John Boehner: NY GOP Ignored Warnings From NRCC

I have slight different take on this story than Michelle Malkin and Dan Riehl do… It’s not that I disagree they both raise very valid points It’s just that think I there’s a larger issue here than the Beltway GOP racing to cover their, um, assets (emphasis mine):

At a meeting of Washington conservatives this morning, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, expressed pride over GOP success in last night’s election. But questions about NY-23 remain — so I asked him whether there was an effort to get New York Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, the GOP nominee in that race, to endorse Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman.

“There was a huge effort,” he replied.

When asked about rumors that the New York Republican Party picked Scozzafava because of the advice of Washington insiders who felt she would be a more electable candidate, Boehner rolled his eyes. “We told them to hold off on a decision, to work with us, but they went ahead and did it.”

So if she was a rotten egg, why spend money? “All the money spent on that race was anti-Owens money, not pro-Scozzafava money.“

Well that’s bullshit, the NRCC did run web ads attacking Doug Hoffman:

This we’re I differ from Michelle and Dan, I’m willing, for the sake of argument, to take Boehner’s first statement at face value… When you combine Boehner’s remarks with Pete Sessions’ statement on NY-23:

“After two special elections in New York, there is no doubt in my mind that the candidate selection process lacks openness and transparency and should be changed to a primary system so voters can have a say in who their respective parties nominate.”

Sessions hits the nail on the head, we’ve now been through two winnable special elections in New York that the state GOP has fumbled badly… That’s what we need to be focused on here. The state party bosses who hand picked Dede Scozzafava in spite of her rather progressive voting record in the State Assembly effectively turned the general election into a primary battle and it cost us the race.

Bottom line the process by which candidates are chosen needs to be more open and transparent, whether it’s through a primary system or caucuses doesn’t matter as long as the voters have chance to express their opinion on who is chosen to represent them.

Election Day 2009: Results and Analysis

Whew what a night… I was up until about 1:00 a.m. this morning tracking results and scribbling down various thoughts on yesterday’s elections.

First, I’m not sure how much we can or should read into the results one thing is clear from the exit polling though: the economy is the number one concern of voters.

Second, all in all Republicans did pretty well yesterday. They won governorships in Virginia and New Jersey… states that President Barack Obama won by wide margins last year. And they came closer than any sane person would have thought possible in California’s 10 Congressional District were a relative unknown named David Harmer came within 11 points of John Garamendi, the state’s Lieutenant Governor… Republicans have lost CA-10 by and average 37 points in the last 4 congressional elections. That alone should make Democrats a bit nervous!

Virginia and New Jersey

Barack Obama beat McCain in Virginia by 13 points last year; this year Bob McDonnell won it by 17. Republicans swept the statewide races winning Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General by wide margins. They’re also poised to gain a half dozen seats in the state legislature. Lets not forget Tim Kaine, the current Virginia governor  is also Democratic National Committee chairman… A post he was put into in part to help consolidate Democratic gains in the state.

As bad as the loss in Virginia was things are even worse in New Jersey, where Barack Obama beat John McCain by 15 points last year. New Jersey is one of the bluest, blue states in the nation, republicans haven’t won there in more than a decade. And yet despite considerable support for the incumbent governor, John Corzine, from both the President and Vice President Chris Christie won the state by 4 points.

I wouldn’t go so far as to call the  New Jersey governors race a referendum on Barack Obama, though I think safe to say the mystique is gone… Barack Obama invested both his prestige and a fair amount of political capital there and the Democrats lost. That should make Democrats from moderate or conservative congressional districts in other states a bit nervous about aligning themselves to closely with the President agenda… After all if they fall behind in their re-election bids the President’s support may not be able to drag them across the finish line.

NY-23

What mess… The special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional district was a complete Charlie Fox Trot from the start. Many of us had hoped that Doug Hoffman would be able to pull off a miracle yesterday and he came damn close to doing it… and given where the race was three weeks ago I suppose you could argue, as Erick Erickson does, that yesterdays results are a moral victory for Conservatives.

