Is Scozzafava backing Owens? The WDT thinks so.
This shocker from the Watertown Daily Times' editorial.
During the day Saturday, [Republican Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava] began to quietly and thoughtfully encourage her supporters to vote for Democrat William L. Owens.The Times offers no attribution or support for the claim.
Labels: election09
posted by Brian Mann @ 11/01/2009 09:40:00 AM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
That she released her supporters to vote their conscience and didn't throw her support to Hoffman was telling in itself. The extremists on the right will see that as proof that she was a RINO but the really is that beginning with Reagan the Republican has sold out its core to the far right in a bid to become a majority. Instead they have lost their identity.
"Beginning with Reagan... Instead they have lost their identity." This is one of the most succinct explanations of what has happened to the Republican party. This election, actually, this campaign, is much more telling than simply the conservatives trying to hold control of the Republican party. What Scozzafava stands for, what Hoffman stands for and the backing (of Hoffman by great amounts of powerful money from outside the North Country) and lack of backing (the Republican party pretty much abandoned Scozzafava the minute Hoffman announced he was going to run a 3rd party candidacy) are all loaded with nuances of what is going on within the Republican party. Local (23rd district) Hoffman supporters should not think that their voice has somehow been heard - this is ALL about outside forces and a national struggle of right of center politics.
Mark, Saranac Lake
I am sorry Ms Scozzafava felt she had to drop out of the race. However, I can understand her reasons. Enough of the craziness, she may be saying to herself, to which I say Amen, Sister! This is no way to have a fair election.
I feel like there is no way to judge the real level of support for any of the candidates. The polls are probably as accurate as polls can be, but who knows what people would think if we had really heard the candidates speak for themselves. For example, we would know more about the way the candidates think, compare their levels of expertise and how they react under pressure if they had participated in several three candidate debates. None of the candidates were well known, even now I will bet most people do not know much about the Mr Hoffman, Ms Scozzafava, or Mr Owens. The only candidate with a public presence before Mr McHugh left his congressional seat to become Secretary of the Army, was Assemblywoman Scozzafava. In her case, she was mostly only known in her constituent areas in St Lawrence, Lewis, and Jefferson counties.
How have most people heard directly from the candidates? The time frame from the opening of the congressional seat until the election was so short, it made it hard for people to see the candidates in person. Also, it seemed, from my vantage point in Potsdam, there were not many public appearances. Outside of the excellent interviews on North Country Public Radio, chances are most people have heard other people talk about the candidates and little from the candidates themselves. In keeping with the current 24 hour news journalistic style, our election has been portrayed as a horse race instead of a public conversation about the needs of our area and who might be the best person to serve those needs.
There has been a landslide of outside media influence, unconscionable amounts of money have been spent on attack ads. We have endured skewed national TV coverage making the NY 23 district race into a litmus test of extreme ideologies instead of a close, exciting contest between three candidates, two of whom had never before run for public office, in a huge rural community with a wide array of issues. On top of that, the Republican party has kept the congressional seat for almost 150 years This is unprecedented and you would think, fascinating. But no......
In addition to the ubiquitous and obnoxious TV and print ads from national interest groups and political parties, ads demonizing the opposing candidates interrupt dinner time in the form of prerecorded phone messages.
Who would want to be part of all this? Still, the election is what it is. In two days those of us who live in the 23rd will have a choice to make. We voters need to make the best of it and vote for the person we think will best serve us and our region for the remainder of this congressional term. It is not a life and death matter. In 2010, we get to choose all over again.
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