TPMDC
Owens Leads Hoffman By Insurmountable Margin -- A Greater Lead Than Outstanding Ballots
Eric Kleefeld | November 19, 2009, 5:38PM
Conservative Party Candidate Doug Hoffman, Rep. Bill Owens (D-NY)
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The latest absentee ballot totals from the NY-23 special election show Democratic Rep. Bill Owens leading his Conservative Party opponent Doug Hoffman -- with a greater margin than there are absentee ballots left to be counted.
The Watertown Daily Times reports that Owens leads by 3,105 votes, with 3,072 ballots left to count. It is mathematically impossible for Hoffman to win.
Owens was sworn in two weeks ago, after Hoffman had conceded the election. The correction of routine clerical errors, however, narrowed Owens' margin from 5,000 votes to about 3,000, leading Hoffman to take back his concession.
Last night, Hoffman charged that the election was stolen: "ACORN, the unions and Democratic Party were scared, and that's why they tampered with the ballots of voters in NY-23."
Late Update: Hoffman spokesman Rob Ryan declined to comment specifically on these numbers, as he had not yet seen them in the figures that he gets from the county boards of elections. "We have found certain irregularities," said Ryan. "And when the count is completed, and we take a look -- and we have until Monday to decide whether to file those objections -- we are going to make a decision between now and then on whether and how to proceed."
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mistersnrub
November 19, 2009 5:44 PM
Hoffman would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those pesky ACORNers!
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JNagarya
November 20, 2009 10:35 AM in reply to mistersnrub
Even a blind squirrel occasionally finds an ACORN.
But what explains Hoffman?
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MyMy
November 19, 2009 5:50 PM
Great, but expected, news.
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mcc
November 19, 2009 5:55 PM
ACORN stole math :(
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kash79
November 19, 2009 6:05 PM in reply to mcc
ha ha...and ate my lunch too
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celldumceen
November 19, 2009 10:51 PM in reply to mcc
That's funny!
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billybam
November 19, 2009 6:08 PM
Will some intrepid reporter please ask Mr. Hoffman how "ACORN, the unions and Democratic Party were scared, and that's why they tampered with the ballots of voters in NY-23." this was accomplished exactly? How do Republicans get to level what amounts to criminal (and perhaps slanderous) charges without any accountability?
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midnight rambler
November 19, 2009 7:59 PM in reply to billybam
They can't say, because it's a secret. So secret, in fact, that Hoffman won't even file a complaint with the election commission, he'll just write something up for WorldNutDaily about how it was stolen. Because it definitely was.
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jdb316
November 19, 2009 8:29 PM in reply to billybam
They don't want a lawsuit. They just want a compelling talking point that will fire up their base in the next election. If someone were to ever threaten to sue them, they'd quietly back off. Their message still will have been sent and heard by the right people.
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AJM
November 19, 2009 8:44 PM in reply to jdb316
Don't need to wait for the next election -- it's already in the next solicitation letter they are sending the suckers -- pardon me -- er, um, I meant to say future contributors to Hoffman.
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robcat2075
November 19, 2009 11:03 PM in reply to billybam
It's not actionable slander/libel because everyone they named is a public figure/organization.
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JNagarya
November 20, 2009 10:41 AM in reply to robcat2075
Though the threshhold is high, one can be successfully sued for defamation of a public figure. Accusations of criminality which are false are, of course, stronger grounds for such suit.
And even if such suit were lost, the shot across the bow of the defamer would likely cause the liar to think twice (for the first time) at the next opportunity of a repeat accusation.
I'd love to see such a suit, regardless outcome: it would set a precedent that would set the America-hating liars back on their heels for the foreseeable.
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CosmicBoy
November 19, 2009 6:25 PM
"We have found certain irregularities"...... like Owens had more votes right?
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Richardxx
November 20, 2009 8:09 AM in reply to CosmicBoy
The reason the Republicans lost the seat in the first place was that Hoffman and the radical extremist right-wingers attacked and slimed the Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava and ran her out of the race. Hoffman himself has effectively elected the Democrat, now he has to blame someone else.
As I watch video of Hoffman and watch his crazy eyes darting left and right and watch his head jumping jerkily around as he speaks, I suspect that he has mental problems. He's not normal. The man with those mental problems has found a crowd of radical right-wing extremists in which those characteristics are normal and a time period in which a dying news media is willing to advertise for such crazies. In saner times Hoffman would be wearing a restrictive white coat and living in an institution.
