re: #546 lawhawk

I’m not sure why you would say he didn’t know the issues. He’s a resident of Northern New York; he owns a small accounting business, and is fully aware of the economic challenges of his customers -probably more so than a professional politicians.

I heard Hoffman on the radio twice; in both instances he was unpolished, far from being eloquent, and in a few cases he sounded unsure of himself. He was outspent not only by his Democratic challenger, but also by the GOP. Most voters didn’t even know who he was just 8 weeks ago. Most of his money for this election came via the Internet (just like Dean and Obama in earlier election cycles). Yet, despite all of these problems, Hoffman lost by only 3 percentage points in a district which Obama won by more than 12 points.

People may make fun of the guy, but his campaign showed obvious problems to the GOP in NY, as well as the RNC. Dede, who was nominated by the local GOP offices was even more liberal than Owens (who will probably vote against Pelosi more than with her). If the GOP nominee is more liberal than both the district and the Democrats, there’s a big problem. Dede was anything but moderate, and she would have been a disaster for the GOP in NY-23 in the long run. The majority of the Dems pick ups in the House in 2006-2008 were in right leaning districts. Liberal to moderate Republican lawmakers got their clocks cleaned by conservative Democrats. The national GOP’s desire to evolve Leftward pretty much got a wake-up call Tuesday.

For Owens to win in 2010, he will have to vote against his party on most of the major issues; if that doesn’t happen, he will have to pray that Dede will win the GOP nomination. If Hoffman decides to run in 2010, Owens will more than likely lose.