I’m really loving this special election in NY. I’m sorry that those people are going to be represented by a Bachmann style wingnut, but hey- they voted for him, so they can just deal with it.
But what I find really amusing is that they are taking a win for the Republican in that district as a sign of a conservative resurgence, emboldening them to take their tea party on the road to savage other apostates and those insufficiently loyal to the ideology, when that district hasn’t elected anything BUT Republicans since the Civil War. Again, nothing but Republicans for 70 straight elections, and they are taking the 71st (or whatever it actually is) as a “sign.”
When you think about it, that is funnier than the birthers.
And what makes it extra special is that they will probably succeed in a few safe Republican districts, and primary out a couple of people and replace them with Glen Beck following religious nuts like Hoffman. I wonder if the short-sighted fools at Reason are proud of the monsters they helped create when they were pimping the teabaggers the last six months. I bet Hoffman has really enlightened views on marijuana, pornography, the justice system, and individuals rights. Well done, glibertarians!
General Winfield Stuck
Yep, this Politico story headlines Memerandum. It is fascinating they are targeting people like Bob Bennett of Utah.
He does rarely vote with dems so is not 100 % wingnut, like say a James Inhoffe, but is at least 95% pure imo.
Jamie
It is funny, but seven former college debaters trying to be cleverly contrarian for a living can’t really be blamed for this.
There’s a big heaping pile of incoherent crazy out there.
Sue
Yes but 95% is not 100%. That’s important.
Will
It’s the 90s school board revolution all over again. Wingnuts took over the nation’s public schools, prepared to simultaneously run it into the ground through incompetence at the nuts and bolts and ideological crusades that mostly served to siphon money from taxpayers into the pockets of trial lawyers.
That lasted a couple of cycles before the public got sick of it and voted them out for good. If the GOP keeps it up, they’ll make the entire country safe for Democratic candidates in about a decade.
Randy P
Since 1856 apparently. Here’s a nice bit of research from a diary on DailyKos
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/6/6/739538/-Amazing-Political-History-of-NY-23
The spin I’m starting to hear is “for a district that went for Obama in 2008 to elect a Republican would be truly significant”. Except, obviously, they also elected a Republican in 2008. By 65% to 35%.
It took a little digging to find some 2008 congressional election results but I finally found them here.
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/house/map.html
neff
The push against Scozzafava was initially pushed by the Club for Growth/FreedomWorks businessy types because it’s one of those districts where historically the Republican candidates have to court union voters, and Scozzafava had come out in favor of the Employee Free Choice Act.
They later hyped up the gay rights and abortion stuff to get the tea party crowd going along but it was all about anti-union, pro-big-business stuff at the higher levels. Pretty standard stuff.
chopper
heh. given that hoffman has shown to have absolutely no knowledge (nor does he even care) about any local issues, i’m sure if he wins he’d do just a bang-up job representing the district. what a win for the teabaggers, getting a moronic carpetbagger elected for one term.
Leelee for Obama
@Will: I think I need a cigarette now! Thanks!
El Cid
How dare
ACORNPOLITICO print such an inflammatory piece?This is all the fault of ACORN, Jimmy Carter, the CRA, and Fannie and Freddie.
kay
@neff:
Right. That’s the money. But where did they get the troops?
Here:
The pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, for example, has eight organizers working full-time in the district. Today, they’re canvassing with members of Generation Joshua, a religious youth group, and handing out literature that lists Hoffman’s endorsements from former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, former Sen. Fred Thompson, and conservative blogger Michelle Malkin. They’ve prepared 90,000 sample ballots for Hoffman to be handed out by 200-odd volunteers at key precincts.
It looks like same-old same-old Republicanism to me. Maybe I’m missing something. The bidness end funds the race and picks the most malleable blank-sheet candidate, has him sign a pledge, and the church folks do all the work. How is this different than former President Bush’s strategy?
Eight organizers working full time in one CD.
UncommonSense
Actually, John, the Republicans lost this election.
A third-party candidate forced her out of the race. Doug Hoffman is running as the Conservative Party nominee. It is no different than if a right-wing candidate representing the Natural Law Party or the Marijuana Reform Party had forced Scozzafava to withdraw.
