Our new Congressman is Bill Owens who won he hotly contest race that was close until Mr. Hoffman conceded just before midnight.
Bill Owens stayed on message throughout the campaign while the other banged each other around, so much so that the first blood was an unprecedented move of having a candidate, Dede Scozzafava, quit the campaign 72 hours before it's conclusion.
When Scozzafava quit the race she threw her support behind Bill Owens and that could be possibly be the difference in the outcome. The polls showed Hoffman leading but given the turmoil anything was possible.
This was a special election, therefore Mr. Owens is eligible to be sworn in immediately as opposed to January 1, 2010. So, while Mr. Owens assumes his responsbilities as a Member of the House of Representatives and the Republicans are looking at the next election.
Owens wins 49% at last count while Hoffman and Scozzafava combined for 51%, which signals immediate vulnerability. It is anyones call though.
Yes one of the first emails I read this morning was from a friend saying "Doheny in 2010."
"A government big enough to give you everything you want,
is big enough to take away everything you have"
Thomas Jefferson
21 comments:
Doheny..........
hmmm...
you can make the words
"No De" out of his name.
perhaps an omen or harbinger of things to come
Doheny 2010! He is someone who can help rebuild our party and take back the seat.
Whose running for Dede's seat when it's up???
Does Doheny pass the Palin/Beck/Limbaugh/Tea Party test?
I heard Jon Peck wants Dede's seat? He is an awkward individual like Hoffman. I also heard that the chair of the board of legislators, Ken Blankenship? Ken is part of the problem, he is too old and has held office since before christ. Ok not that long but you get the idea. Bottom line is we need new and young blood.
It's difficult to beat an incumbent, so it may be an uphill battle for the Republicans to win what would be, in effect, a lame duck position.
What I think this election has shown is that the far right doesn't have enough support to win this district outright. I appears that moderates make up a great deal of the Republican majority up here.
I think Doheny might be too far to the right to win.
I agree Ken would be a horrible choice. He has had his time on the board. Furthermore he is not likeable enough to the people personality wise. You have to be able to connect on a personal level.
8:53, Absolutely right. "It appears that moderates make up a great deal of the Republican majority up here." Did the Republican party leaders learn from this or will they now throw Hoffman under the bus for not being Conservative enough?
Doheny is a good choice. Moderate. Between Scozzafava and Hoffman. He needs to clean up his personal life though.
Why don't you all try seeing how Owens does before planning his demise?
Unless Owens suddenly decides to abandon his democratic position (based on that wejust experienced anything is possible), I don't need to wait. I just don't agree with the economic philosophies of the Dems. The Dems operate on tax and spend, which is a short term strategy which results in highly volatile economic times. I support the Reagan supply side economic theories and practices and Owens just doesn't agree. But, as I said, you never know, maybe Owens will adopt a conservative fiscal positions and piss off all the classic dems up here...at this point, I won't write anything off...
Wow - Open season on candidates already, I see.
Nice ... but how about some breathing room first or at least until everyone is armed equally?
* Float a few names, get out the early anger now, fish for money, float a few more names of mostly "establishment types," then rip them a new one, plead with a few outsiders to come back home (with their fat checkbooks, natch) ..." etc. and then in the end, let the party machine do the rest.
Nice to watch and participate in the "forum battle of words and predictions," but few play in the real game. In the end, it's always easier to stand and watch and toss a few 'grenades from a safe distance.
Congrats to Dede for trying, dropping, and then beating Hoffman anyway... he sure could'a used that 7,000 votes ... she gets the last laugh - June O'Neill and "that's my girl" paid off.
Don't forget that Owens was an INDEPENDENT when the Dems tapped him as their candidate. I think that puts him a lot closer to the middle than to the far left.
Nobody should assume he's just going to be a Pelosi lapdog. Let's see him in action first.
