Westchester Conservative Party Flunks the Smell Test

Despite all of the attention focused on whether the New York Conservative Party’s support of Doug Hoffman over liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava in New York’s 23rd Congressional District may cost the Republican Party a House seat, another political drama is unfolding over its nominee for Westchester County Executive.  For the first time in the party’s twoscore-and-seven-year history, the Party’s State Chair has endorsed a candidate running against a party nominee.  Citing “back room political deals cut by unsavory characters” and “as dishonorable a maneuver as I’ve ever seen in politics,” Conservative State Chairman Michael Long endorsed Republican nominee Rob Astorino as “the clear choice of Conservative Party members and leaders in Westchester” and urged that conservative voters “NOT vote on the Conservative Party line in the race for Westchester County Executive.”

The circumstances of the two races present a stark contrast.  In the 23rd Congressional race, Mr. Hoffman’s campaign reflects the traditional Conservative strategy of pressuring Republicans to stand for the small-government, pro-taxpayer principles that have identified them since the days of Reagan.  In Westchester, the Party eschewed Mr. Astorino, who has run on those core principles, and endorsed tax-and-spend Democratic incumbent Andy Spano.

It is hard to find anything conservative about Andy Spano.  During his twelve years as County Executive, he has spent taxpayers’ money to the point where Westchester residents now bear the highest tax burden in New York State.  State and federal mandates don’t help, but other counties have protected their taxpayers far better.  After being sued by the federal government under the Federal False Claims Act for mismanaging millions in federal housing grants, Spano settled that lawsuit by spending an additional $50 million in Westchester taxpayer dollars on low rent housing.  Mr. Spano’s pro-choice ideology puts him even further at odds with the Conservative Party, which has traditionally (but not always) favored pro-life candidates.

It is equally hard to find any legitimate reason why the Party would reject Rob Astorino, who has campaigned on a platform straight out of the Conservative playbook.  Again and again, he has stood for tax relief, government transparency, and government austerity, as he did when he served as a County Legislator.  He is devoutly pro-life – another traditional Conservative Party principle.  He is well-spoken and attractive, as evidenced by his years in broadcast journalism working for ESPN and EWTN.  And he has a serious chance to win, as Westchester voters are becoming increasingly frustrated over their dubious distinction of paying the highest local taxes in New York.  By running negative ads against Astorino, Spano himself seems to acknowledge that he has a race on his hands.

This was not a case of the Conservative Party cross-endorsing a Democrat who stood for Conservative principles;  the Westchester Conservative nomination of Andy Spano made about as much sense as if the Red Sox Nation named Derek Jeter their 2009 Man of the Year.  At least one local journalist has surmised that it was the product of a back-room deal involving the Conservative Chair for Westchester.  That County Chair Gail Burns engineered the nomination by using proxies from absent district leaders at the county convention (over the opposition of nearly all of the delegates present) adds an unpleasant aroma.

Enter Mike Long.  The Spano nomination clearly flunked his smell test, and he stepped up and spoke out against it.  In speaking out, he has challenged the Party to be true to its history and itself.

Since its founding in 1962, the Conservative Party has worked tirelessly to move the Republican Party away from the leftward drift embodied by Nelson Rockefeller and John Lindsay.  At times, it has compromised, but its compromises have been with a Republican Party that could be termed conservative.  For example, when George Pataki ran for Governor in 1994, he did so as a pro-growth, pro-taxpayer conservative and the Conservative nomination provided his margin of victory.  He offered a stark alternative to the tax-and-spend liberalism of Mario Cuomo and, at the beginning and the end of his term of office, he delivered on that offer.  The goal was always to move the needle to the right, whether within another party or with the electorate itself.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with any particular decision under this strategy – such as the 23rd Congressional District race – the strategy has remained consistent throughout the Party’s existence.  A naked political deal like the Andy Spano endorsement, however, undermines this strategy: an Astorino victory would demonstrate that conservative Republicans can win elections in the key New York suburban counties, whereas a decisive Spano victory could be used to argue the contrary.  Stepping in, Long reaffirmed his commitment to this strategy.  It remains to be seen whether the Party will follow his lead.