No matter who wins the election in NY-23, the GOP lost.
El Cid
@UncommonSense: Oh, you and yer ‘facks’ and such.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
We should pass a constitutional amendment saying that any time a congress critter votes against an appropriations of some sort, their district does not get any of the money. That way, these people will actually have to feel the consequences of voting for these nuts.
Jamie
No matter who wins the election in NY-23, the GOP lost.
That would make more sense if this were a Nader situation. However, it isn’t, because unlike Nader, the teabaggers are, and will continue, to pull what’s left of the GOP to the “right”. (I scare-quote that because I don’t think it is fair to honest conservatives to blame all of our current Beck/Palin infestation on them. 80% or so, maybe.) Nader did successfully spoil 2000, but he failed at dragging the Dems in his direction.
The Golux
I guess if you’re going to run a Glenn Beck automaton, the smart place to do it is in the most redneck district in the state.
The teabaggers think they’re gaining momentum, not realizing that speed increases as one circles the drain.
par4
Maybe Obama can find a place for him in the administration.
Paul L.
Which is why your follow moderates in ACORN are expected to protest the Election results.
And now the retorts of ACORN is “old news” and you should Move on.
kay
Although, if they have 8 paid organizers and 200 volunteers, the organizers are not really earning their keep.
25 volunteers recruited per organizer is less than your average bake sale response.
Leelee for Obama
This! What a shot in the pocketbook THAT would be! I just love how the asshats who vote against things trumpet the arrival of the funds they didn’t want-or, Joe Wilson, bitch about a flu vaccine being late, when you voted against funding it.
The hypocrisy absolutely disgusting!
Comrade Dread
Yeah. Judging from the blogosphere, this election is the second Conservative Revolution which will bring in the glorious Golden Age of America where the rich are not taxed, the middle class work their whole lives in service to the banking and credit card industries and the poor subsist on individual handouts until they (the middle class or poor) do us all a favor and die of easily preventable diseases and pass on their meaningless jobs and their debts to their children.
The funny thing is, that I think they would have something and would be more successful, if they embraced economic populism and railed against Wall St. as much as they rail against Washington.
Joel
@Paul L.: ACORN is ‘Deez Nuts. You’re still hanging on them?
R. Porrofatto
The Rich Boys’ Club for Growth has been going after RINOs for years with a well-funded war chest from the right-wing moneytits and all they’ve managed to do is get Democrats elected. Hell, they even got Arlen Spector to become a Democrat.
Alan
I’m hoping they’ll do it to Charlie Crist in the the closed GOP primary down here in Florida. That’ll be the real test. They can see for sure if a RW nut, Marco Rubio, can win over a Democrat running as a “true” Reagan conservative in a moderate state.
gex
Man, I just can’t get enough of the glibertarian bashing Cole dishes out.
Svensker
@Paul L.:
I would never say that. ACORN is NO news. The voices in Glenn Beck’s head can’t “move on” — they are stuck going round and round and round, over and over and over again, screaming and crying, laughing and sighing, OMG OMG OMG.
Martin
@Sue:
Any politician with one drop of liberal blood – one drop! – shall henceforth be considered a liberal and not worth full recognition in this great party.
jwb
@General Winfield Stuck: And yet one just knows that Broder will reconcile 100% wingnut with bipartisan.
kay
@Paul L.:
Thanks for the link Paul. Did you read it? Hoffman’s district got 1 billion in stimulus funds. Wow. I wonder what that place would look like had their been a conservative majority in Congress when the bottom fell out of the Bush economy.
Tent city, baby.
danimal
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): I’d settle for an effective press corps that identifies the lies, deceptions and hypocrisy without the bs “he said/she said” style of reporting. Just give the people the truth and the people will figure things out soon enough. The bs only stands because of the complicity of lazy newspaper writers and editors.
Napoleon
I forget where I saw it this morning but not only has that district went R since the Civil War but something like the last 15 or 20 elections, which include 2 open seat elections, the Democrats have not broken 35-38% even once.
