RSS Feed MenuIn New York’s 23rd congressional district, it’s déjà vu all over again. Internecine fighting has broken out between candidates in the district’s Republican primary, and the race threatens to be a repeat of the divisive 2009 special election that saw a Democrat take a historically Republican district.
On Monday, the Oneida Republican county committee endorsed Matt Doheny, a businessman who lives in the district. This comes on the heels of three endorsements from other Republican county chairs.
Doug Hoffman, who failed to win the Republican nomination in 2009 but then ran on the Conservative Party ticket, has so far failed to receive any local endorsements. Yesterday, his campaign claimed that the Oneida endorsement was another case of backroom establishment deal-making, and that they were never invited to make their case before the Oneida Republican Committee. ‘Doheny uses Scozzafava insider tactics against Hoffman,’ screamed a story headline in the Gouverneur Times.
“They said that they didn’t invite us because we never sent them a letter telling them we were interested,” Rob Ryan, Hoffman’s spokesperson, told FrumForum. “As if the whole world doesn’t know that Doug Hoffman is running for Congress.”
Doheny’s campaign shot back that the endorsement was earned through smart campaign management. “He wasn’t invited to the meeting [on Monday]. Our campaign proactively asked the Oneida county Republican Committee when they were meeting, and Matt went to make his case,” said Doheny’s spokeswoman, Alison Power.
One of the key moments in the disastrous NY-23 special election was when the New York Conservative Party refused to endorse Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava. This, in effect, split the conservative vote between the Republican Party ticket and the Conservative Party ticket.
Once again, the Conservative Party has chosen to back Doug Hoffman. Mike Long, the chairman of the New York Conservative Party, denied that Matt Doheny is insufficiently conservative. But even so, Long says that his party’s endorsement will go to Hoffman.
“I feel that Doug Hoffman has earned the right to have the Conservative Party endorsement,” Michael Long told FrumForum. Asked if there was anything that Doheny could do to earn his party’s endorsement, Long said that “Matt Doheny is a fine young man, [but] there is nothing he can do to get our endorsement.”
With the district split once again between the endorsements of the Conservative Party and Republican county chairs, New York’s 23rd congressional district may very well see a replay of the special election which ultimately led to Democrat Bill Owens’ victory.
The Hoffman campaign has returned to flinging accusations at the Republican activists in the district. “I think that the Republican establishment has abandoned their conservative values,” Hoffman’s spokesperson said. “Doheny is with the same leadership who backed Scozzafava. They’re two peas in a pod … It’s clear that the Republican chairs are trying to deny the nomination to Doug Hoffman at all costs.”
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that [Doheny] is conservative enough,” responded Doheny’s spokesperson, Alison Power. ”We’ve been talking to people with families whose roots in the district go back to the Civil War, with strong conservative values, and they’ve been very supportive,”.
It is no surprise, then, that in the context of this bitter infighting, Charlie Cook’s political report rates the race as ‘lean Democrat’, even though there are more Republicans living in the district.
Without a swift resolution, or at least a more civil primary season, NY-23 may have to go through another round of painful blood-letting.
mlindroo // Apr 14, 2010 at 12:39 am
> “I feel that Doug Hoffman has earned the right to have the Conservative Party endorsement,”
> Michael Long told FrumForum. Asked if there was anything that Doheny could do to
> earn his party’s endorsement, Long said that “Matt Doheny is a fine young man,
> [but] there is nothing he can do to get our endorsement.”
The stupidity of these people is just…breathtaking.
Hoffman ran a lousy campaign and has earned nothing.
If the tea party / RedState.com morons manage to cause more situations like this, maybe the Democrats won’t fare so poorly in the November elections as we think?
MARCU$
TerryF98 // Apr 14, 2010 at 8:05 am
And from Florida, in a district heavy with retirees, the Republican running on an anti Obamacare platform gets squashed like an insect.
“BOCA RATON, Fla. – Democratic state Sen. Ted Deutch on Tuesday handily won the first U.S. House race since Congress passed President Barack Obama’s massive health care overhaul.
With 59 percent of precincts reporting, Deutch had 62 percent of the vote compared to 36 percent for Republican underdog Ed Lynch. No-party candidate Jim McCormick trailed far behind with just 3 percent. The Associated Press called the race just about two hours after the polls closed.”
mlindroo // Apr 14, 2010 at 9:31 am
TerryF98 wrote:
> And from Florida, in a district heavy with retirees,
> the Republican running on an anti Obamacare platform gets squashed like an insect.
