The Right Rev Rowland

UPDATE: #2. Scozzafava endorses the Democratic candidate, Bill Owens, over her conservative challenger, Doug Hoffman. This move only serves to underscore the reason for Hoffman’s candidacy. Dede was so much like Owens that her bid for the seat was redundant.

Go Doug!

-We now return you to our original post:

Finally! Some reality begins to set in as the LIBERAL candidate endorsed by the Republican Party (&Newt) in New York’s 23rd District special election steps out of the running. Her reasons? Not enough support, not enough money. Does that tell you anything? In her statement she says:

Dede Scozzafava

“In recent days, polls have indicated that my chances of winning this election are not as strong as we would like them to be. The reality that I’ve come to accept is that in today’s political arena, you must be able to back up your message with money—and as I’ve been outspent on both sides, I’ve been unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made about my record. But as I’ve said from the start of this campaign, this election is not about me, it’s about the people of this District. And, as always, today I will do what I believe serves their interests best.

It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so.”

She couldn’t bring herself to endorse the conservative, of course. I’m sure there is quite a bit of sting in Hoffman’s complete usurpation of her run for national office. Her name is still on the ballot, as there is not enough time (or money) to print new ballots before Tuesday, but no votes for her will count. Of course, if the residents of NY 23 wanted to sent a sharp rebuke to the national Tea Party movement, they would overwhelmingly write-in Scozzafava as their candidate. But don’t hold your breath for that to happen.

Newt Gingrich said in his endorsement of her that she was the choice of the local GOP voters, but it seems that is not the case. The whole problem with the political process in America is that too few voters pay attention during the primaries. If there is a political machine in place in a district or state, they can easily push their anointed candidate in the party primary, and when the rest of the voters wake up, they are stuck with the establishment candidate.

What Hoffman was able to pull of will resonate across the country in 2010. He was able to highlight the contrast between his conservative stance with the identical liberal stances of the Republican and Democrat candidates. When voters began to fully see what their choices were, the momentum began to mount behind Hoffman.

ARE YOU LISTENING YET, GOP???

Newt’s complaint was that money wasn’t being raised in the district, but was coming from outside the district, from activists and activist organizations. Hello? Is that not an indication of the national mood? And WHEN the

voters of NY23 overwhelmingly vote for Hoffman on Nov. 3rd, will Newt then change his stance about local politics? Is Newt against giving voters a full airing of what their choices really are? Because when people in NY23 began to see who they really had in a Republican candidate, they moved instead to the Independent Conservative candidate.

This is a victory for the Tea Party movement and Conservatism. Go Doug!

No response from Scozzafava-endorsing, ‘local-politics’ supporting Newt Gingrich as yet. But the day is young.

we’ll see.

UPDATE: Gingrich put out a non-statement-statement on National Review Online late in the day on Halloween. Note that it doesn’t address Dede dropping out or his endorsement of a RINO:

Hoffman Emerges [Newt Gingrich]

“The emergence of Doug Hoffman as the only alternative to a pro-tax increase, pro-Pelosi liberal is a victory for Mike Long and the Conservative party, in alliance with the national conservative movement and talk radio.

The challenge for the next three days is to convince every Republican who opposes Pelosi and opposes tax increases that Doug Hoffman is the only vote that can stop the Left on tuesday.

In a district that has double-digit unemployment, tax increases are a threat to further crush the economy.

If taxes are the key issue, the Democrats will suffer a significant defeat.

In all three elections Tuesday the Democrat is going to run ten to twenty points behind Obama’s share a year ago.”

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It’s a dream come true for conservatives and independents. In the New York District 23 special election, the Independent candidate for the Conservative Party of New York, is ahead of both the Republican and Democratic candidates. Doug Hoffman is a CPA and CPNY member that was nominated when Dierdre Scozzafava, or ‘Dede’ became the GOP candidate.

CPNY refused to nominate a candidate with Scozzafava’s record, so they ran their own candidate. It is a shot across the bow of the establishment GOP by conservatives. Her record of playing the middle in supporting tax hikes and in accepting endorsements from groups like the Working Families Party (closely tied to ACORN), and even drawing an endorsement from the Daily Kos founder, Markos Moulitsas.

Notwithstanding endorsements from Newt Gingrich and Susan Collins, Republican Senator from Maine (who was the ONLY GOP member in the Senate to vote for Max Baucus’ 1500-page health care bill), Hoffman has surged in recent days ahead of both the Democrat and Republican candidates.  Add to that a one-day fundraising total of over $116,000, and the momentum is clearly with the Independent candidate.

Perhaps the endorsement of Gov. Sarah Palin had something to do with it? The NY Times reported it thusly: “Mrs. Palin announced her endorsement on her Facebook page, writing that in an election in which ‘there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican,’ ‘Doug Hoffman has not been anointed by any political machine.’”

Fred Thompson and the Club for Growth along with a long list of other conservative, pro-family groups have endorsed Hoffman over Scozzafava. Why the GOP thought running a candidate that was virtually indistinguishable (voted in favor of gay marriage twice, in favor of tax hikes, pro-abortion, etc.) from the liberal Democratic candidate is beyond most conservatives, and they are pushing back. Time for the GOP to wake up, both nationally and locally. Conservatives want better choices, and won’t be taken for granted any more. Party loyalties are falling, and core values are rising to the top.

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President Barack Obama declared the H1N1 flu virus a national emergency today (10/24/09) in response the start of the flu season. He said there were no significant developments, but that the ‘crisis’ had lasted more than six months and resulted in over 1,000 deaths.

That made me curious as to what the average seasonal flu mortality rate is, so I looked up the annual statistics. According to the American Journal of Epidemiology, since 1979, we have averaged 41,400 deaths from flu and flu-related complications such as pneumonia EVERY YEAR. Let that sink in. Over 40,000 in the US die every year from the seasonal flu, and in half that time, 1,000 deaths have been recorded from Swine Flu.

THIS is cause for a ‘national emergency’? The loss of 1,000 human lives is a deep loss of loved ones, family, friends and is a tragedy. I sorrow for those who have lost loved ones. But to bring the power of the federal government to bear on this statistical minority in a nation of 350 million people is a gross over-reaction.

National emergency powers don’t stop at streamlining emergency rooms, once the precedent has been set that there is an emergency, and declared by the President, the door is open to quarantine, martial law, forced vaccinations, or any other measure of government intrusion on our liberties that we can’t stop. It is the ’state of emergency’ that allows law enforcement to suspend individual rights.

Now, the Constitution provides for emergency powers for government in order to preserve order in dire circumstances, and very few times in our history have those powers been enacted, such as during the Civil War. I agree those provisions are necessary and good. What I disagree with is that the H1N1 flu virus should trigger this step. No, martial law has not been declared, no the police aren’t dragging barbed wire through the streets and blocking travel. But the first step has been taken by declaring a national emergency.

With a national emergency in place, other powers and options become available to government that are not legal during peacetime or times of civil rest. That’s what I don’t trust this government with. Too much power is a dangerous thing, and with the arrogance already displayed by this administration, the declaration today by Obama makes me wonder what else is coming down the road.

Eyes open, kids….. this isn’t just about the flu.

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