It is like the Harlem Globetrotters treating a win over the Washington Generals like winning the NBA championship against the Lakers.
inkadu
@Comrade Dread: “…die of easily preventable diseases and pass on their meaningless jobs and their debts to their children” … who are numerous because nobody receives sex education, condoms, or abortions.
smedley
Sorry, John, but I’m just not feeling it. The only way this works against Republicans is if our media would actually ask them the obvious questions. Questions such as: Do you really want to eliminate “socialism” from America, such as Medicare, Social Security, Dept. of Veterans Affairs, food stamps, AMTRAK, etc.? How many times will we be disappointed when our “liberal” media fails us?
kay
@Paul L.:
And, just so conservatives don’t continue to spread misinformation about election law (which is a complicated and specialized subject, about which none of you know one thing) ACORN challenged Hoffman’s contention that election observers have to be registered District voters, and lost.
Unless you’re now advocating restricting access to a court for people you disagree with or dislike, there’s no “threat” there.
Court challenges are permitted, and even encouraged, under our system, and anyone who pays the filing fee is allowed in.
The Grand Panjandrum
I can’t wait to see the reaction of NY-23 residents when Hoffman votes against EFCA and dairy subsidies. I wonder how much “anti-socialist” agenda the folks in that district can stand? DougJ got any insight for us?
Rudi
The 23rd is more swing, than hard core wingnut:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York's_23rd_congressional_district
The CPI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cook_Partisan_Voting_Index
Cook PVI R+1
Larison also calls the district solid Republican, but where is the evidence…
Bubblegum Tate
This will definitely be the funniest part. Unless, of course, you’re a non-crazy person living in a teabagged district, in which case it’s sad.
neff
Well, NY-23 is a big camofare district with Fort Drum as the biggest employer, so if Hoffman has the usual support for that variety of government spending, voters might not notice as much.
kay
The eight Susan B. Anthony List organizers admit they’re from out of district, and are passing out sample ballots at polling stations, but Hoffman objects to the out of district organizers on the left.
That’s consistent. My outside groups are inherently more righteous than your outside groups.
He’ll fit right in.
MikeJ
Uhm, by electing republicans for 150 years?
Dusty
It’s a solid Republican seat, given that it hasn’t gone to a Dem in over a century or something. The GOS has a post showing that Dems haven’t broken 38% in that race in the last 27 years. This shoulda been a Republican gimme.
Hoffman’s signed some Club for Growth pledge not to take earmarks, so, we’ll see how long he holds out on that.
rapido
Does anyone know why Scozzafazza (sic?) dropped out of the race? She went on to back Owens and it seems she would have split the conservative/republican vote with Hoffman to Owens’s benefit.
This has been something I haven’t been able to figure out, so if anyone can venture a guess please enlighten me.
NickM
No, no – that’s a fact, not evidence. Evidence is an offer of proof by a wingnut. Try again.
jwb
@kay: But, but, but, Hoffman’s out-of-district organizers are “real Murkins” whereas the leftists are at best DFHs. Everyone knows that. Get with the program already.
itsbenj
correction: Hoffman isn’t a Republican. he’s the ‘Conservative Party’ candidate. the Republican dropped out.
rapido
If these numbers are accurate then I’m even more surprised she dropped out if she really favored Owens
http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard/1009/BREAKING_Scozzafava_drops_out_of_NY_23.html
“The decision to suspend her campaign is a boost for Hoffman, who already had the support of 50 percent of GOP voters, according to a newly-released Siena poll, and is now well-positioned to win over the 25 percent of Republicans who had been sticking with Scozzafava.”
kommrade reproductive vigor
Bu-but if Hoffman wins, just think of what this will do to Beck and Palin!
Why, it ignite their delusions of grandeur and convince them that they’re essential to politics. They’ll insist on barging into every election, no matter what the candidate might want.
If Hoffman wins, any candidate who refuses to take The Oath and grovel at the feet of Shebilly Who Must be Obeyed will be set upon and driven out by the Red Shriek Strike Farce and replaced by someone with suitable credentials. With in two years the GOP wouldn’t be able to scrub off the stink of bigotry if it soaked in tomato juice for a decade.
It’ll be awful. Awful I tell you.
