Hope for Non-NY 23 Conservatives
Imagine if the National Republican Congressional Committee had supported Doug Hoffman from the start. Instead of throwing money at a left-winger who remained on the ballot after she quit and repaid the organization by endorsing her erstwhile Democratic foe, Hoffman would be running for re-election in 2010 instead of aiming to win a rematch.
Instead, the NRCC wasn’t lucky enough to blunder into victory. Their failure to inadvertently execute a New Coke/Coke Classic-type success should guide every decision they make through the same Tuesday of next year. That includes their tactics across the nation in general and within Hoffman’s state in particular. New York’s conservatives are entitled to feel that his respectable showing should inspire similar candidates who can carpool with him to Washington. Can both Hoffman and Hoffman-types across upstate win House seats in 2010?
If nothing else, unabashed conservatives might do better than the liberal-leaning moderates indigenous to this region. This is an opportune moment for the Republican Party to field limited-government candidates. Based on the national mood, it might pay off in the ballot booths, or at least between the cardboard dividers.
That’s especially if unemployment continues to hover around 10 percent, the war in Afghanistan remains muddled, and two branches of the government join to see if they can spend 100 jillion dollars combined on nationalized health and carbon usage fines. Voters are looking for genuine conservatives as a welcome alternative to Scozzafava-style stimulus supporters.
There’s no reason to keep inflicting Rockefeller Republicans upon the nation. Party leaders may as well try to capitalize on the nation’s rising small-government sympathies. It’s not like the state GOP should worry they might lose even more House elections.
There are formidable obstacles aside from standard concerns regarding whether true-right candidates are viable in the particular districts of a navy state like New York blah blah blah. For one, there’s the reality that certain Congressional districts are shaped like crescents, not circles.
While the right to a district that’s wider than a two-lane road does not appear in the Constitution, representatives such as Louise Slaughter should nonetheless have to face a more naturally-shaped territory. Standing opposed to alignments that keep incumbents safe is not a matter of supporting one party or the other: it’s about encouraging circumstances that allow citizens to enjoy a clear choice between the two. That desirable situation is one not always seen locally for various reasons.
Additionally, Western New Yorkers who seek conservative options could use a slightly less disingenuous local paper. Specifically, it would be nice to not endure condescending lectures from Buffalo News editor Margaret Sullivan, who has been the paper’s funniest writer ever since Dave Barry stopped contributing his syndicated column. Her latest gem claims that editorial positions are staffed by reactionaries who will camp out to get the earliest available copies of Sarah Palin’s book from Walmart:
In the 10 active County Legislature races, we are endorsing eight Republicans and two Democrats.
In the Amherst supervisor’s race, we are endorsing a Republican, Barry Weinstein.
It’s not a Republican quota: please refer to it as conservative affirmative action. And they’re not even done acting like tea partiers:
And in the two countywide races, we are endorsing one Republican and one Democrat: respectively, Philip Kadet for comptroller and John Glascott for sheriff.
So, of the 13 endorsements we’ll make this year, 10 go to Republicans.
Yep, endorsing a Republican for Erie County Comptroller balances out their last pick for President of the United States of America. And random probability explains how they also happened to back Democrats in each of the four local House of Representative races in 2008.
The paper’s staff apparently forgot to pretend that they were balanced last year. But things are different now, sort of. By standing behind 77 percent of Republicans in local elections during an off year, Sullivan is claiming 10 pennies are worth more than five dimes. That helps explain why their coverage of economic issues is so rotten.
If the News really wanted to come across as impartial, they could stop injecting left-wing junk into news stories. They could even hire a second Republican.
Even without media assistance, the party ought to finally have the sense and conviction to represent conservative ideals. Who knows? Republicans might come across a principled opponent for Slaughter who doesn’t get, well, a synonym for “slaughtered.”
It would also be nice if Brian Higgins had to face an outright limited government advocate, if only for the prospect of forcing the present representative to get a private sector job. There’s a first time for everything. Either way, Hoffman shouldn’t have to go it alone next year.
