NY-23 Gets Very Interesting

The Republican candidate in the NY-32 race has dropped out, according to Jacob. The interesting thing is that NRA had endorsed the Republican early on, before Doug Hoffman had any real momentum. It’s probably not too late to switch the endorsement, but I don’t know if a orange card mailing could be prepared in time. I’m going to guess that Scozzafava will remain on the ballot. I hope this doesn’t effect Hoffman’s chances of taking the race. The Republican in this race was more liberal than the Democrat, so there’s a chance she was taking votes away from Bill Owens too.

14 thoughts on “NY-23 Gets Very Interesting”

  1. I was looking for anything from NYSRPA on the NY-23 race, but couldn’t find a statement. Any idea who they picked?

  2. I’ve already decided to vote for Hoffman. Hell, I’m voting “Conservative” across the board.

  3. Scozzy might have a 15% ACU rating, but the Democratic party has spent so much time and effort pretending everyone with an R after their name is the simultaneous reincarnation of Hitler and much of the Klan that I can’t see her as taking that many D votes.

  4. From the small amount of research I’ve done, it appears Scozzafava had a mostly pr-gun voting record; my guess is, enough for an NRA A-rating. So, what record does Hoffman have?

    If I’m supposed to be pro-gun, does that mean I’m really supposed to be voting for pro-life, anti-gay, and Christian arse-kissing, and let the guns take care of themselves? All of the enthusiasm for recordless Hoffman would appear to suggest so.

  5. Here’s additional research:

    Chris Cox wrote to Scozzafava:

    Based on your tested and proven record in the New York Assembly, as well as your responses to our federal candidate questionnaire, you have earned an “A” rating from the NRAPVF. On November 3, we urge our members, gun owners and sportsmen in New York’s 23rd congressional district to vote for you for Congress.

  6. What are you going to do, though, Jessup? If someone has a record of supporting you, are you just going to tell them to fuck off and support some unknown upstart when they seek higher office? Are you just going to cynically stay out of the whole process?

    Like or it not, American politics comes to a plurality/majority liking one loser over another loser/losers. You can either get angry about that, or figure out a way to play that system to the benefit of the things you believe in. That will mean that sometimes you back a lame horse.

    Politics is a whole lot like gambling. Sometimes your hand will lose, but as long as you win more than you lose, you can keep moving forward and stay in the game.

  7. Well in the NRA’s defense (gag!), it’s probably hard to deal with a special election, let alone one that got as screwed up as this one.

    If I were calling the shots, I’d simply offer the respective histories of the candidates (Scozz has an A, Owens has a C, and there’s no data on Hoff though he says he’s pro 2A) and leave it at that. Even hyperlink – David Codrea has his doubts about Hoffman.

    Of course, Hoffman is a gearhead!

  8. Quit compromising with quislings that have the all holy “R” after their names.

    The Democrat party has been completely taken over by totalitarian statists, and Scozzafava is proof that the statists are merely working to finish taking over both parties.

    And people who are too dumb or lazy (like much of the NRA leadership appear to be) are making it POSSIBLE for them to succeed by endorsing ANY jack off with an “R” after their name.

    Like it or not Sebastian, the NRA is ALWAYS backing “lame horses” who look familiar, rather than healthy ones that you aren’t already “buddy-buddy” with.

    The politics like gambling comparison betrays the fact that you really only want to support a winner, not that you give a damn what they promote.

    If you are going to look at politics like gambling, then I suggest you remember that in the long run, gamblers ALWAYS lose more than they win, so they will never end up finishing first.

  9. Chris,

    According to the NRA, Scozzafava probably deserved an A rating, based on her voting record.

    And as Sebastian said, ‘What are you going to do?’.

    The NRA can’t just tell an A-rated politician ‘Even though you’ve got an A-rating from us with the standards we set, we’re not endorsing you this time around because you’re shitty.’

    I wish they could, but they can’t – keep in mind there is NO love lost between the NRA and I.

  10. Chris:

    That’s true of games of chance. It’s not true for games of skill, like Poker, which is probably the most appropriate game to compare to politics.

  11. Even granting Scozzafava earned her rating to date, I have to draw the line on single-issue voting somewhere. The _appointed_ (no primary) Republican nominee says she would have backed the stimulus, backs cap and trade, and supports card check. I’d oppose Charlton Heston for Congress if he held those positions. And even if they’re not your hot buttons, whatever her NRA rating, its a sign she would have been a cross-the-aisle and pass-a-bill-to-have-a-seat-at-the-table Congressman.

    Jessup asks:
    “If I’m supposed to be pro-gun, does that mean I’m really supposed to be voting for pro-life, anti-gay, and Christian arse-kissing, and let the guns take care of themselves? All of the enthusiasm for recordless Hoffman would appear to suggest so.”

    But this is a red herring. All the talk radio coverage I’ve heard and all the right wing blogs I’ve read focused on cap and trade, stimulus and card check. I did hear about her being pro-abortion a few times, but that was in support of contending she was to the left of the Democrat, not a central point of criticism. I haven’t heard anything about pro- or anti-gay regarding either candidate.

    And the pro-Hoffman beat I’ve heard was primarily focused on taxes, spending and regulation. I know the liberal media is focusing on the cultural issues, but that’s not what actually drove the insurgency.

  12. And another damn thing. “All of the enthusiasm for recordless Hoffman…” Are citizens allowed to run for office or not? The founding generation envisioned a republic of citizen-legislators, and we’re supposed to stand in line to fellate a class of bureaucrats and career politicians who entered government service right out of college, have never held a private sector job, and get six figure salaries and better pensions than some of us can dream of on the back of our taxes? (But they have records!) Eff that. Hoffman’s a CPA, and a reasonably succesful small business owner. That alone doesn’t qualify him, but it shouldn’t disqualify him either. If there’s relevant dirt on him, or he’s just incompetent as a manager, hopefully that would have come out in the campaign, but oh yeah, that’s the kind of thing primaries are for. Which, again, there wasn’t one. A couple of party bosses picked Scozzafava for their own inscrutable reasons.

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