| The Republican-conservative battle in the 23rd congressional district race is fun to watch and there is more coming out about the extent of it.
Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava's campaign passed along an e-mail to the Watertown Daily Times and in that e-mail was a message from Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman offering his support.
Jude Seymour from the Watertown Daily Times has the story:
Doug Hoffman pledged to help Dede Scozzafava in an e-mail sent two days after the Republican Party passed over the Lake Placid accountant for the nomination.
The e-mail, sent from Mr. Hoffman's business account on July 24 and provided by the Scozzafava campaign, states in full: "Hi Dede, Congratulations and the best of luck in your candidacy. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. Doug."
...
I asked Mr. Hoffman today - through his spokesman - to explain why he told Ms. Scozzafava one thing and me another.
Here's the response I got from Rob Ryan, Mr. Hoffman's spokesman: "Like most Republicans, Doug Hoffman had no idea how liberal Dede Scozzafava is. The fact that Scozzafava has voted for higher taxes, increased spending and gay marriage proves she is way to liberal for the voters of upstate New York."
So Hoffman is one of two things: Either he is an opportunist who first promised support only to get backing from the Conservative Party in a run for Congress OR he really didn't know what Scozzafava was all about.
If it is the former, that wouldn't be surprising. It wouldn't be the first time a candidate saw an opening and realized that with the Conservative Party's help, he could run to the right of all candidates and try and rally the base for an upset victory.
But if it is the latter, it should raise questions about how just informed Hoffman is. He says he didn't realize just how "liberal" Scozzafava was and yet, she voted for the marriage equality bill in the Assembly back in 2007. Since Scozzafava has been labeled as "liberal" for only being pro-choice and pro-marriage equality, you would think that would have been a wake-up call for Hoffman. That's a vote everyone knows about, especially in political circles. He could have looked it up or he could have already know about it.
This whole battle has been all about ideology and nothing else. Hoffman, a fellow Republican, has gone after Scozzafava and labeled her as a liberal even though she isn't a full-blown liberal. Being left-of-center on two issues doesn't make her a liberal. Being left-of-center on ALL or MOST issues does. |
