Michelle
Hoffman may have lost narrowly, but NY-23 is a much broader victory for conservatives who believe the Republican Party should stand for core limited government principles. Scozzafava, who was endorsed by far Left blogger Markos Moulitsas Zuniga and backed by Planned Parenthood, the National Education Association, and card-check-promoting trade unions, was denied the congressional seat because movement conservatives refused to support Arlen Specter in a skirt. This is a victory of principle.
Better a donkey in office that acts like a donkey than a donkey in elephant’s clothing making a complete ass of the GOP.
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Agree 100%. Great analysis by Michelle.
Norwegian on November 4, 2009 at 12:54 PM
At least a partial victory, Hoffman winning would have made it complete.
Now the wait to see if the GOP learned its lesson, or if the “elites” will make the rounds to preach that everyone else should have shut up so Scozzalapa could have won.
Bishop on November 4, 2009 at 12:54 PM
“Better a donkey in office that acts like a donkey than a donkey in elephant’s clothing making a complete ass of the GOP.”
QOTD.
NebCon on November 4, 2009 at 12:55 PM
Better the dem in that dede sch, sco, sa wahtever her name is…
sonofdy on November 4, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Pyrrhic for the win baby!
abobo on November 4, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Hear hear.
the_nile on November 4, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Every one of these posts should include a ridicule of Newt…he was so far off base…
right2bright on November 4, 2009 at 12:58 PM
That would have been a Dede victory.
the_nile on November 4, 2009 at 12:58 PM
Michelle is money in this. We all know how tired we are of the Olympia Snowes, Arlen Specters, and Susan Collins. Dede Scozzafava is worse. She is Daily Kooks liberal. Only the GOP can be this stupid to nominate Dede.
I want to give a heartfelt thanks to Doug Hoffman for standing for conservative principles and being a man of honor to run in this race and stand tall. I donated and do not regret sending money to him at all. I want honorable politicians like him to run for office.
GOP is definitely not getting a cent from me.
cubachi on November 4, 2009 at 12:58 PM
From all of us on the left: Thanks for giving us another vote for Pelosi’s health care legislation guys! We couldn’t of done it without you. Special thanks goes out to Mrs. Malkin and everyone here at Hotair. Together we’ve moved one step closer to our perfect single-payer socialist paradise!
Typhonsentra on November 4, 2009 at 12:59 PM
Maybe he meant Pyrrhic win for the Democrats…
GW_SS-Delta on November 4, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Big victory for conservatives.
No longer will we “buy a pig on a poke”. Just because there is an “R” after the name is no longer enough.
RINO’s are becoming an endangered species and rightly so.
LincolntheHun on November 4, 2009 at 1:00 PM
ICAM.
OmahaConservative on November 4, 2009 at 1:01 PM
I am still a bit bummed out about Mr. Hoffman’s loss even though I knew it was a win/win situation for conservatives. Such a nice man, I hope he thinks it was worth it.
Cindy Munford on November 4, 2009 at 1:01 PM
“The Beltway Republicans who endorsed radical leftist Dede Scozzafava are going to have indelible egg stains on their faces.”
That’s funny MM cuz I bet some of those Beltway Republicans think you and Palin have egg on your faces. I wonder if the Huckster is the big winner here since he had the sense to stay out of this one?
Norman Blizter on November 4, 2009 at 1:03 PM
NOOOO, no, no, no, no! Michelle, didn’t you hear Robert Gibbs? They’re ANGRY! They’ll never win elections that way! It was a complete referendum on how fantabulastic Obama is! Noooooo, you got it completely bass ackward you bag of meat! /
Orange Doorhinge on November 4, 2009 at 1:04 PM
…”Arlen Specter in a skirt. ”
.
.
My mind just betrayed me with a horrible vision.
I have to go upchuck now.
hanoverfist on November 4, 2009 at 1:05 PM
He endorsed hoffman when Dede quit.
the_nile on November 4, 2009 at 1:06 PM
And good lord, if you’re going to show that picture of Hoffman with green teeth, at least use photoshop to whiten them.