Think of all the poor libs who’ll die laughing.
kay
@jwb:
They’re so completely full of shit. Yeah. Eight Susan B Anthony organizers appeared out of nowhere. They spontaneously arose from the grass roots of that district, complete with sample ballots, and the out of district volunteers from Joshua Generation to do the grunt work.
NY 23 just witnessed a miracle. It’s miraculous.
Anoniminous
@Alan:
Cristie was a slam-dunk to win the Florida Senate seat.
Rubio … not so much. His nomination puts the result in doubt.
I’m not familiar – enough – with Florida politics to lay odds but the GOP moving from a slam-dunk to “in doubt” strikes me as a Win … for Democrats.
jwb
@kay: Hey, it’s the best miracle money can buy.
WyldPiratd
[email protected]
<blockquoteThere’s a big heaping pile of incoherent crazy out there.
I think that this is at the root of most of the wackjobbery we are seeing now. The question is, what is the root of all of the “incoherent crazy” and how to address its roots.
The incoherent craziness has been brewing and building since Reich-wing talk radio began taking off in the ’80s. The disdain for the truth by right wing radio got it rolling and the redneck rubes lapped up the lies because many of them, particularly in the South were I grew up, had been about to boil over w/hate for the “darkies” and the the loss of their ability to string up the nearest darkie on a whim.
Cable news amped up the bs in the ’90s, particulary w/their underwear-sniffing of the Clenis and the rest of the media’s treatment of baseless accusations and fanning of ANY of these wild-assed accusations into “legitimate news” by panty-sniffers in the Beltway media. This led to an overall acceptance of multiple versions of “the facts”.
Of time, the multiple versions of “the facts” coupled to the 30+ years of screams of the “liebral media” and the SCLM reacted in a piss-poor way in that they no longer have the gonadal fortitude to stop people from getting on air and spouting a continuous stream of of easily verifiable lies without interruption while those that attempted to tell the truth get shouted down or spin their wheels trying to refute the lies, which is a much more difficult proposition.
Now we’ve devolved to the point where folks like Virginia Foxx (Whackjob-NC)–someone that has an EdD from UNC_Crapel Hill and who was once president of a community college–gets up on the floor of the House and just spouts the most vicious and hateful BS imaginable.
Things have seriously gotten out of hand over the past twelve years or so, but its gone into warp drive in the last year. Intellectual dishonesty is at the core of the problems at the top. This drives the rubes turns into a continuous loop of “teh stupid” as their paranoia is reinforced.
I don’t think we break out of this until something much worse than 9/11 happens. I wish I could be optimistic, but I’m not.
mds
ACORN challenged Hoffman’s contention that election observers have to be registered District voters, and lost.
Never mind the hypocrisy of right-wing out-of-town groups being okay, it’s pretty rich for Hoffman to bring something like that up when he isn’t even a registered District voter.
cat48
I am praying Glenn Beck for the good of the country decides to run for president for the good of the country and that he has plenty of Vick’s on hand to lead his 912’ers.
They need a dynamic leader. Maybe Palin and he can run together.
mds
Great, I probably broke the internet by furgling that closing tag, didn’t I?
Edward G. Talbot
Actually, they’ll probably succeed in some not safe districts too.
Because of various gerrymandering over the decades, a lot of districts are split personalities. So there are some districts that are only Republican by a little bit (and currently Republican) where a large majority of the Republicans in the district are teabagger types.
If the movement gains steam and starts primarying “moderate” repubs in some of these swing districts, they could very well lose 3-6 elections that they might otherwise have won.
Likewise here in Florida, Marco Rubio can’t win statewide while Charlie Crist would be a lock in a statewide election probably. But it’s possible Rubio beats Crist in the primary for Senate.
Finally, although on one level I find what is happening to the repubs amusing, I don’t share the glee of many on the left. People with serious teabagger leanings may be as much as 20-25% of the population. They can do quite a bit of damage. The fact is that both healthcare and the stimulus will wind up being inadequate in large part due to their influence. Losing general elections at the ballot box is not going to quiet them down – it will probably do the opposite.
