Twenty-four Hours After Dropping From Race, Scozzafava Endorses Democrat Bill Owens

11/01/09-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Yesterday, moderate Republican Dierdre Scozzafava pulled out of the New York 23 race and left Doug Hoffman hoping that she would support him. Instead, she threw her support behind Democrat Bill Owens. Her decision may come as a surprise to some, but not to others. Scozzafava was deemed to be too liberal for the Club for Growth, the same people behind the push to get Pat Toomey elected Senator from Pennsylvania. The group often bills itself as being along the lines of Ronald Reagan. Of course, Reagan was far less Conservative and willing to bring in not only moderate but liberal voices to his Administration. Instead, the Club for Growth pushes a reactionary Conservative agenda ranging from severe social conservativism to absolute fiscal conservativism and governmental minimalism.

When the state Republican Party chose Scozzafava to replace John McHugh, the Club for Growth under the auspices of the Conservative Party nominated Doug Hoffman. For his part, Hoffman has had Republicans including Sarah Palin tripping over themselves in order to support him and prove to the reactionary wing of the Republican Party just how Conservative they are.

The decision by Scozzafava to drop out of the race and endorse the Democrat drew accusations of her being a traitor and a turncoat. One could argue that the Republican Party on a national level had already betrayed her by throwing her to the wolves. The GOP has invested little in Scozzafava’s run for the seat, and the lack of funds has made fending off attacks from both sides impossible.

Should Doug Hoffman win, he will, of course, be welcomed into the Republican fold by House Minority Leader John Boehner. Should this happen, of course, Hoffman will be more interested in national politics than actually fixing what ails one of the most depressed areas of the New York economy. The area of New York represented by NY23 is only just getting cellphone coverage for large sections. The seat is also the most likely to be redistricted should New York loose a seat in the 2010 census.

Representative Boehner stated that he does not believe that this in-party fighting is an indication of the future. According to Boehner, Moderates will still be welcome. Perhaps Rep. Boehner would find a discussion with the Club for Growth helpful. They have already stated their intention to purify the Republican party, and are planning on taking down Governor Chris Christie of Florida in his bid to become Senator. They have already run Senator Arlan Specter out of the GOP.

Barring a crushing defeat of Doug Hoffman, the reactionary wing of the GOP is likely to be emboldened by even a close victory in NY23. Should this happen, they may continue to ‘purify’ the Party and the result of that could be a minority party with little or no power outside the extremes of the South.