What the hell? Why no calls for dinosaurs like Mike Long and Hank Ford to step aside? They created this mess with a puppet named Hoffman along with the idiots like Rush Limbaugh who know nothing of nor have any real interest in the 23rd CD.
All this obsession with a referendum on Snowbama. What a bunch of crap! The Conservative Party reminds me of the drunken frat boys in college who would sleep with anyone and/or anything just to get their rocks off and put another notch on their belts.
Hoffman was just another "warm body" to the Conservative Party honchos who are looking for the coat-tails of another George Pataki to latch onto and claim credit for.
Dede was right when she said Long and the Conservatives stuck with King George when he journeyed left and went more liberal than Dede. (Now Pataki's trying to re-brand himself as a neo-con - pathetic!)
Of course, that what slobs like Long do when you give their daughter a job in your administration and dole out a few political patronage favors to the third-string, also-ran group that is NY's Conservative Party.
Long and the NYS Conservatives stand for nothing! Look at some of the liberal Dems Hank Ford and his blind followers endorse in local races. They're basically pimps for political prostitues who will say anything for a line on the ballot.
C'mon IV, call a spade, a spade. Or are your afraid of these same phoney Conservative Party bosses you sucked up to in the past for your elections??
Let's continue with the "He/She is Not Conservative Enough" debate, shall we ... it's a valid one to have, even at this trough, and yes, even by bystander DEMS like me. Okay?
My take on it and please do NOT be offended:
• GOP conservatives; Tea Party side; 10th’er side; Palin side; or any other label they choose to call themselves – I mean specifically those from that Rightwing of the GOP.
• They are very vocal (we saw that over the Summer). They are usually well-funded (by big money who stays in the background); small in overall numbers, and that is why we see and hear the same ones over and over and over recycled on the radio and TV and panels ...
But, they are usually sufficient enough in voting power to influence who gets on the GOP primary ballot ... that's a problem for their party overall - why?
Because those who want to get on their ballot as lifelong and loyal Republicans have to end up whoring themselves in any way possible to prove that they are "conservative enough" to gain the trust and thus gain the ballot and thus, win.
Best current example? Dede Scozzafava.
Now you may not agree with me and that's fine, but it's still the truth, if one is honest about the facts and not emotion.
That's the dilemma for the Grand Old Party that I see from my foxhole.
And until the GOP tent is really a "Big Tent" and has many doors that are not guarded by just conservatives, nothing will change.
Other than keeping two party lines (Republican and Conservative) that we just saw - that will remain divisive when someone like Dede speaks their mind and is shunned.
Doheny? My god you people are slow learners, he is as liberal as Dede. It is a big shocker we cant win races anymore.
Good lord! Doheny is NOT liberal. You are misinformed! Please explain why you think he is liberal. He is the farthest thing from liberal. Do you honestly think that the Conservatives would have said they would have backed him if he were liberal??? If you don't believe me, speak with Mike Long (head honcho of the Conservative Party) - he will educate you. Doheny is fiscally and socially conservative. The one position that moves him off the far right is that he is not opposed to abortions for victims of incest and rape. Really? Are you so far right that even that position makes him a liberal in your eyes??? He is not Dede and he is not Hoffman. He is actually an electable candidate.
Need I remind you that the conservative candidate lost. Perhaps putting a republican on the ballot that is not so liberal to be tied up with unions, ACORN, gay marriage, etc. and not thumping the bible on the far right...the extremes never win.
This didn't have anything to do with Lib/Cons, Dan. It was about money, and spending what we don't have. It was about taxes. Not Lucy lip lockin' with Libby. No one voted based on that bs. The Lib/Con thing is just a red herring for dumbasses.
Hey, it's working.
I hope the guy who said Owens would be independent is right. That was 1:08. But it sure doesn't look like it judging by today's photos with Pelosi and all the claims by her. She makes no bones about it, his vote belongs to her.
But I hope you're right 1:08. It's pretty early to tell. I see they are cramming through votes on the health care fiasco this weekend.
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