Republican even though she does not support any part of the Republican Party platform.

Yeah, she was actually right down the middle when it comes to New York Republicans. But apparently being pro-choice and pro-gay marriage means you're persona non grata to the small tent party, even in the liberal northeast.

Tyee: Hoffman 41 (+6 vs. last poll, Oct. 31)
Owens 36 (nc)
Scozzafava 6 (-14)

Latest poll data. For what its worth it seems to me that asking people to vote for Owens isn't happening. But I wouldn't and shouldn't put too much faith in the polls.

If the information gets out to all the dairy farmers in this district that Hoffman wants to end all federal farm subsidies (which he does) then he will go down to a crushing defeat. If that info does NOT get out the bad weather predicted may keep many of the more rural people home.

My life-long Republican parents (who are NOT fundies) are talking about not voting for this race, for the first time in my life no less.

If the Dems are truly motivated to stop the crazy from taking root, and the main-line Republicans are this disenchanted with this mess than the only people who will vote Hoffman are his fellow ideologues and they do NOT make up a majority in this district.

the_vegetarian_cannibal: mike0023: Politician A runs as a Republican even though she does not support any part of the Republican Party platform.

It's been said before in the other threads but:

Upstate NY GOP =/= National GOP

Scozzafava may be to the left of a Republican in, say, Idaho or Oklahoma, but she is probably much closer in ideology to her constituents than Hoffman is.

If that's the case, why was Hoffman leading her by a wide margin right before she quit?

mike0023: If that's the case, why was Hoffman leading her by a wide margin right before she quit?

Off-year elections tend to only pull in the overly partisan and/or the true believers. That and this Hoffman fellow did quite well pulling in extra-district donations; something Scozzafava could not match.

Racht: mike0023: Politician A runs as a Republican even though she does not support any part of the Republican Party platform.

Yeah, she was actually right down the middle when it comes to New York Republicans. But apparently being pro-choice and pro-gay marriage means you're persona non grata to the small tent party, even in the liberal northeast.

You conveniently forgot "weak on taxes [and] sticking by the Teamsters and the SEIU on the 'card check' program" (from TFA).

mike0023: If that's the case, why was Hoffman leading her by a wide margin right before she quit?

Funding - pure and simple. Because the national GOP didn't want to put that much money into someone who doesn't toe the party line.

But the new Palinite bunch decided to make this a test case for trying to move the party even further right and backed Hoffman with money and endorsements while attacking Scozzafava.

Hoffman is ideologically opposed to much of what NY Republicans want and/or need and they will pay for his "principles" because he is going to choose ideology over actually representing the people who elected him (if he is elected.)

He has already decried the "parochial" interests of the area and he has no ties to it whatsoever. If and when the rural base realizes a large part of his platform is screwing over the dairy farmers, he will get run out of the area on a rail.

FlashHarry: but it is likely to be a pyrrhic victory for the GOP as it will continue to fuel their purge of moderates,

How can it be a pyrrhic victory for the GOP when there endorsed candidate just dropped out? It is already a loss for the GOP. It is however a win for the conservative party that holds other ideals, obviously ideals that aren't held by the endorsed republican candidate. If your suggestion is that this will make the republicans start to mpve more conservative to win votes, why wouldn't that also hold true for the democrats? After all, if the polls for this election are correct wouldn't it make sense for both parties to move to the right and where the votes of the people are?

mike0023:
You conveniently forgot "weak on taxes [and] sticking by the Teamsters and the SEIU on the 'card check' program" (from TFA).

Which is what her actual constituents want. But I suppose you think that representatives should directly go against their constituents wishes if it doesn't match your ideology, right?

"Scozzafava's score puts her in the 58th percentile of her party, which makes her slightly more conservative than the average Republican legislator in Albany, so she's a conservative in her party. For example, she's more conservative than James Tedisco, who lost a special election to succeed Kirsten Gillenbrand in the 20th District (score: -.22 and in the most liberal fifth of the party). In the legislature as a whole, she's in the 83rd percentile, which makes her a conservative in Albany in general. Compare her, say, to Republican Thomas Morahan of the 38th Senate District (Rockland County, just across the border from the New Jersey town where I went to high school). He scores a very liberal -0.54, or in the most liberal 2% of his party. No wonder that his party affiliations include the Working Families Party, which is closely associated with organized labor (and ACORN). So she's no Morahan.

But, of course, she's a New York Republican and conservative. And if you thought that Republican equals conservative, and Democratic equals liberal, you'd be pretty far off when looking at America's 50 state legislatures. New York's Republicans (along with Massachusetts', Connecticut's, Hawaii's, and New Jersey's) are the most liberal in the country, so much so that Democrats in Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Carolina are all more conservative on average."
Link (new window)

Tyee: If your suggestion is that this will make the republicans start to mpve more conservative to win votes, why wouldn't that also hold true for the democrats?

Why would it?

Tyee: After all, if the polls for this election are correct wouldn't it make sense for both parties to move to the right and where the votes of the people are?

Why do you think the votes of the people are to the 'right'?

I just hope that if Hoffman wins he keeps his CP affiliation instead of just jumping back R.

When was the last someone in congress had a 3rd party affiliation?

Tyee: How can it be a pyrrhic victory for the GOP when there endorsed candidate just dropped out?

the NRCC quickly threw its support behind hoffman. mark my words, they'll spin it as a victory - even though it was a safe republican seat and has been for more than a century. more than that, it will fuel the "purge" movement on the GOP right as they see this as a vindication of moving ever rightward.

Obdicut: Why do you think the votes of the people are to the 'right'?

Because they STILL think they have a "Silent Majority".

Obdicut: Why do you think the votes of the people are to the 'right'?

Polling data. They could be wrong the actual votes will show if the polls are correct. I guess that is why I said "if the polls are correct".
I don't have a horse in this race BTW, but I am enjoying seeing the Republicans like Newt getting knocked around.