Palin Endorses Hoffman, Snubs GOP Candidate In New York House Race

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has gone rogue again, endorsing a third-party candidate in a House race in New York over the Republican nominee.

On her Facebook page Thursday night, Palin endorsed Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate, over Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava in the 23rd Congressional District's special election. Scozzofava was selected for the nomination by state Republican leaders. Wrote Palin:

The votes of every member of Congress affect every American, so it's important for all of us to pay attention to this important Congressional campaign in upstate New York. I am very pleased to announce my support for Doug Hoffman in his fight to be the next Representative from New York's 23rd Congressional district. It's my honor to endorse Doug and to do what I can to help him win, including having my political action committee, SarahPAC, donate to his campaign the maximum contribution allowed by law.

Political parties must stand for something. When Republicans were in the wilderness in the late 1970s, Ronald Reagan knew that the doctrine of "blurring the lines" between parties was not an appropriate way to win elections. Unfortunately, the Republican Party today has decided to choose a candidate who more than blurs the lines, and there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race. This is why Doug Hoffman is running on the Conservative Party's ticket.

The race has bitterly divided Republicans, many of whom see Scozzafava as too liberal.

In the moderate district formerly held by Rep. John McHugh (now President Obama's army secretary), a third-party conservative candidate has a slim chance of winning. More likely, Hoffman will divide the Republican vote and give the seat to Democrat Bill Owens.

Palin has been notably absent from high-profile gubernatorial races this year, her offers of campaign help ignored. When she left office, the governor pledged to work for candidates she believed in, regardless of their party affiliation.

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Comments

[gs-425]

12:53 PM on 10/31/2009

Here is one "just in"....Scozzafava has dropped out of the NY23 race. Howdoya like them apples??

[Doofus]

11:55 AM on 10/31/2009

Interesting times, continued. This just in...

NYT - October 31, 2009
Republican in State House Race Suspends Campaign By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:30 a.m. ET

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Republican Dierdre Scozzafava (sko-zuh-FAH'-vuh) has suspended her campaign for the New York House and is encouraging supporters to embrace Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman.

Campaign spokesman Matt Burns says she thinks dropping out of the 23rd Congressional District race is in the best interests of the party.

The announcement comes after a Siena College poll found she was in third place with 20 percent of the vote in the heavily Republican district, while Hoffman and Democratic nominee Bill Owens were too close to call with 35 percent and 36 percent, respectively.

The race has pitted conservative and moderate wings of the Republican Party against each other. Hoffman has been backed by prominent Republicans like former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

The election is Tuesday.

[PIN News]

07:38 PM on 10/27/2009

Palin is more a force than originally thought.

[obiejuan]

09:22 PM on 10/27/2009

Ya gotta use spellcheck PIN.

You accidently hit "o" instead of "a"

I know you meant "farce" instead of "force"... right?

[gs-425]

01:07 PM on 10/31/2009

if you say so.

[Greg Petty]

01:42 PM on 10/31/2009

force,no,farce yes,she is a rat and will turn on anybody if the price is right,Joe Lieberman in drag,

[Doofus]

07:16 PM on 10/27/2009

Heard Pat Buchanan say on 'Hardball' earlier that the GOP may pull off
a 'Jim Buckley win' in NYS, referring to a Conservative Senate win (for
William F. Buckley's brother) in NYS a few decades ago. The thing was,
however, that Buckley won when a liberal Repo & a liberal Demo split
the vote. This time a conservative Repo & a conservative Conservative
split the vote. See the difference?

[PIN News]

07:41 PM on 10/27/2009

Dede is basically a liberal. Just about every poll is leaning toward Hoffman and the democrats are now putting out adds to attack him.

That's not a good sign for libs!

[Doofus]

10:12 PM on 10/27/2009

Interesting times!

Says the Christian Science Monitor:

'(Dede) Scozzafava is a moderate-to-liberal Republican, a long-time state legislator who supports gay marriage and abortion rights. Her Democratic opponent, Mr. Owens, leads in the polls as Hoffman, a wealthy upstate businessman, has pulled about 23 percent of the vote, and is gaining fast.

Critics say the battle for Oswego is typical of the fringe politics that are driving the GOP right now. Chris Kelly at the Huffington Post writes that Hoffman “hasn’t just been anointed by a political machine. He’s been kidnapped by drifters.”

And the image of two GOP stalwarts – Armey and Gingrich – lining up on opposite sides of this election underscores the import of the fight.'

[brt929]

09:30 AM on 10/31/2009

"That's not a good sign for libs!"

LOL! No sweat! That seat has always been held by a Republican, we never expected to pick it up.