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lousgirl84
November 20, 2009 9:32 AM in reply to Richardxx
I agree - I think there is something wrong with him too. Those eyes give me the creepies.
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Bull Schmitt
November 19, 2009 6:39 PM
I'm sure the Democratic Party was scared to death that they might lose a Congressional seat they haven't held* since the Civil War.
Rahm Emanuel: "My God Mr. Hand-picked DNC Chairman, we might not win this seat, which would leave the Republicans with 3 in New York State!"
Tim Kaine: "Send in ACORN, the unions, and.. er.. let's use the Canadian Democrats for good measure."
*portions of the current NY-23 district
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NobleCommentDecider
November 19, 2009 8:18 PM
Kenyan Nazi socialist baby killers stole the election for Owens %#$$*& !!
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FebM
November 19, 2009 9:48 PM in reply to NobleCommentDecider
you betcha! didnt know Kenyans are that mighty, the rascal stole the last elections too all without the help of the Supreme court of the US of A!
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JNagarya
November 20, 2009 10:45 AM in reply to NobleCommentDecider
With the help of Muslim Marxists, Marxist Muslims, Marxists for Muslims, and Muslims for Marxists.
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JNagarya
November 20, 2009 10:48 AM in reply to JNagarya
. . . and Commies for Christ.
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CVille Dem
November 19, 2009 8:31 PM
I think it was the unicorns (combination of ACORN & the unions)! How else can you explain it? Could it be, um....SANITY? No -- must be the unicorns (if you are a republican).
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SectarianSofa
November 19, 2009 10:47 PM in reply to CVille Dem
Nice. Clearly the unicorns are to blame for America's Precipitous Decline (since Jan 20). Curse you, Unicorns!
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kunal
November 19, 2009 11:43 PM
Math has a well know liberal bias.
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JNagarya
November 20, 2009 10:49 AM in reply to kunal
And evolution is obviously progressive to the bone . . .
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PeakRo
November 19, 2009 11:52 PM
To quote Sarah, it's all "bullcrap". The reality is that Mr. Hoffman stole the election from the Republicans. I've said it before and I'll say it again, whatever the Republicans accuse the opposition of being they actually are.
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JNagarya
November 20, 2009 10:50 AM in reply to PeakRo
Sarah has a way with language. It's called LYING.
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lonesomerobot
November 20, 2009 8:31 AM
i hereby advise the hoffman for congress campaign to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, to mount an investigation to prove that "ACORN, the unions and Democratic Partywere scared, and that's why they tampered with the ballots of voters in NY-23."
yes, they were scared to lose a seat they hadn't held since 1872. so scared.
so doug, why worry about running for the seat again in 2010 (which, had you won it, you would have had to do anyway)? just perpetually run for the 2009 special election version of the seat. it's a limited edition, dude. it's gotta be worth more than the regular one. i really think that's where your money is best spent.
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sunshinedem
November 20, 2009 9:07 AM
I would have no problem with all this "let's keep counting the votes" crap if the republicans hadn't been so quick to end the process in Florida in 2000. Does Katehrine Harris ring a bell? The reality is with Al Gore as President this country would not be in the fix it is today economically, internationally or militarily.
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blairza
November 20, 2009 9:45 AM
This will not stand! Those Community organizers stole this election during our purity purge! Now my Campaign Director says I have two days, tops, before Foxnews forgets my name! Call Orly Taitz! It's time to Lawyer UP!
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Seraph
November 20, 2009 10:01 AM
Y'know, I grew up in NY-23. And this statement is one of the many reasons that Hoffman lost: he knows nothing about the area and cares less. He's interested in the national agenda and the national audience, and the only use he has for the local yokels is to put him in that national spotlight.
How do I know?
His little stab at the unions. NY-23 is overwhelmingly white, so using ACORN (as shorthand for the scary black people) as a bogeyman could work, and the Democrats always make handy scapegoats. But attacking unions in an overwhelmingly blue-collar district? Someone's more interested in the party line than his constituents.
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Spiffarino
November 20, 2009 10:14 AM
Dougie don't need no stinkin' evidence! This isn't about evidence! It's about making big $$ off Teabagger saps.
By pinning his defeat on ACORN, unicorns, John Barleycorn - whatever - Hoffman will make his way into the Beck-Hannity-O'Reilly-700 Club-WorldNutDaily circuit, write a book and cash in. It's the American Way!
Also, Hoffman's teeth look like corn. Just sayin'.
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JNagarya
November 20, 2009 10:54 AM
I think we should petition the dictionary industry to change the spelling to unACORN.
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