It’s a different case in NY-23 … the Republican seems to be … falling apart… the Republican candidate has been in the process of disqualifying herself …. You’re not throwing your vote away on [Hoffman] …. This is a race that we need to win … the best change for a conservative … a Republican… to win this race… is Doug Hoffman….
“I haven’t been following that,” Pawlenty said of the contest. “I haven’t studied the race at all. It’s not that I would or wouldn’t [endorse Scozzafava], I just don’t know anything about it.”
And that I don’t know stomps all over his announcement:
Pawlenty was in Washington to kick off his new committee, the Freedom First PAC. He spoke to a crowd of hundreds at a brewing company just off Capitol Hill. The largely younger crowd included Republican congressional staffers and the various party organizations.
Watch for more of it, nothing angers pols more than having to take side when they didn’t have to before.
I’ve been checking the channels looking for the Palin endorsement story.
I have not found ANYONE mentioning it.
Zip, Zero Nada!
Fox is talking about debating Al Gore on global warming.
Morning Joe is talking the Health Plan, (and O’Donnell was rather fair on it), the Airplane stuff and Chuck Todd’s shaving.
Imus is talking the plane stuff and the baseball playoffs and a bit of racing.
CNN, is talking swine flu and reports that Joe Wilson’s wife has it
But I haven’t found a word on Palin and NY-23. What does that tell me?
There is a whole hour to go but we will see.
It tells me that either these guys are just not on the ball or that they seek to minimize the effect of the Palin endorsement. My guess is they figure Hoffman may have it and they don’t want to point the finger at Sarah on this.
Democrats don’t want this because they don’t want to promote a potential Palin victory
The NRCC doesn’t want to promote it because it is an embarrassment to them and their candidate.
Thus nobody wants to talk about it. We will have to wait till Rush’s show to see things happen.
If big news happens and everyone ignores it has it happened? The MSM wants to find out.
Update: the Washington Post has it online. If they can push TV coverage to the weekend they might be able to minimize it. From the Fix:
Sarah Palin’s decision to endorse the Conservative party candidate over the Republican nominee in a special House election in upstate New York is the latest example that the former Alaska governor’s allegiance is to her conservative principles rather than the edicts of the party.
“Republicans and conservatives around the country are sending an important message to the Republican establishment in their outstanding grassroots support for Doug Hoffman: no more politics as usual,” wrote Palin on her Facebook page.
She also cited former president Ronald Reagan’s belief that “blurring the lines” was not the way to re-build the Republican party and added: “The Republican Party today has decided to choose a candidate who more than blurs the lines, and there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race.”
Will the deluge of coverage come, or will it wait till the democrats and national republicans come up with a counter.
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.
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.
Political parties must stand for something. When Republicans were in the wilderness in the late 1970s, Ronald Reagan knew that the doctrine of “blurring the lines” between parties was not an appropriate way to win elections. Unfortunately, the Republican Party today has decided to choose a candidate who more than blurs the lines, and there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race. This is why Doug Hoffman is running on the Conservative Party’s ticket.
Republicans and conservatives around the country are sending an important message to the Republican establishment in their outstanding grassroots support for Doug Hoffman: no more politics as usual.
One note of warning: Although its congressional seat has traditionally been solid Republican, NY-23 did break for Obama last year. There is a Democratic presence there, which means there’s a risk that conservatives won’t be the only party base galvanized by her entrance into the campaign. For better or worse, some of her clout’s on the line here too, especially now that The One’s thrown in for the Democrat. Good luck, Palinistas.
The confirms the report earlier today. She has crossed the Rubicon now this does several things.
Media coverage of the race will increase.
The other 2012 contenders will have to take a stand.
The NRCC now has to make a choice to fight her or support her.
The left will pour everything they can in this race in the hopes of defeating “her”.
If Hoffman wins it will be a Palin win, if he loses then they will paint her as a “loser”.
If you want to lead you have to be willing to get up front, she is!
Update: How much do you want to bet that Glenn Beck is kicking himself for not having Hoffman on today as scheduled?
Update 2:Can someone explain to me why Robert Stacy’s post isn’t the lead one on Memorandum since he beat the standard by at least 20 min? I should have checked the time stamps rather than the 10 min ago on memorandum my bad!
Update 6: Anyone what to make book that tomorrow on Morning Joe the panel will go on and on how this hurts the republican party and will emasculate Palin if Hoffman loses?
With Rush also mentioning the race I suspect that the question is fast becoming not if people can bring Hoffman over the top but will republicans be wise enough to get ahead of the curve to support the winner.
Followed by this:
Perhaps those who will be looking for the Grassroots support in 2012 might want to get in front while they can still take some credit?
and preceded by this:
if Palin is interested in making trouble for Romney and Paulenty she can come out for Hoffman. That will put them in the uncomfortable position of either joining her (and having them appear as followers) or supporting Dede (and making particularly Paulenty unacceptable to conservatives, Romney is already iffy) or not being willing to stand up for anything.
The party make a bad investment in NY and their stock is crashing. Apparently they’d rather lose their stake then re-invest in Doug Hoffman. What fools.
Don’t take this to the bank, at least not yet. But somebody who seems to be in a position to know what’s coming down the pike in New York’s special election tells me that he’s hearing Sarah Palin will publicly endorse Conservative Doug Hoffman over Republican Dede Scozzafava.
If this happens it will be a seismic shift and will change the dynamics of the race (and piss offDavid Frum but that’s an added bonus, I really shouldn’t say that he’s wrong lately but likely not a bad guy). It also puts the NRCC in a bad spot because they will need Palin in 2010 BADLY!
If it turns out to be true it’s a shame that there isn’t a shoe leather reporter/blogger on the scene to cover it. Oh Wait.
I guess I was wrong at first concerning holding back. Just goes to show you the difference a few days makes.
Update: Speaking of reporting from the place where the news is being made:
While Scozzafava has the endorsement of Armey’s former congressional colleague Newt Gingrich and the support of the national GOP, grassroots volunteers from the Tea Party movement have bouyed the campaign of Hoffman, running on the Conservative Party line.
“The Republican candidate can’t win,” Armey declared, saying that Gingrich “made the wrong choice” in backing Scozzafava, a New York state assemblywoman whose record puts her to the left of most Democrats here in this largely rural district, where Republican Rep. John McHugh routinely won re-election with 2-to-1 margins.
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