Gillibrand Moves Leftward After Moving Upward
Politics didn’t change Kirsten Gillibrand, but a new job did. She became a company woman once since she was assigned to stand for in the Senate; that’s different that how she acted while representing only New York’s 20th Congressional District in the House. Unfortunately for her, she may have just veered too far leftward even for many leftists.
It all has to do with the Senate voting to cut off housing funding for ACORN, an enterprise that has shifted from merely sleazily corrupt to comically insane. Following the Andrew Breitbart-led ACORN smacking, 83 senators voted to slash the depraved community group’s allowance. Alas, Gillibrand was one of seven senators who thought the hooker enablers still deserve the government’s money. It’s not precisely the best example of her bravely standing up against the majority.
What’s most frustrating is that she made her name as an occasionally centrist-minded representativebeloved by the National Rifle Association. She was one Democrat whom the right could find marginally agreeable, especially considering she filled Hillary Clinton’s place. In fact, conservatives may have even considered backing her when she actually ran for statewide office depending on how liberal of a candidate the Republicans field. If nothing else, it seemed that she would have been intermittently on their side.
Instead, she’s irritating conservatives while probably not doing enough to appease members of the left outraged over her rebellious ways. Maybe she deserves a little slack. After all, she’s trying to figure out how to win her first election for the seat she’s currently holding; it’s a situation that she of course shares with David Paterson, the governor who appointed her.
Either way, Gillibrand has chosen her course: she obviously thinks tilting quite heavily to the left will help her win the 2010 primary. If that’s her strategy, all she’ll have to do until then is continue to discard her old ideals. It’s tough to surmise another reason why she would support an organization that keeps getting caught helping pimps and hos avoid paying taxes. Oh, and they were also willing to facilitate importing underage El Salvadoran sex slaves. Political observers will be keen to ascertain if her “alienate basically every voter in the state” policy pays off.
Count Every Vote. Fairly and Accurately.
UPDATE, 4/8/09: Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele released the following statement today.
As absentee ballots begin to be counted today, it is important that the integrity of the electoral process be ensured. The only way to achieve that is by making sure every eligible absentee vote is counted – especially those absentee ballots cast by our fighting men and women serving overseas. I’m confident Jim Tedisco’s lead will increase as these votes are counted. Until the process is completed, vote tallies may vary from day-to-day; but we remain positive that at the end of the day, Jim Tedisco will be the next Congressman from the 20th District of New York.
Murphy Up by 65 Votes in NY-20… On To Absentee Ballots
IT was a real squeaker tonight, following the results of the special election in NY-20… Scott Murphy has the slimmest of slim leads over Jim Tedisco. Murphy leads by 65 votes out of 154,623 total votes cast. There are reportedly 6,000 or so absentee ballots left to be counted…
Follow race chatter on Twitter…
Donate for the recount effort…
UPDATE: Alleged military voter disenfranchisement in NY-20..
$20 for NY-20
Republican activists around the country will be celebrating President Lincoln’s bicentennial in a special way this year.
From February 10th to the 12th, the online rightroots will be pushing an effort called, “$20 for NY-20.” Their goal will be to increase the number of small donors investing into a very winnable seat. Jim Tedisco is running for Congress to lead the fight for middle class families, small businesses and farmers that are the heart and soul of the District.
Lincoln’s bicentennial falls on the 12th, it’s only fitting that we take this opportunity to rebuild the Party by targeting the first real race of 2010.
NY-20 is a Republican district that we can take away from the Democratic supermajority. Jim Tedisco is the only candidate in the race for New York’s 20 Congressional District with a proven record of delivering real property tax relief, strengthening the economy, creating more jobs and reforming government so it’s more open, accountable and transparent to the taxpayers.
This is an effort that only adds to the momentum kingmakers like Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, and RNC Chairman Michael Steele have given to Tedisco’s Congressional bid.