What went wrong? Lets start with choice of Dede Scozzafava, from all reports she’s a good woman but her positions on the issues and her voting record in the state legislature didn’t endear he to grassroots activists. The local Republican Party bosses who hand picked her should have realized that and chosen someone with a more moderate record. Second, third party campaigns are always risky propositions and Doug Hoffman did far better than anyone could have expected. Third, Ms. Scozzafava’s decision to withdraw from the race and endorse Democrat Bill Owens appears to have swung the election his way… Owens beat Hoffman in the areas where Ms. Scozzafava’s support had been the strongest.

On the bright side Republicans have a chance to win back the seat in next year’s mid term elections… Assuming they rally around a better candidate who shares the core principles of limited government and fiscal conservatism.

The bottom line is NY-23 may turn out be a good loss if it shakes up the Republican Party Establishment and forces them embrace core conservative principles of limited government and fiscal responsibility.

Related

• The Obama magic has faded – Glenn Reyolds, New York Post
• GOP Gets Some Love – Wall Street Journal
• Contests serve as warning to Democrats: It’s not 2008 anymore – Washington Post
• Independents fuel GOP victories in Va., N.J. – Washhington Times
• THE INFLUENCE GAME: Liberals targeting moderates – Associated Press
• The Conservative Victory in New York – Kathryn Jean Lopez, The Corner
• The GOP elite’s $1 million object lesson — and the message of NY-23 – Michelle Malkin
• The top five lessons from yesterday – Power Line

NY-23: Scozzafava Quits!

Dede Scozzafava, the hand-picked choice of the New York state GOP has suspended her campaign for the 23rd Congressional District and is releasing all her supporters:

Dede Scozzafava, the Republican and Independence parties candidate, announced Saturday that she is suspending her campaign for the 23rd Congressional District and releasing all her supporters.

The state Assemblywoman has not thrown her support to either Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate, or Bill Owens, the Democratic candidate.

“Today, I again seek to act for the good of our community,” Ms. Scozzafava wrote in a letter to friends and supporters. “It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, 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.”

Assemblywoman Scozzafava’s announcement comes close on the heels of a new Siena Research Institute poll (PDF) that shows her badly trailing both Democrat Bill Owens and Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman… In recent weeks the three-way race to  replace Republican Rep. John McHugh, who was appointed Secretary of the Army by President Obama in June, has become a closely fought two man race between Hoffman and Owens.

Ms. Scozzafava was the hand picked choice of 23rd District’s 11 Republican county chairmen. According to a Wall Street Journal report she was chosen this summer when the county chairmen gathered at a pizzeria in Potsdam to pick a nominee. They were reportedly looking for someone with name recognition who could prevail in a shortened campaign. At the time Ms. Scozzafava, a former small-town mayor who has served for a decade in the state legislature, seemed the right choice.

As it turns out Ms. Scozzafava was the wrong choice… The Republican Party bosses who passed over Doug Hoffman to choose Ms. Scozzafava have some explaining to do.

H/T : The Other McCain and Hot Air.

Related

• Republican Scozzafava Suspends New York Congressional Campaign – Fox News
• GOP Rift Bared in New York – Wall Street Journal

NY-23: Palin Endorses Hoffman

If the pop culture obsessed soundbite media wasn’t following the November 3rd special election in New York’s 23rd congressional district they will be  now that Sarah Palin has endorsed Doug Hoffman:

The people of the 23rd Congressional District of New York are ready to shake things up, and Doug Hoffman is coming on strong as Election Day approaches! He needs our help now.

The votes of every member of Congress affect every American, so it’s important for all of us to pay attention to this important Congressional campaign in upstate New York. I am very pleased to announce my support for Doug Hoffman in his fight to be the next Representative from New York’s 23rd Congressional district. It’s my honor to endorse Doug and to do what I can to help him win, including having my political action committee, SarahPAC, donate to his campaign the maximum contribution allowed by law.

