I expected a lot more crowing on MSNBC but I guess the gay Marriage defeat is such a shock they can’t manage to bring themselves up to joy.
I’ve already given my two cents on the subject so lets see what a few others have said:
Robert Stacy McCain:
If the Republican bosses think they’re going to pick another candidate in NY23 for 2010, they’d better think again. The grassroots conservatives — the Tea Party people, the pro-lifers, the Club for Growth, Fred and Jeri Thompson, Sarah Palin — who backed Doug Hoffman aren’t going to forget his courageous example.
His co-blogger Smitty:
Recall that, had nothing been done, an even more leftist candidate than Owens may have taken the one-year seat. Owens wins, but understands that, if he’s running in 2010, he can’t ignore the Hoffman voters, any more than Bill Clinton to ignore fiscal conservatives who voted Perot.
We won in NY23. This blog served it’s purpose. Dede Scozzafava was dumped. She was dumped by the demographic to which she fronted, and when no one brought her Victorian freakshow, she removed the mask and revealed herself, lest any doubters remained. We won when we forced the GOP to concede support. We won when we showed them that good political sense and sharp strategy is an instinct, not exclusive to the beltway elite. We won because we wrenched the reigns from their hands.
We the tea party have been leading since February. In order to survive, the GOP must finally cash the promise its collective mouth has been writing about “we the people” and all that jazz: it must relent and let the people lead. Asking politely is a formality: NY23 has shown that we have the power to take it when we want.
So we have demonstrated to the GOP that it must not take conservatives for granted. The GOP spent $900,000.00 on a Republican who dropped out and endorsed the Democrat. Were we to combine Scozzafava and Hoffman’s votes, Hoffman would have won.
Secondly, and just as importantly, there has all of a sudden been a huge movement among some activists to go the third party route. We see in NY-23 that this is not possible as third parties are not viable.
Third parties lack funding and ability for a host of reasons. Conservatives are going to have to work from within the GOP. The GOP had better pay attention.
For all intents and purposes, NY-23 is a trial run for Florida. And in Florida, the conservative candidate is operating inside the GOP. If John Cornyn and the NRSC do not want to see Florida go the way of NY-23, they better stand down.
Gotta look at the other Side Andrew Sullivan:
Well, I had begun to assume a big Hoffman victory. Not so fast. Owens has a small but real lead, with over 60 percent of the votes in. More interesting, Palin just doesn’t poll very well in a district that is almost tailor-made for her:
TCOT says that endorsement of Scozzafava what huge:
Doug Hoffman, whose success forced her to withdraw on Saturday showed that her Sunday endorsement of Owens was the decisive factor in his victory.
Owens carried her three home counties that she represents in the New York State Assembly by a decisive 53% to 42% margin. This was an 11% margin increase from the 36% to 36% tie the Siena Poll released on Monday revealed. Scozzafava’s vote dropped from 9% in the Monday poll to 6% in the actual results. Meanwhile, the 19% undecided in the three county region broke hard for Owens. 13% of the undecided went to Owens during a 48 period, while only 6% went to Hoffman.
and he seems the only person who doesn’t support Hoffman:
Owens will face his next electoral challenge in November 2010. He is certain to face a strong Republican challenger. This time around, however, the candidate will not be chosen by the eleven county chairmen meeting in a pizza restaurant. A primary will be held on September 14, 2010.
Though he captured the country’s attention with his humble nature, Hoffman ran such a poor campaign it is unlikely he would emerge as the Republican nominee in a primary, should he choose to run.
Hell hath no fury like an (Italian) woman scorned. He covered this race very well and deserves Props for it.
I’ve been looking for a lefty blog to quote that doesn’t use vulgar sexual references for the tea party crowd. No blog that uses that term in their comment on that race is going to be quoted here. Took me some time but I found on at MyDD:
In the nation’s most watched race, the New York Twenty-Third Congressional, Democrat Bill Owens defeated Conservative Doug Hoffman who was endorsed by Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, the Club for Growth, Fred Thompson, Dick Armey, Tim Pawlenty and much of the GOP leadership albeit belatedly. But in their rush to purify the Republican party, they also succeeded in driving moderates away. In the end, they not only drove Dede Scozzafava, the local GOP candidate, from the race but into the arms of Bill Owens, whom she endorsed. And no doubt, to capture a House seat that had been held by the GOP since the Civil War era is historic.
The battle for the NY-23 had been billed as one for the GOP’s soul. Tea Party conservatives see themselves as the base of the GOP when really they are just a fringe, and a lunatic fringe at that. But what matters in this case is their own perception of the situation. They are, I think, only more embolden to take on the GOP establishment who is frankly spineless, cowering in fear and out of ideas anyway. I suspect that the battle of the GOP’s soul will continue. Still whoever wins that contest wins a shell of a prize. As an aside, the Crist versus Rubio contest down in Florida for the US Senate seat now looks it will provide much fodder for the press and entertainment for us.
So should this mean republicans and Sarah Palin are a losing combination? Lets go straight to the source:
The race for New York’s 23rd District is not over, just postponed until 2010. The issues of this election have always centered on the economy – on the need for fiscal restraint, smaller government, and policies that encourage jobs. In 2010, these issues will be even more crucial to the electorate. I commend Doug Hoffman and all the other under-dog candidates who have the courage to put themselves out there and run against the odds.
To the tireless grassroots patriots who worked so hard in that race and to future citizen-candidates like Doug, please remember Reagan’s words of encouragement after his defeat in 1976:
“The cause goes on. Don’t get cynical because look at yourselves and what you were willing to do, and recognize that there are millions and millions of Americans out there that want what you want, that want it to be that way, that want it to be a shining city on a hill.”
The cause goes on.
Hmmm what happened to that guy who lost in 1976 and was written off?
My take? We lost, spinning it as not a loss just makes us look silly. All politics are local. Doug Hoffman flubbed local issue questions and that cost him, the million that the NRCC spent against him and then followed up with ads supporting him that didn’t even use his name was really lame. Scozzafava’s withdrawal so close to the end of the election made a huge difference because it didn’t give time for the passions and anger of her supporters to cool enough to go for Hoffman the guy who brought her down. If he wants the seat he needs to spend the next 6 months brushing up on those issues. It will all come down to Owens. Voting with Pelosi isn’t going to get him re-elected, but serving the people of his district is. That’s what it will call come down to.
I’ve said that I’d prefer Owens to Dede the angry avenged and I still think we dodged a huge bullet but it’s still a slice of bread instead of a feast. I’ll take the slice but I’m not so blinded that I’m going to pretend that I’m not disappointed.
Biggest Loser? Tim Pawlenty. When the media decided to ignore the Palin endorsement when they thought Hoffman was going to win so they pushed Pawlenty forward, he gains none of the the benefit of leading and taking a shot and all of the rocks from the loss.
Biggest Winner? the Watertown Daily Times:
They never expected one of their stories to be the lede on Memeorandem. They will get the hits again on the rematch, but I’d still like to see where that last 12% goes.
Exit Question: Will the NRCC and Gingrich go all Frum over this or no? If they make that same mistake then it will make 2010 very interesting.
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