Surprise result in NY-23
Nov 7th, 2009 | By Mike | Category: Elections, Republicans |
The race in NY-23 had some interesting results. To recap the situation, Doug Hoffman, running for the Conservative Party, entered the race and drew support from the typical GOP base. This resulted in the moderate Republican, Dede Scozzafava, withdrawing from the race and supporting the moderate Democrat Bill Owens who ended up winning the Congressional seat. This seat has been held by Republicans for over a century. In fact, the last non-Republican to hold this congressional seat was a Whig. So what happened?
As I have mentioned in previous posts, the GOP is facing an identity crisis. It has two factions, both of which are fiscally conservative, but split by their social views. There are many high-profile Republicans who are calling for the purge of “moderate” Republicans from the party to create a “pure” conservative party. The Conservative Party represents this faction of the GOP. So when Dough Hoffman entered the race, several “purists” endorsed him including Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Paul McKain, and the imposters at the Florida MWP. This resulted in “purist” to support Hoffman and essentially divide the GOP. When Scozzafava realized she could not win, abandoned by her own party, she decided to endorse the moderate candidate for the seat. That just happened to be the Democrat Bill Owens. While many who endorsed Scozzafava did vote for Hoffman after she dropped out of the race, enough people decided to vote for Owens leading to a Democratic victory in a heavily GOP leaning electorate.
What is interesting about this election is that many Whigs have thought the opposite would happen. The GOP would continue down the path of “purity” and in to political oblivion, opening the door for a third party of fiscally conservative but socially moderate individuals to break into the mainstream (such as the Whigs). Now, as a Whig, I have to ask myself what I would do if the “purists” decided to leave the GOP altogether. I realize there is little chance of this happening, but if it did, I would be inclined to support the GOP. There have been glimmers of such a GOP such as McCain pre-2008 election and his daughter who has been assaulted for her moderate views. However, until there is a clear separation of these factions, I see little hope for the GOP to defeat the Democrats in any presidential election. We shall have to wait and watch this drama as it unfolds. I believe the next presidential election will decide the fate of the GOP. If they nominate a moderate, Rush and loyal followers will be outraged and left with little option but to flee. However, I believe if they nominate a “purist” such as Sarah, they will fail miserably and open the door for the Whigs.
The MWP must be careful that it does not become a destination point for what it essentially is trying to avoid. That being the fringe elements of either party. I can not help, but agree with Mike that some of the wind coming from Florida doth not blow in a moderate fashion. The MWP is young and will no doubt experience inevitable growing pains, but focus should be maintained on the tenets set out at its founding. Hoffman is not, was not, and will probably never be a Whig as described by the MWP platform. Support for him seemed contrary the “moderate” message.
I agree with Pete. I feel like the Whigs are careening to marginalization as just another conservative group if the Florida folks continue to drag things down like this. Look at this comment on my blog. The Modern Whigs are now losing its veterans and military members.
What an embarrasment. I’m sitting here on the FOB, proudly promoting the Whigs, and sure enough I am blindsided by my platoon SGT in the MWR calling me a conservative wacko. I asked him how he could think that about the Whigs, and he pointed me directly to floridawhig.com.
We’re having a Whig meeting after the next bible study and will debate what to do about this.
SGT Gaines, Iraq, Modern Whig since 2008
I agree. The “Liberal” Republican was much more of a Whig then Hoffman, and that’s not saying much. Don’t worry Sergeant Gaines. We here in North Carolina are moderate, and we will prove it after our meeting next week.
I hate the Florida Whig Pary.
That post is not from Mr. Lebowitz. It is *way* more interesting.
http://ws.arin.net/cgi-bin/whois.pl?queryinput=72.242.195.106
That would be the IP address of Kellean Truesdell, someone of relation to Paul Truesdell, our friend at the Florida MWP. A blatant attempt to discredit the site, or just an immature act? I leave it up to you to decide.
I’ll put it down as an immature act, no matter what the motive.