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Cavuto Asks NY-23 Conservative: Is It Better To Elect The Democrat?
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Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate in the NY-23 special election, appeared on the Neil Cavuto show today, and brushed off any concerns that his candidacy could split the Republican vote and throw the race to the Democrat.
The polls in this race have shown Democratic candidate Bill Owens ahead of moderate Republican Dede Scozzafava, with Hoffman in a close third place.
"Do you think it's still better to elect the Democrat than to elect the moderate Republican in that event?" Cavuto asked.
"Well, first of all I want to point out that the Republican is actually more liberal than the Democrat in this race," Hoffman replied. He explained that the district is a conservative one, and he only needs about a third of the vote to win this race against what he says are two liberal candidates.
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terje
October 23, 2009 6:44 PM
He thinks NY-23 is a conservative district? Sure, if you consider a district that voted for Obama for President a conservative district.
Conservatives don't seem to understand how much the ground has shifted in formerly Republican strongholds in the northeast and suburbs. The ethos here is small-town moderation, not ideological firebrandism.
Philosophically, both Owens and Scozzafava are far better fits for this quite middle of the road district than an right-wing ideologue like Hoffman. He is only a player in this race because he hopes to capture the minority hard right vote (maybe a 3rd of the district) and slip through in a 3-way low turn-out special election. If he was in a one-on-one race with either of the other candidates, he would be struggling for air.
And if the tea-partiers, social conservatives, and Club for Growth manage to impose their purity test on the Republican party, they won't just lose this race, they'll lose plenty more like it in the future.
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John
October 23, 2009 8:13 PM in reply to terje
There were a LOT of conservative districts that voted for the President because they were fed up with how the "conservatives" in Washington had handled things: They became the 'tax & spend' party they had been sent to shut down.
We don't want candidates who talk like Ronald Reagan, we want those who will govern like Ronald Reagan!
John
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