And it should be noted that some of the teabagger anger – however misdirected – comes from the same place as the anger the rest of us feel. We’ve allowed and continue to allow big interests, corporate and governmental, to create a system that makes more and more of us less and less well off. That anger isn’t going away. Even moderates eventually will get sick of it and not all of them will move away from the teabaggers when they’ve finally had enough.
Anoniminous
@rapido:
The interesting aspect of the politico quote was their assumption:
Republican = Conservative
According to DougJ, who knows the district, this isn’t true. Support for his contention is the fact Obama took the district in 2008.
So, once again, we can see the gap between the Tea Bag grasp of Reality and Reality.
I submit this serves to illustrate we have not yet reached Peak Wingnut.
I further submit any investment in popcorn futures should return 18 – 25% over the next year.
Notorious P.A.T.
@kay:
Hoffman doesn’t live in the disctrict, but he wants election observers that do??? Man, that is some gall.
Notorious P.A.T.
Are you one of those imbeciles who thinks ACORN stole the ’08 election?
Librarian
I’m just sitting here, livid at the thought of what we all know will be the media reaction to tonight’s results. They just can’t wait to proclaim the triumphant return, the revival, the comeback, or whatever, of the GOP, the right, the teabaggers, etc, and the voters’ resounding rejection of Obama and the Democrats. They will be completely unable to help themselves. I know that if I don’t want my blood pressure to go up dangerously I will have to avoid TV for the next few days.
jwb
@Librarian: Since you know it’s coming, why not just ignore it? You’re certainly not going to find me near the TV or the intertubes tonight.
Anoniminous
Another hidden assumption going around that needs to be brought into the light of day for examination.
Everybody thinks a challenge from the Right will force GOP sitting candidates to move Right. But that’s not where the Win is in a general election … in statewide races, at least.
Senators aren’t stupid. They know this.
Sitting Senators have the advantages of a previously acquired war-chest, a money raising machine already in existence, and incumbency. Unseating a sitting Senator, in a general election, is the second hardest job in US politics.
Given this, it seems to me it is not entirely a sure thing a GOP Senator, successfully or not, challenged from the right will necessarily move to the Right … or even run as a Republican. We’ve already seen this with Lieberman. Successfully challenged from the “Left” he ignored the primary, went straight to the voters, and won.
Anoniminous
@rapido:
According to polling, she couldn’t win and with her in the race, splitting the moderate votes, Hoffman was going to.
I’m thinking there was a wee bit of “Goeth Forth and Fornicate Thyself” in her mind as well.
Dusty
Specter made moves to the right before giving up and switching parties altogether. Of course, Pennsylvania has sore loser laws, which Connecticut doesn’t have.
But it’s not really as much about a general election scenario as it is about the primaries, particularly closed primaries, which, I believe, is what they have in Pennsylvania. As more and more moderates leave the Republican Party for either independence or the Democratic Party, that leaves the primary decisions in the hands of the base. Specter could probably have won a general election as a Republican incumbent; he was afraid he couldn’t win a Republican primary, so he started to move to the right, which would then have made him less viable in the general.
John Ball
Speaking as a lifelong native of the North Country–never doubt our ability to cut off our collective nose to spite our face. This is a region miles away from the Mason-Dixon line, yet full of Confederate flags.
handy
This. Big Money and Power has no problem playing the populism crowd with us rubes, misdirecting our anger while stealing from our pockets all along. That’s why this whole notion of the nutty teabaggers will push people into our arms trope is nothing but a liberal pipe dream.
Will
The best part is HE’S NOT EVEN A REPUBLICAN.
Calouste
@Librarian:
Yesssss…, considering that both Virginia Gov and NY-23 should be surefire losses for the Dems under normal circumstances (Virginia Gov has gone against the part that held the White House since the 70s), and New Jersey Gov wasn’t that hot for the Dems either with an unpopular incumbent. All three going to the GOP should be considered a marginally good night for them. One of them going to the Dems should be considered a marginally good night for the Dems. Of course it will be presented by the old media that 2 out of 3 is a huge win for the GOP, and 3 out of 3 will have some of the blowhards wondering why Obama isn’t stepping down already.
Anoniminous
@Dusty:
Right.