It is a win-win for us anyway it turns out. Republicans are eating their own, and making themselves irrelevant.

[VJKramer]

02:39 PM on 10/26/2009

Making a move to the Conservative Party, eh? Wonder how many of the 20% who admit to GOP affiliation will go with her?

[KataVideo]

01:12 PM on 10/26/2009

Well, she is right about taking a stand. People voted for the Democrats because we appeared to stand for something. Democrats shouldn't pretend to be republicans. http://tiny.cc/Ks3Dj

[yesIcan]

12:22 PM on 10/26/2009

No way could Sarah have written that endorsement herself...it's too straightforward. If the endorsement were written in her own words, the sentences would be looping around, up and down, meandering here and there and would have ended with "you betcha."

[brt929]

09:33 AM on 10/31/2009

Why do you think she only uses Facebook? Someone else is writing this stuff for her so she sounds like she can put a sentence together.

If she ever does run for an office, and has to speak in front of an audience, everyone knows what a joke she is.

[Martha12]

11:38 AM on 10/26/2009

Palin is Murdoch's bit(h and does whatever he tells her to..............

[VietVet67]

10:37 AM on 10/26/2009

And we are to believe that the Maverick wrote that "opinion"? Please. Did you forget what party you belonged to Sarah. Say it after me" Gee Ohhh Pee.

[blueken]

10:30 AM on 10/26/2009

Palin can no longer screw things up at the top and the middle, so now she is trying to "help" (screw up) the bottom of the GOP. By the time she is done, there won't be much left to the Republican party. It's a shame, this allows the Dems to move to the center right, just like thier dark and greedy corporate over lords want. Bad time to be in the working class.

[trisha08]

10:26 AM on 10/26/2009

First Sarah blew off several invitations to speak at Conservative events, now she doesn't endorce the GOP candidate. Most excellent.

That will come back to bite her when she is seeking support from the GOP.

[trisha08]

10:23 AM on 10/26/2009

It's amazing that some people actual listen to a quitter. Palin was elected to run Alaksa....and then she just up and quit.......walked away from her responsibilities. What qualifies her to endorce others?

It's amazing that some in the GOP actually listen to who Palin endorces? You gotta be kidding me? Bwahahahahahah!

[brt929]

11:25 AM on 10/26/2009

You know, I think the press over-states her influence. A few other Republicans have come out for this 3rd Party candidate, including Dick Armey. I think journalists have become very lazy, and they keep throwing Palin in our face, because she is such a divisive figure.

On the other hand, if she really holds this much influence, we should thank her for helping us to destroy the Republican Party.

[Beck rocks]

09:46 AM on 10/26/2009

Sarah Palin is so weird...standing up for smaller government, individual liberty, free markets, constitutional limits on the federal government's bloated power. What a weird lady.

[floridafun]

10:09 AM on 10/26/2009

then takes money to go to china to speak. just to show her support of theeir great human rights efforts. the ones to imprison and kill anyone in the population who disagrees with the leader. the communist country that forces abortions and does not cotton to christianity extremism. she is so bold you betcha also!

[trisha08]

10:15 AM on 10/26/2009

Ya, standing up for smaller government, and then accepting more Federal money for her state than any other state in the Union.

Gee, that's smaller government fer ya'. She's a hypocrite. Read her record in Alaska.

[beyondthepale9779]

03:05 PM on 10/30/2009

She was not payed by the Chinese Govt. She was there to speak to an international business conference that happened to be held in China.
Hate blinds you. Come out of the bitter barn and play with the rest of us.

[Sarahmay57]

09:44 AM on 10/26/2009

You, Sarah Palin, and Doug Hoffman are both losers! I live in this district, and he doesn't have a chance.

[brt929]

09:24 AM on 10/31/2009

I've heard this guy doesn't even LIVE in the district.

[Peter007]

09:12 AM on 10/26/2009

The same race is occurring in New Jersey where the 3rd party candidate is taking votes away from the Republican challenger. The Republican Party is divided because of George Bush. He took the party to the far left with his spending and to the far right with his social positions. Old time Republicans didn't think much of the idea that acting like a moderate democrat was good. When a Republican politician moves closer to the democratic's party positions, supporters vote for the democrat. Why not vote for the real thing rather than a Democratic want-a-be? . Bush, McCain, and Lindsey Graham are all disasters for the Republican party. The party will morph into something different in the next few years.

[brt929]

10:35 PM on 10/31/2009

"The party will morph into something different in the next few years."

According to Chris Mathews, Republicans always lick their wounds by going even farther right than they were. Which is why the Democrats have become less than Progressive.