Scozzafava, Conservatives and Moderate Republicans
Scozzafava, Conservatives and Moderate Republicans
by Jon Wells
Dede Scozzafava, the GOP nominee for the NY-23 Congressional district, has a sympathetic piece in the Washington Post about those mean ol’ Republicans and those rascally conservatives who “forced” her out of the race. Dede even has a warning for those who weren’t jazzed about her nomination:
“There is a lot of us who consider ourselves Republicans, of the Party of Lincoln,” she said, her face now flush. “If they don’t want us with them, we’re going to work against them.”
Never mind, of course, that the GOP didn’t force Scozzafava out. To the contrary, the NRCC gave her $900,000 for her campaign. What forced her out were her sagging poll numbers and the realization the seat was a 2-person race between Bill Owens and Doug Hoffman. Did the Hoffman endorsements by prominent conservatives play a role? Probably a small one, but that would mean that those conservatives had some legitimate sway in the district.
The fact remains that Scozzafava was to the left of the Democrat on several issues during the campaign. Although she’s mad that Sarah Palin insinuated she was anointed by a political machine, the truth is that she was. The local Republican committee nominated her without a primary, so, sorry, you were in fact “anointed.” Her last-minute endorsement of Owens was revealing in showing that she cared more about scoring some petty revenge points than assisting the party for which she claims she wants to run again. Well, you endorsed the Democrat who promptly reneged on his opposition to Pelosi’s health plan and voted for it immediately on arriving to Congress. Now you’re making the Republican defeat in your district all about you. Good luck working within the GOP, Dede.
Liberals and Democrats have been giddy about pointing to the race and the Owens victory as evidence of the crack up of the Republican Party and as some bizarre proof of the righteousness of the Democratic cause (never mind the Virginia and New Jersey results that same night). I rather doubt that any larger lessons about the national picture can be gleaned from NY-23 – if Hoffman had been the guy from the get-go, he probably would have beaten Owens. Likewise, if Scozzafava’s name isn’t on the ballot after she pulls out, Hoffman most likely wins. With the absolute mess that existed, it’s no wonder that Owens was able to win a historically Republican district, albeit with a slim margin owing to the above factors and Scozzafava’s endorsement.
My larger point is that moderates should absolutely have a place in the Republican Party. The only problem is that Scozzfava is no moderate – she was more liberal than the Democratic nominee in certain areas. Indeed, one has to wonder why on principle Scozzafava considers herself a Republican for any other reason besides political expediency. There are some areas where such a candidate might be electorally useful, but NY-23 wasn’t one of those places. In the end, politicians may disagree on issues, but there must a level of agreement that serves as the principled base from which the party moves forward.
The backlash against Scozzafava doesn’t represent a desire to kick out moderates, but a frustration by conservatives that the Republicans would try to put up a candidate so at odds with the goals of a majority of the GOP and try to assert with a straight face that she’d serve their interests in Congress. After a Presidential campaign that saw a moderate McCain get defeated despite “reaching out” and annoying many GOPers with his stands on immigration, campaign finance, climate change, and other issues, conservatives and Republicans are simply tired of being offered policies and candidates that are simply watered-down versions of their Democratic equivalent. It’s not a push to the extreme right that’s desired, it’s a clear enunciation of some message that means something besides “get elected at any cost,” of a vision inspired by principle and driven by common sense pragmatism.
So far, the Republican leadership is failing miserably.
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Jonathan Wells is a 28-year-old husband and father who lives in Ohio and has a day job in the microbiology field. He notes that he tends “be conservative in most of my views, but by no means do I bear blind allegiance to a political party.” He stresses that he is open-minded and encourages “any civil disagreement (or uncivil agreement) any of you would care to express.” He likes to make people think, and does so on his blog Wellsy’s World.
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I remember when the democrats were out of power and trying to find their footing, some folks on the left were concerned about them trying to become republican-light, now some conservatives are worried about the GOP becoming democrat-light. Guess you can't please everyone.
Btw, when it comes to taking a “stand” on some issues, the choice taken can be more deeply defining than it seems on the surface. Climate change for instance should not be seen as a partisan issue, neither should evolution, mathematics, or microbiology.
If one is going to pick and choose which aspects of reality comfortably fit their belief system, then our education system has failed even more miserably than many folks think it has. (Btw, I hold parents as responsible for education as I do their teachers)
Of all the millions of words written in the media very few have tried to understand the recent NY-23 campaign in terms of the district and its residents. People are conservative in their ways, but it is not particularly ideological or conservative. The NYS republican party is a big tent party and traditionally had Goldwater's running mate and liberal Jacob Javits as members in good standing in the same time. I suppose that is why we have a Conservative Party and Right to Life Party too. Consequently, the NYS party is moderate. Call moderates in a moderate party RINOs will not win you a lot of friends.
Putting labels aside, Scozzafava has won mulitiple terms in the Assembly by large margins and until Monday had a leadership role in the Republican Party. She is known for her service. While Mr. Hoffman was on tv and Mr. Owen was raising money outside the district, Dede was in a dairy barn talking to a constituent. We may not always agree with her all the time, but she is one of us. Many will vote the person rather than ideology or party registration. I suspect that Dede can serve in the Assembly as long as she wishes.
Many district residents are unhappy over the loss of the Republican seat. There was a backlash over the trashing of Scozzafava, and outside money from the Club of Growth and big name national party types trying to tell us what to do and what to think
As for Doug Hoffman, here is a different view:
Local elections aren't about national issues, but local interests. Democrats are represented by Kucinch and Heath Schuler, who represent local interest, not a national ideology.
So we want to try and win with a “all politics is national” platform. Have fun with that but I really doubt politics will ever truly change in this nation and in case you missed it all politics is local. Also on the NJ and VA elections you are so proud of I hope you realize in 2001 both of those races flipped from Repub to Dem. In other words this is a normal cycle but if you want to count political points thats cool I suppose so by that calculation Dems only have 5 more years of total control of the Fed Gov and 7 more years of the presidency, darn. Do not get me wrong those candidates ran good races and I congratulate them on much deserved wins but trying to make a national calculation off of them is misunderstanding the political cycles not to mention the local issues on which they actually won.