Hoffman Defeated in NY-23
Politics | Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 8:52:10 pm PST
Unless some of the late precincts are packing a big surprise, it looks like Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman has been defeated by Democrat Bill Owens in New York’s 23rd congressional district election…
UPDATE at 11/3/09 9:18:47 pm:
Yep — Hoffman has conceded to Owens. So there’s the first Democrat victory in NY-23 in more than 100 years. Nice work, Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck!
Stuck in the Middle of the Political Goo
Politics | Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 7:10:11 pm PST
Hot Air may have put me in their “Left Channels,” but Think Progress still categorizes me as a “conservative” blogger: Think Progress » Doug Hoffman Praises Glenn Beck As His ‘Mentor’.
Conservative blogger Charles Johnson of the site Little Green Footballs reported yesterday that Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate in the NY-23 special election, signed a pledge to uphold Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Project principles in Congress. The signed pledge is available online, and Hoffman touts his endorsement from the 9/12 organization on his website. Like the lobbyist-planned tea parties, the 9/12 Project is a creation of Beck, used to go after Beck’s liberal enemies and to organize hateful anti-Obama rallies.
Although there is a groundswell of far right tea party and Beck-inspired candidates running for office in 2010, very few Republicans running for Congress or Governor have signed the 9/12 pledge. Noting that he signed a document pledging his “sacred honor” to uphold Beck’s list of values and principles, Johnson aptly deems Hoffman “The Glenn Beck candidate.”
Right-wing bloggers have been apoplectic at Johnson for daring to observe the fact that Hoffman has been bowing to an extremist like Beck. They have written that Johnson must “hate America” and is “infused with Derangement Syndrome.”
Tuesday Night Open
Open | Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 5:50:34 pm PST
The wonkiest of all elections are now under way, off-season special elections and the like, but if you’re wonky enough to be following them, here’s an open thread for that purpose or any other…
Tuesday Afternoon Music: Weezer, '(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To'
Music | Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 3:13:43 pm PST
Hoffman Accuses Dems of 'Stealing the Election'
Politics | Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 1:36:15 pm PST
Dave Weigel reports that the Doug Hoffman campaign is accusing the Owens camp of bringing in the dreaded ACORN and stealing the election.
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – At a short press availability in his campaign office here, NY-23 Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman said that a GOTV volunteer’s tires had been slashed, and all but blamed Democrats for the dirty trick.
“There are reports that they’re bringing in the troops and they’re bringing in ACORN,” said Hoffman. “I think the Democrats are doing anything they possibly can to steal this election away from the 23rd district.”
Police Called to NY-23 Polling Places
Politics | Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 11:37:14 am PST
The New York Daily News is reporting disturbances at some polling stations, apparently from anti-abortion “activists” who support Doug Hoffman: Police Called To NY-23 Polling Sites.
I just got off the phone with former state Democratic Chairwoman June O’Neill, who informed me the police had been called to at least two polling sites in St. Lawrence County due to overzealous electioneering (O’Neill called it “voter intimidation”) by Doug Hoffman supporters.
“We’ve gotten reports that people are standing there, covered with Hoffman stickers and yelling anti-choice stuff at voters,” said O’Neill, a St. Lawrence native who has been running the party’s GOTV effort for Bill Owens in NY-23.“Apparently, there’s some woman claiming to be a commissioner,” O’Neill continued. “Commissioner of what, I don’t know. She’s from Texas, I think, and she won’t leave.”
“This is not the way we roll in the North Country.”
O’Neill also said she had received anecdotal reports of problems at polling sites in Gouverneur, which is Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava’s hometown. But she couldn’t immediately confirm this.
Far Right Activists on the Rise
Politics | Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 9:40:21 am PST
Politico has a piece on the rise of what they’re calling “conservatives,” but what I would call the “far right” — the surging tea party-spawned candidates who are going to make life miserable for the Republican Party (not that they don’t deserve it), and guarantee the reelection of Barack Obama with their extreme rhetoric and agenda: Uncivil War: Conservatives to challenge a dozen GOP candidates.
In what could be a nightmare scenario for Republican Party officials, conservative activists are gearing up to challenge leading GOP candidates in more than a dozen key House and Senate races in 2010.
Conservatives and tea party activists had already set their sights on some of the GOP’s top Senate recruits — a list that includes Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida, former Rep. Rob Simmons in Connecticut and Rep. Mark Kirk in Illinois, among others.
But their success in Tuesday’s upstate New York special election, where grass-roots efforts pushed GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava to drop out of the race and helped Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman surge into the lead on the eve of Election Day, has generated more money and enthusiasm than organizers ever imagined.