Norman Blizter on November 4, 2009 at 1:06 PM
The seat was won by trickery and it never pays. The tricksters will lose it next year, close to Halloween.
Schadenfreude on November 4, 2009 at 1:07 PM
NY-23 = GOP “leadership”/RINO Waterloo
QOTDecade?
red winger on November 4, 2009 at 1:07 PM
One guess as to which TOLERANT and diverse site this came from?
Ris4victory on November 4, 2009 at 1:07 PM
Saddened to see Mr. Hoffman lose. However, it was a principled loss for Conservatives. I have never felt so happy with a lose.
Mr. Hoffman should be proud, as he ran a solid campaign, and was knee-capped by the DeDe “Diablo” Scozzofava the REPUBLICAN.
Hoping a truck load of Kharma finds its way to Dede’s future in the NY legislature.
portlandon on November 4, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Strange how you liberals always focus on the substantive.
Schadenfreude on November 4, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Indeed!
SouthernGent on November 4, 2009 at 1:10 PM
Here’s to hoping you have many such “victories” in 2010.
crr6 on November 4, 2009 at 1:10 PM
Newt has completely lost me and my potential vote in 2012 for his nonsensical support of a Democrat. He has long been one of my favorites on the national scene and I intended to vote for him if he should ever run. He has been my dream candidate for a very long time.
If the Republican *cough*leaders*cough* intend to turn the GOP into the Big Tent party then I am on permanent hiatus from ever casting my votes for anyone they back that is not an actual conservative.
SimplyKimberly on November 4, 2009 at 1:11 PM
What the hell did Hoffman do in terms of campaigning? He just had a lot of outsiders come in and throw his name around.
Norman Blizter on November 4, 2009 at 1:11 PM
sore loser
runner on November 4, 2009 at 1:17 PM
Independent unapologetic conservative third party candidate enters late, goes up against not one, but two party machines and gets 45% of the vote. Your spin is cute.
SirGawain on November 4, 2009 at 1:18 PM
You were awful quiet last night. Were you watching the biggest loser last night too? I knew we all were.
portlandon on November 4, 2009 at 1:18 PM
No it wasn’t. Morally, the defeat was a disaster. Newt and the RINOs will blame purists and peddle his “I told you so” crap, and he’ll be believable because he’s partially right (which in turn is irrelevant because Scopafeawpifgawef was worse than the Dem). Purists will blame Newt and the GOP aristocracy for peddling a POS candidate and feeding her so much money, but fair or not, thanks to Hoffman’s defeat it’ll ring hollow.
We did well overall yesterday, but I don’t see this as a victory, I see it as a bad omen. Even if we dislodge Narcissus from his glass throne, socialism is here to stay.
Teh Fred! hardest hit. I actually peddled around his funny funeral comment regarding Biden yesterday and as a result I’ll now look stupid by proxy. Cherry on top of the turd cake I guess.
Darth Executor on November 4, 2009 at 1:19 PM
Excellent post and the attached column was fantastic smackdown of the Obama’s sycophantic extremists and their ‘extremist GOP’ snake-oil sales tactics.
Dusty on November 4, 2009 at 1:19 PM
He campaigned on fiscal responsibility.
Was Joe Biden an “outsider” who came in throwing Owens name around? Was Susan Collins an “outsider” who came in and threw Scozzofava’s name around?
portlandon on November 4, 2009 at 1:21 PM
The more I think about it, Hoffman’s loss is likely have the unintended consequence of discouraging 3rd party runs next year, and instead convincing conservatives to work to take the GOP from within. If Hoffman works with the GOP establishment he should be able to claim the seat fairly easily next year.
Owens could end up being a rubber stamp for Pelosi until then, but it’s highly unlikely.
Hoffman’s loss is nowhere near as bad as some would like you to believe.