Interesting news!
The district is certainly heavily Democratic (2-1), but shouldn’t the GOP’s share of the vote be a lot better than 35% considering a) the health care reform bill supposedly is highly unpopular, b) there are lots of Jews, and Obama is “of course” an anti-American traitor who hates Israel.
BTW, here is RedState.com’s take –
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http://www.redstate.com/barrypopik/2010/04/14/bad-news-deutchd-62-lynchr-35-in-fl-district-2-1-democratic/
“The district has lots of retired Jews who have voted for Democrats since FDR.”
“I’d like to talk to these people. Obama is not on your side. He’s destroying Israel. His $500 billion of cuts will destroy Medicare. ObamaCare is gonna say that you’re too old for that hip replacement–let’s give some free care to this young new guy who just got here. You just voted against your interests.”
“(At which point I throw up my hands in disgust as they continue to vote Democrat.)”
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Independent // Apr 14, 2010 at 9:40 am
Ahhh yes, it’s a vindication for the farLeft to retain a special election seat that is between 67-72% hardcore farLeft Democrat.
That’s how bad it’s gotten for the farLeft… even the FLA-19th is a “victory”. ObamaBots across the 19th were last seen waving the bloody shirt of TeddieK over their heads pleading with all those hardcore farLeft Democrats not to forget the Massachusetts Senate loss.
Even Deutch couldn’t hold the 19th’s Democrat base and may come in at a lower than expected 61.6%. Ouch.
TerryF98 // Apr 14, 2010 at 9:55 am
To people who actually think rather than just spout rhetoric it is an indicator for the future that the Dems retained this seat with a percentage not a great deal different from the one the Wexler a well regarded incumbent managed last time out.
What do I draw from this? That the older generation is not buying the “Death Panels” nonsense. That the teabaggers = epic fail. And that November has turned into a chicken counting exercise for some on the right. You can add in the “Jews hate Obama” nonsense is busted too if you wish.
The Dems were always going to win this one, so it’s no surprise that they did, it’s the way they won that tells us something interesting
Cforchange // Apr 14, 2010 at 10:49 am
Here’s what you folks are overlooking – conservatism to a Yankee old school Republican means limited government, with a emphasis on personal freedom. This starkly opposes the nanny state that the Tea Party Republican is attempting to create. The Tea Party presents nothing new – just a different label on the same meddling effort.
Social conservatism/ small government as defined by the Tea Party is an oxymoron – you can’t dictate certain social behavior then not expand government to mop up after humans when they act like average or lesser humans. A real Republican would stay far from these topics but would tell you to lie in the bed you made. Make no mistake, “social conservatism” has grown government and dependence on welfare like programs. Sounds confusing – almost like how Democrat’s used to be portrayed!
Personally reared as a NY Republican, I completely understand how the natives will not easily accept Mr Hoffman jammed down their throats. He just doesn’t represent the true NY GOP member, he’s a new fangled Tea Party poster boy.
Stand tall NY, let the party hear from the few, the proud, the yesterday “Real Republican.” Let them hear that there is a voter who is no longer represented by anyone. Besides the fact that the Republican’s profess to be morally superior, there is little difference between a Republican and a Democrat . They both want to access taxes, grow government and sometimes do good deeds in their name but with your money.
Nothing about the Tea Party indicates that they have a single solution that would significantly reduce government and radically expand the private sector as is required. Just more hot air and some of these folks are getting paid to whine…. So I wait for the real revolution.
CentristNYer // Apr 14, 2010 at 11:25 am
Cforchange // Apr 14, 2010 at 10:49 am:
“Personally reared as a NY Republican, I completely understand how the natives will not easily accept Mr Hoffman jammed down their throats.”
Be prepared to be condemned as a lefty troll. Anyone who yearns for the kind of commonsense, oldstyle Republicanism that you and I were weaned on is now considered a Democrat operative and a socialist, FarLeft thinker, which tells you how much work is still to be done. The GOP is a long way from rehabilitation — despite the good efforts of David Frum and others — and it’s not clear to me that it will ever come back. But it’s comforting to know that not everyone in the party is a Rush Limbaugh talking points machine, as are many of the posters here.
mlindroo // Apr 14, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Independent wrote:
> Ahhh yes, it’s a vindication for the farLeft to retain a special election seat
> that is between 67-72% hardcore farLeft Democrat.