Or should I write, “Correct?” ;-)
GOP sitting senators in states with closed primaries and Sore Loser laws are going to have to decide before the filing deadline if they are going to run in their primaries or run as Independents. I submit this decision will have little to do with internal GOP politics and all to do with maintaining their political lives.
Have to do some research to find the GOP Senators who fall into this category.
Rudi
@Dusty:
Thanks for the link. I got confused by the endless redistricting for the Watertown(NY) area.
Alan
@Anoniminous:
My hope is it’ll be a win for the Democrat. But we’ll have to wait on Rubio winning the primary. Of course, I fear Rubio taking it all–we are, of course, talking about Florida.
licensed to kill time
Rick Moran, of all people, thinks “fellow conservatives are making a terrible mistake trying to drag the Republican Party to the far-right” :
Seanly
@Paul L.:
Yummy… there’s some delicious Wingnut sauce available in the comments for that ridiculous article. I thought ACORN didn’t care about white folks. Now they’re going to protest an off-year election?
I welcome the Republican party breaking into two camps:
1) The tighty whitey business crowd (with some Birchers thrown in)
2) The “praise Jeebus” crowd with all those closeted hateful bigots still pulling the strings.
Without each other, neither of those camps could get more than 30% of the vote (and the more one gets, the fewer the other gets). Oh, sure, some worthless backwater southern states may got full metal wingnut, but nationally each faction will be too weak.
liberal
@Edward G. Talbot:
Agreed. “It can’t happen here!”
Anoniminous
@licensed to kill time:
That is IT!
Will the people behind the Reality-Warping Device PLEASE turn it off!?! My brain can’t deal with it anymore.
@Alan:
There’s that. Too. Also.
lou
According to New York Daily News, wingnuts supporting Hoffman are apparently harassing voters and violating the 100 feet rule for polling places.
Nice!
Martin
@lou:
Creeping socialism comes in all forms. A true democracy would allow citizens the freedom to kneecap their fellow voters.
Phoenix Woman
Just imagine: IN NY-23, the wingnuts took a safe Republican seat, a seat the GOP has owned so securely and for so long that in the previous election Dede Scozzafava didn’t even have a Democratic challenger, and made it competitive.
Way to go, bozos! Could you please do that to a few seats in Alabama and Mississippi next?
Phoenix Woman
@Calouste:
Don’t forget CA-10 — where Ellen Tauscher’s seat is going to be taken by the far more liberal John Garamendi. Funny how the legacy media isn’t really talking about this as a bellwether race, eh?
inkadu
@handy: If the same class is attacking itself it can’t be a class war.
Ash Can
@Phoenix Woman: Not just that, they guaranteed that, for the first time in eleventy bazillion years, a Republican would not be elected.
Of course, I’m assuming that Hoffman would change his official party affiliation once elected. I reserve the right to laugh out loud, however, if his Conservative Party colleagues were to get miffed over that and act churlish to him, and/or there were some obscure rule in the district that prevented him from changing his affiliation on demand.
OniHanzo
I swear to god this kind of schism between the teabaggers and the GOP has all the echoes of Perot’s Reform Party. And that worked like fucking gangbusters.
Cue cartoonish dust cloud and emerging hands/feet.
ImJohnGalt
@licensed to kill time:
Uh….I’m pretty sure that Nostradamus never tried to turn lead into gold.
licensed to kill time
@ImJohnGalt: Well, the guy who wrote that is a Moran…
chrismealy
@Will:
There’s a great story in that wingnut school board deal. Somebody ought to write that book.
Comrade Darkness
@El Cid: What? There’s a House Ethics Committee? When’d that happen?
Comrade Darkness
@ImJohnGalt: Nostradamus was an Apothocary. That’s not too far from Alchemy .
ImJohnGalt
@Comrade Darkness:
In a dictionary, perhaps.
Comrade Darkness
@rapido: You asked why scozzafava quit. Here’s a linky on that. hate, lies, wore me down Ain’t that true for all of us, dede.
@ImJohnGalt: Heh. In that era, though, as cast in the modern light . . . I bet you couldn’t distinguish his lab from Faust’s.