Nov 01 2009

Everyone Is Over Reaching On NY-23

Published by at 8:27 am under AJStrata's GUT

NY-23 is an interesting case of one party’s political machinery screwing up, another party’s hopes being dashed, and the electorate fed up with both. But it is not a resurgence of the far right.

Dede Scozzafava was a lame attempt by the GOP party leaders to catch some Obama fever. She is so far left on social issues she could and should be a liberal, except she opposes intrusive government. If Obama and the Dems had stayed a more central course and stayed on their electoral wave, she might have been the best hope to hold  seat in a still rising tide of Democrats.

But the liberal fools in DC did not set a centrist policy course, and instead went far left.  There is now a waning Democrat tide. In comes the rogue candidate who challenges both status quo parties – and low and behold he is a shoe in. NY-23 represents are more right district than the nation, Hoffman reflects his district. He does not reflect the nation.

This actually is not very different than the Lieberman case in many ways. The party apparatus throws in the wrong candidate and a 3rd party comes in to be the message from the people they are the ones who will chose.. In the Lieberman case he, the independent, was the centrist. In this case it could be argued there was only left and right – no center.

There is no way Scozzafava is a typical centrist. But that is not how the far right will see it. They will throw this in everyone’s faces as if their time in political exile is over. Too bad McDonnell in VA, Christie in NJ and  a dozen other state candidates don’t fit their fantasy. This was a fluke, not a wave.

The truth is the nation wants the bums thrown out – as seen by this Fox News Poll:

If members of Congress were up for a job review right now — instead of a year from now — the ranks of the unemployed would swell to an even higher level. Americans place a lot of the blame for conditions in the country on Congress and, because of that, about two-thirds want to “throw them out” of office, according to the latest FOX News poll.

It is very important that the establishment conservatives remember they were the bums being thrown out only 3 years ago. The fact Hoffman (who I do prefer) will get in is not an indication of their return to favor. It is still only a reflection of the fact the Dems are joining the GOP in the dog house.

Overplay this at your own risk – it is easy fodder for ailing Democrats. America is fine with this result because it is a center-right nation (note the equality in ‘center’ and ‘right’). But try and label all center-right folks as  Scozzafava’s and you will find that dog house has a long lease on it. The best response is the people are speaking. The worst response is name calling.

Update: This is the big story of the election, not just NY-23 and its screwed up special election:

For years, Republicans were able to win in Virginia by driving up turnout within their base. But as their proportion of the electorate has dwindled, many in the party have said changing times demand that they adopt a more centrist message to appeal to voters outside the party. McDonnell has heeded that advice, making himself attractive to independents such as David Grimes, 43, a teacher from Fairfax County who supports abortion rights and backed Democrat Timothy M. Kaine for governor four years ago.

Sixty-one percent of self-described independents in a recent Washington Post poll of likely voters responded that they will cast their ballots for McDonnell, helping him secure a comfortable 11-point advantage over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds. Those unaffiliated voters make up more than one-third of McDonnell’s supporters, and in Northern Virginia such voters have responded well to his message about taxes, jobs and the economy.

This is how you win state wide and nation wide. Why the fringes are focused on the special election in one very conservative NY district is beyond me. But it would seem many are grasping for green shoots – fictional green shoots.

7 responses so far

7 Responses to “Everyone Is Over Reaching On NY-23”

  1. lurker9876 says:

    The so-called establishment conservatives were not true conservatives. They went astray from the principles of the conservative and Founding Fathers.

    I am beginning to believe that the conservative movement other than those under Bush is not too well understood.

    We witness the centrists sway back and forth between the two parties. That tells me that they are confused about their own principles as if they don’t know what values and principles to believe in.

    If the conservatives are voted back in, they owe it to us that they would not repeat the performance under Bush but rather under Clinton or Reagan.

    Why can’t anyone show the deficits / debts charts the relationship between US Presidents? Other than Bush, when a US President is either a democrat or republican, a Democratic Congress raises the deficits and debts higher and faster than a Republican Congress.

  2. AJStrata says:

    lurker,

    Rejecting a party that strays too far from main street is not uncertainty at all. It is clear certainty that up to a point support is acceptable, cross that point and you are out.

    Centrists are not wishy-washy. They are quiet – and they are in control of who wins elections. Never forget that last bit.

  3. Redteam says:

    Centrists are not wishy-washy. They are quiet – and they are in control of who wins elections. Never forget that last bit.

    and in their great wisdom, they gave us Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Murtha, Biden, etc.

  4. AJStrata says:

    Redteam,

    LOL! Yeah, the far right stunk up the place so bad those clowns looked good! Imagine how bad they looked to fall for that???

    Still want to play with us centrists?

  5. ivehadit says:

    Will the centrists form a party? Independents are as large as conservatives according to recent polls (42% C and 36% )I

  6. Redteam says:

    LOL, there is no amount of stinking up any place that would make obama look good to me.
    He looks like a total inexperienced clown compared to that conservative (not centrist) Sarah Palin who was instrumental in doing the shoving on that far leftie lib in NY-23.

  7. […] savvy, and knows that to derail Sarah Palin in 2012 they need to brand her a far right zealot. As I noted before, everyone is blowing the NY-23 debacle out of all proportions. The Scozzafava selection was a dumb […]