The Devils Game From Georgia

Eric, did you notice that while we were napping a couple of rednecks sneaked  into the state?   And boy does the National Republican Congressional Committee(NRCC) have grits all over their faces.

The NRCC spent $900,00 in an attempt to install RINO Dede Scozzafava in Congress.    The opposition  consisted of Tea Party conservatives, and redneck bloggers.

Mark Tapscott

The rednecks won,  from Mark Tapscott, Washington Examiner:

It’s official now, liberal New York Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava has suspended her campaign as the Republican nominee to succeed Rep. John McHugh, R-NY, in the Empire State’s 23rd congressional district.

For the redneck gloating,  Stacy McCain:

Stacy McCain

Big shout-out to Erick Erickson of Red State, who came out strong and early for Hoffman and pushed hard. The role of CPAC director Lisa De Pasquale — who got about a dozen conservative bloggers on an Oct. 14 conference call — must also be acknowledged. (Note to self: Make list of names for Wednesday a.m. discussion panel about NY23.)

I wish Scozzafava  would get past her animus towards human beings not yet born,  and wish her well.   Sadly in a state as blue as New York there is a real Republican need for politicians like Scozzafava.   However there is no need for a blue politician like Scozzafava in a district as red as New York – 23.   The last thing this country needs is for Mrs. Pelosi to have yet another vote.

ADDENDUM: (Eric):  Yes, I did notice that. I confess to being mildly pleased with the message it’s sending to the GOP leadership, though candidly, I wonder if that message will alter the course of said ‘leadership’. Given the recent past I tend to doubt it.

However, even our regular readers might have noticed that I have refrained from commenting on the races involving NY23. there are a couple  of reasons for this.

First, the most of the polls that I’m seeing for that district show Hoffmann and is Democrat rival running neck and neck.  (Yes, I’m aware of the polls which show Hoffman up by five, but I take these with a certain grain of salt, given the source of the polling, and the fact that the polling result is only marginally outside the abnormally high margin of error.) Frankly, I wonder how that’s going to play, even absent voter fraud as so many areas of the country  suffered last year.

The second question has to do with what Mr. Hoffman will be able to do assuming that he manages to get himself elected.  Certainly, the Democrats are not going to be interested in playing ball with Mr. Hoffman on any agenda he may have. And certainly the Rockefeller Republicans who dominate this state are going to be much disposed to cooperating with him, either.

Add to this the idea that with Hoffman being the single target now, the Democrats are already refocusing their efforts and drawing in supporters from places like Vermont, to help keep Hoffman out. I fully anticipate Hoffman to be labeled the next Anti-Christ, Hitler and Timothy McVeigh all rolled into one neat little package. That kind of smear campaign is a bear to use against two targets. With one? It’s a Democrat party specialty and I will flat out guarantee you we’ll see it `being played at volume 11 all across the district.

On the other hand, and since this is  the first time I’ve opened an editor for this topic, let me make a shout out to former house speaker Newt Gingrich:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is warning conservative activists that their support for a third-party candidate in a key upcoming New York special election is a “mistake.”

In a video captured last week and posted on YouTube Friday, Gingrich told tea party organizer Lisa Miller at a book-signing event that conservatives are inadvertently hindering the cause by backing Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman over Dede Scozzafava, the Republican Party’s nominee.

“I just think it is a mistake for the conservative movement to think splitting in the special election is a smart idea,” Gingrich said. “If we give that seat to the Democrats, shame on us.”

Perhaps the speaker would be interested in explaining to us how putting a candidate like Scozzafava is helpful to the Republican Party, when in nearly all respects save the name, Scozzafava is in fact a liberal Democrat. I submit that such a person creates far more damage to both the party and the country, than would turning the seats over to a real Democrat.

At the bottom line, this is an issue not about party power, but about the power of ideas.  What does a gain the party and its platform if we all liked people within the party who don’t believe in the parties values, and actively work against them?  At best, even assuming Scozzafava won the election it would be a pariahic victory at best, in terms of furthering the cause.

I wonder, and not for the first time, just whose  side Mr. Gingrich is on.  The party, perhaps.  It’s his devotion to the ideals of the party, that worry me.