The liberal Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava dropped out of the race for a New York House seat. She was running third, behind Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman and Democrat Bill Owens. Hoffman is in fact a Republican and this increases the chance that he will hold that seat for the GOP.
Update: Scozzafava has endorsed Bill Owens. Quick Spin (D): another moderate Republican driven out of the party by the radical right. Quick Spin (R): see, we told you she wasn't really a Republican. Analysis: Scozzafava's nomination was a mistake. Democrats would have voted against her because she is a Republican, which is what we mean by "Democrats". Republicans would have voted for her for the same reason. But Scozzafava would have cut into the enthusiasm of Republicans who, being not altogether without common sense, would not have seen the sense in voting for a Republican who would mostly vote with the opposite party in Congress.
Shades of 1970 when James Buckley (Bill's brother) won a NY Senate seat under the nascent Conservative Party banner.
Posted by: donCoyote | Sunday, November 01, 2009 at 05:42 PM
dc: good historical point. Pretty much the same situation, I am thinking.
Posted by: KB | Sunday, November 01, 2009 at 07:27 PM