Indy misses the point, as usual. We have been told countless times by Tea Partiers that ‘everybody’ hates Obama and his socialist HCR ideas, particularly seniors. That’s why Scott Brown supposedly won the Massachusetts Senate election in deep Blue territory, remember? So the Republican candidate tries to make this another referendum on health care reform … and loses by a landslide as usual!
FL-19 is the dog that didn’t bark. Only time will tell what happens in November, but I remain convinced that the Democrats will lose fewer seats than the Tea Partiers think if the economy improves a bit (in that case I’d bet Nancy Pelosi will remain House speaker through 2012 at least). After all, the GOP remains unpopular and rudderless under Michael Steele. You can’t “beat something with nothing”, and 2010 may actually resemble the 1982 mid-terms when the Ronald Reagan-led GOP “only” lost 26 House seats despite record 10.8 percent unemployment.
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http://www.tnr.com/blog/william-galston/what-obama-could-learn-reagan
[...]
“This history suggests two lessons for President Obama between now and 2012. First, the administration should take every opportunity to remind the American people that the Bush administration’s economic policies collapsed–completely and catastrophically. Of the ten presidents since Harry Truman, Bush ranks dead last in annual GDP and job growth, as well as annual change in the S&P 500. He ranks first in only one category: the growth of the national debt as a percentage of GDP. The president’s message should be simple: Why would we return to what failed? And why should we pay any attention to an opposition party that has no new ideas and advocates returning to the failed policies of the past?”
“Second, as soon as the three legs of Obama’s economic recovery strategy–fiscal stimulus, financial rescue, and regulatory reform–are in place, he should hold to them consistently. That needn’t mean stubborn inflexibility on details, a mistake Reagan rarely made. But it does mean firm adherence to the essentials, regardless of short-term results, which are likely to be discouraging. Output will continue to decline, for instance, until inventories stabilize at acceptable levels. And over the past twelve months, unemployment has risen from 4.9 to 7.6 percent, and it may well reach nine percent before peaking. From election night on, Obama has been telling the country–rightly–that economic recovery will be measured in years rather than months. He should keep on doing this until the message sinks in. The odds are good that, as was the case in Reagan’s first term, the second two years will be much better than the first two, and a steadfast president will reap the political rewards. ”
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MARCU$
chriscurrey // Apr 14, 2010 at 1:15 pm
I know that district. I once lived in it. It has always been–as far as i remember it–and middle of the road Rockefeller republican district. If they insist on having Hoffman on the ticket, well as Yogi Berra said it very well, “it’s deja vue all over again.” Or maybe Einstein is more appropriate here, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
TAZ // Apr 14, 2010 at 2:15 pm
I finally gave up calling myself a Republican a few weeks back.
I feel kinda strange calling myself an Independant…..
But, I will be standing by to reclaim my party once they come back to their senses.
IF, they come back to their sense any time soon that is………..
mpolito // Apr 14, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Has the GOP ever considered having a primary in this district rather than just picking dreadful candidates themselves? Remember, the GOP candidate in this race last time dropped out several days before the election (managing to stay in long enough to siphon off early votes from Hoffman) and then stabbed right-of-center folks in the back by endorsing the Democrat. If moderates want to play ball, conservatives will play ball. But stabbing conservatives in the back is not conducive to the development of a “big tent.” Unless there is a primary, Hoffman should run.
mlindroo // Apr 14, 2010 at 2:33 pm
mpolito wrote:
> Has the GOP ever considered having a primary in this district rather than just picking
> dreadful candidates themselves?
So what’s wrong with Doheny, then?
MARCU$
franco 2 // Apr 14, 2010 at 4:17 pm
What makes Republicans think that conservatives have to vote for whatever candidate they put up, or are somehow stupid for not running to the polls to vote for some statist drone of a candidate? For many conservatives, at this point they lose little by having a moderate Democrat instead of a liberal Republican in the seat. Who loses really? The republican party. So Republicans have to put up a more conservative candidate or be prepared to lose, simple as that.
