| "History never repeats itself, but historical situations recur."
As you may be aware, there's some grumbling on the part of the Tea Party groups over the choice of a pro-choice Republican to replace Chris Lee in the 26th Congressional District's as-yet unscheduled special election.
This, and the threat of a possible Tea Party independent challenger, of course set off a furor of spin to knock down any assertion that the situation was comparable to the NY-23 special election in November 2009. Erie County Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy was particularly adamant in dismissing any comparison to the previous case, and insisting that they would win no matter what the Tea Party decided to do.
Jane Corwin is not Dede Scozzafava," Langworthy said. "Dede Scozzafava was a liberal Republican. ... This is an apples and oranges scenario.
Perhaps not so much as he'd like, though.
Most people here probably aren't aware of this, but during the NY-23 special election, former Congressman Chris Lee managed to severely outrage the local Tea Party by making a donation of $1,000 to the campaign of Dede Scozzafava. This, to them, was unacceptable just short of declaring your allegiance to the Democrats. And one can certainly see their point--if being a liberal Republican is evil, then I suppose supporting a liberal Republican is too.
So I can't imagine that they're very happy about this news, then: Jane Corwin also made a $1,000 donation to Dede Scozzafava. Except that unlike Lee, who donated to a fellow Congressional candidate out of his surplus campaign money, Corwin donated out of her own personal pocket.
CORWIN, JANE HON.
CLARENCE, NY 14031
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY/ASSEBLYWO
SCOZZAFAVA, DIERDRE K
VIA DEDE FOR CONGRESS INC
08/25/2009
1000.00
29935383912
Update: In a statement to Politico, Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long admitted that he "would prefer she had not made the contribution to Scozzafava," but remained uncommitted on whether she would earn the party's ballot line. |
