UPDATE II: The excellent blog Red State is reporting that Republicans (not conservatives) across the country “are starting to rally . . . for Doug Hoffman . . . the gates (are) opening as a flood of conservatives now race to Hoffman with more and more polls showing Scozzafava out of the running.” In addition, Republican Rep. Todd Tiahrt of Kansas, who is running for the Senate in 2010, has also thrown his support behind Hoffman. It’ll be interesting to see the polls after this latest endorsement. (By the way, radical Leftist Scozzafava thought it was a threat when she implied she’d pull a Specter if she isn’t “treated nicely” in this race. Ha!)
UPDATE: Sarah Palin, who as all the world knows was the vice-presidential candidate on the McCain ticket, has bucked the Republican party and last night came out with a fierce endorsement of Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman in New York’s 23rd District, resulting in an amazing additional $160,00 in donations to his campaign in 24 hours. This is significant because it is a measure of whether the conservative grassroots’ loyalty lies with party or platform; obviously, it’s platform and sends a clear signal to beltway Republicans that we will not tolerate RINOS and will throw our money and votes where our convictions lie. It is also significant as being a measure of Palin’s attachment to the party, and of her national influence on the electorate.
New York’s 23rd district will have a special election on November 3rd. The Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, is the worst kind of RINO, really just a Democrat with an “R” behind her name. To the dismay of grassroots Republicans, the state GOP selected her as the Republican candidate (she was endorsed by Newt Gingrich and, I believe, McCain.) over a true conservative named Doug Hoffman. Howling with outrage but undaunted, conservatives put Hoffman as the Conservative Party candidate and to the shock of political analysts, is within six percentage points of matching Scozzafava in this three-way race. (He is 10 points behind the Democratic candidate, Bill Owens.)
The number that is really getting national attention is Hoffman’s fund-raising. He set a goal of $125,00 in online donations last week; he received $210,000. The Washington Post today called that “the most important number in politics today” indicating as it does that the base is energized and active – and, I might add, still howling like Celts before a battle. There has been a warning shot fired at the Republican leadership that we will not tolerate Democrats in Republican clothing.