MaxTwain // Apr 15, 2010 at 12:59 am
So holding Wexler’s seat is now a indication of Democrats having a good November? Huh? What? The Democrats are consistently losing every generic ballot poll. To understand just how bad that is remember that in 1994 the Democrats actually had a lead in the generic ballot polls and lost 54 seats. For the first time ever the GOP is now consistently beating them in these polls, showing that this is the worst political environment for Democrats since 1946.
The NRCC, the RNC, and Tea Party didn’t even involve itself in the race for Wexler’s seat, preferring not to waste funds on an automatic Dem hold. Wexler’s seat is nearly are leftist as Pelosi’s and Franks’, it’s untouchable.
Murtha’s seat, though, will be a different story. I wonder if all the lefty apologists toting Wexler’s seat as a big deal will be here when the GOP takes Murtha’s seat and maybe even Hawaii’s 1st District. Something tells me the apologists will run back to Kos after that and beg for some more weighted Research2000 polls to help them sleep.
MaxTwain // Apr 15, 2010 at 1:05 am
Why is it that conservatives are expected to fall in line behind moderate RINOs, but the RINOs can just switch parties or endorse democrats or run and indies whenever they don’t get their way?
Specter, Scozzafava, Crist are the problem. They don’t get their way so they take their ball and go home. They are disloyal trash. I’m all for a big tent, but a big tent requires that when you lose a primary you still stay in the party and stick up for the team.
If moderates want to be embraced then they actually have to stick around and work for it, not just expect things to be handed to them in back room deals.
MaxTwain // Apr 15, 2010 at 1:07 am
I don’t see conservatives running third party campaigns to derail Kirk in Illinois. He is a moderate, he beat a conservative in the primary, and now the party is united.
The moderates like Specter, Crist, and Scozzafava do the opposite when they are beaten. They switch teams, all because they don’t get elections handed to them on a platter.
I am proud to embrace moderates like Kirk and Castle, but Crist and Specter are embarrassments.
Rabiner // Apr 15, 2010 at 1:19 am
MaxTwain:
Perhaps its because Conservatives can’t win an election without Moderates? Realize who has the real political power to shift an election from Republican to Democrat or Conservative to Liberal. It is those Moderates in the middle that can.
It’s Deja Vu All Over Again in NY-23 - Hip Hop Republican // Apr 15, 2010 at 2:00 am
[...] Entire story – http://www.frumforum.com/its-deja-vu-all-over-again-in-ny-23 Share [...]
franco 2 // Apr 15, 2010 at 9:12 am
Max Twain makes excellent points. I agree.
“Rabiner // Apr 15, 2010 at 1:19 am
MaxTwain:
Perhaps its because Conservatives can’t win an election without Moderates? Realize who has the real political power to shift an election from Republican to Democrat or Conservative to Liberal. It is those Moderates in the middle that can.”
That would be true if:
1.There were a significant amount of moderates who would actually vote for a Republican – this is highly questionable
2. It only mattered whether a politician had an “R” or a ‘D” after his/her name.
3. If how a politician votes, and with whom he aligns himself once elected doesn’t really matter
4. If by gaining moderate votes, conservative votes are not lost in larger numbers.
CentristNYer // Apr 15, 2010 at 9:41 am
MaxTwain // Apr 15, 2010 at 12:59 am
” The Democrats are consistently losing every generic ballot poll.”
Yes, generic. That’s the problem for the GOP. Once you start filling in the blanks with actual names, the party’s position weakens considerably. In fact, for 2012, this chart from Nate Silver demonstrates how only a so-called generic Republican candidate has any traction against Obama:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/04/romney-not-paul-fares-best-in-12.html
mpolito // Apr 15, 2010 at 1:04 pm
I’m happy to support whoever wins the GOP primary. Having the support of the local GOP board is not the same as winning a primary. If you win a primary, like Mark Kirk did, I will be happy to support you. But if you did not even have to run in a primary, there is a problem.
The GOP should welcome moderates, but the moderates seem to think they have a right to demand all these concessions from the party while not giving anything in return. Conservatives, who make up twice as much of population as liberals, should play a bigger role in the party, and if moderates want to join in, they have to be ready to make concessions too. These include the rather elementary task of not stabbing the more conservative GOP candidate in the back a couple days before the election (i.e. as Scozzafava did) and not dropping your bid and running as an independent (i.e. as Crist will surely do in a few weeks). If part of the deal is being in the GOP, then be in the GOP. Don’t leave and then endorse the opponent. If moderates act like that, then they should not be welcomed.