Our nation is at a crossroads, and this is once again a “time for choosing.”

The federal government borrows, spends, and prints too much money, while our national debt hits a record high. Government is growing while the private sector is shrinking, and unemployment is on the rise. Doug Hoffman is committed to ending the reckless spending in Washington, D.C. and the massive increase in the size and scope of the federal government. He is also fully committed to supporting our men and women in uniform as they seek to honorably complete their missions overseas.

And best of all, Doug Hoffman has not been anointed by any political machine.

Doug Hoffman stands for the principles that all Republicans should share: smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and a commitment to individual liberty. Read the rest…

My quick and dirty analysis: There’s no downside for Palin here, no one expects Hoffman to win so if he gets beat Palin isn’t going to get the blame. On the other hand if Hoffman wins the upside is huge… it’ll be the shot heard around the world that shakes up the party establishment and forces them to take Palin and grassroots activist seriously.

As an aside, Hoffman’s campaign has raised $210,000 in the past seven days… That’s before Palin’s endorsement last night.

You can donate here.

Related

• Rogue Stars Rising – The Green Room

Dede Scozzafava? What the Heck Were Republicans Thinking???

I have to confess the November 3rd special election in New York’s 23rd congressional district wasn’t even on my radar until I read this Wall Street Journal article… Since then I’ve been keeping a close on the race between erstwhile Republican Dede Scozzafava, Democrat Bill Owens and Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.

I can’t for the life of me understand why Republican Party bosses selected Scozzafava, a pro-abortion, pro-union, ACORN backed, Working Families Party-endorsed, tax and spend big government liberal who has more in common with democrats than she does the GOP’s conservative base… Particularly when a viable conservative candidate was available.

Regardless of her stance on the issues Scozzafava’s bumbled encounter with John McCormack of The Weekly Standard ought to doom her candidacy.

Police questioned a reporter from a conservative publication after receiving a call that he harassed a Republican candidate for Congress who refused to answer his questions about her positions on tax and health issues.

“I don’t believe it ever escalated to anything that would ever be classified as an emergency,” Fredenburg said.

No charges were filed against McCormack.

<…>

In the audio recording of the reporter’s questioning played for The Associated Press by McCormack, the reporter didn’t raise his voice, but repeated his unanswered questions several times, including one about abortion.

“I never screamed, I never yelled, I never shouted,” he said. “My voice was only loud enough so she could hear my questions.”

In a statement released Tuesday to the blog Politico, Scozzafava’s campaign said the reporter “repeatedly screamed questions (in-your-face-style),” but later issued a statement deleting the accusation.

Bottom line Scozzafava either couldn’t or wouldn’t answer McCormack’s questions and called the police to save her from a report… A call the police chief effectively says was unjustified.

The situation in New York’s 23rd congressional district is emblematic of the problems facing the GOP. Republicans didn’t the 2006 and 2008 elections because they were to conservative, they lost because they abandoned traditional conservative principles of limited government and fiscal responsibility… Over the last decade they morphed from the party of Reagan into the big spending, big government party of George W. Bush.

By choosing Dede Scozzafava as their candidate Republican Party bosses have demonstrated they still don’t get it… If Republicans want to win elections they need to draw vibrant contrasts between themselves and Democrats, traditional conservative principles still resonate with the American people… Doug Hoffman is a conservative, Dede Scozzafava isn’t… Michelle Malkin sums things up pretty well:

One thing is guaranteed at the conclusion of the NY-23 special congressional election: The Beltway Republicans who endorsed radical leftist Dede Scozzafava are going to have indelible egg stains on their faces. And GOP establishment fund-raising organizations will be the poorer for it.

Related

• The GOP’s New York Fiasco – Wall Street Journal
• NY-23: Can Doug Hoffman Win? – Washington Post
• Scozzafava Calls the Cops – The Weekly Standard