BadgerHawk on November 4, 2009 at 1:23 PM
Thanks Michelle your column makes me feel better. I read somewhere Hoffman was the gold and Owens was the silver since Scuzzy was to the left of Owens… so that said, I’m glad Scuzzy was forced out.
A sincere thanks to Doug Hoffman for running.
CCRWM on November 4, 2009 at 1:28 PM
Agreed. The fact that Hoffman received 45% of the vote is amazing.
Agreed with one caveat: if Owens does become a rubber stamp for Pelosi, it still will not help.
rukiddingme on November 4, 2009 at 1:29 PM
The Republican candidate that Newt endorsed was actually a Democrat. If she had endorsed Hoffman and he still lost, then you might have a point. Our own party endorsed a DEMOCRAT, plain and simple. They can try to spin it however they want, but we’ll just keep reminding them of that point.
thevastlane on November 4, 2009 at 1:29 PM
What happened in NY23 wasn’t your run-of-the-mill (D) vs. (R) puppet show. It was conservatives vs. liberal.
If there was any possible doubt before, it’s all gone now: the ultra-left wing of the “Republican” Party are waging a scorched-earth campaign to keep their stranglehold on the Party at all costs — and they do not consider the Democrats their enemies in that campaign. The real battle here is the one the RNC is waging against Republican voters.
In a nuclear war, both sides always lose. The only thing that matters is the fallout. This is nowhere NEAR over.
logis on November 4, 2009 at 1:30 PM
Heck yeah it was a victory – a big one
gophergirl on November 4, 2009 at 1:31 PM
He was waiting to get the spin of the day from Markos.
MarkTheGreat on November 4, 2009 at 1:40 PM
NY-23 (as it is today) goes away next year anyway because of redistricting and NY losing a House seat. It is a “hollow” victory for everyone claiming it as a “win”.
crosspatch on November 4, 2009 at 1:46 PM
How do you think congressman-elect Bill Owens is going to vote during the upcoming year, given the make-up for NY-23? Remember, he’s only got 364 days to build up a record to justify staying in office, and following the lead of Pelosi and Obama doesn’t figure to sit well in the North Country.
jon1979 on November 4, 2009 at 1:49 PM
It will still be there in 2010. Then depending on the census numbers and the legislative decisions in Albany, it may disappear after the 2011 redistricting from the ‘10 census or actually grow in surface area, if Democrats think they’re better off collecting Republicans over a wide area in one district in order to make more safe seats for Democrats.
jon1979 on November 4, 2009 at 1:53 PM
I agree.
visions on November 4, 2009 at 1:56 PM
Kos was saying that a conservative victory in NY-23 would have been a victory for the left.
In other words, neither side could lose this race.
YYZ on November 4, 2009 at 2:02 PM
Michelle: “up is down, and back is front!”
Grow Fins on November 4, 2009 at 2:16 PM
Let me preface this post by saying that I like Limbaugh, I love Palin and I revere the Tea Party Movement – BUT
This result was a serious setback for the Tea Party Movement. Sure, Hoffman wasn’t an ideal candidate but they couldn’t push him through to victory over the obstacles. In 2010 you’re going to have a candidate in 435 districts and many of them will be less than ideal. If you can’t push several of them through regardless of their shortcomings you won’t retake the House.
If Hoffman had won, Palin and the Tea Party Movement would now be a potent political force. They came up short. There is lots more work to be done.
Purists and Principles are great but there are no moral victories in politics. If you don’t win the seats you can’t accomplish much.
lonesomecharlie on November 4, 2009 at 2:30 PM
One fact is not talked about…NY-23 had it’s last election. It is surrounded by heavily democrat districts, and through redistricting it will be absorbed and no longer a Republican district.
This was an election for two years…a lame duck district.
right2bright on November 4, 2009 at 2:40 PM
Growfins343: “My brain is my anus. My anus is my brain.”
UltimateBob on November 4, 2009 at 3:02 PM