National Republicans Force Moderate Out of NY Race
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Related subjects: In the Loop, The Vote, U.S. Elections, Vote 2009 Comments Off
When Rep. John McHugh was named Secretary of the Army, his seat was opened for a special election in an off-year, drawing Democrat, and war veteran, Bill Owens and moderate, and locally accomplished Republican Dierdre “Dede” Scozzafava. But Doug Hoffman, a businessman critical of her positions decided to launch a challenge, despite Scozzafava’s strong support from the local Republican party and from the RNC, as candidate for the Conservative party. No less than Newt Gingrich, experienced in both conservative and national Republican politics, decried the challenge as an affront to democracy and a shortsighted attempt to hijack the race, dictating ideology to the local electorate and party leaders.
Now, Scozzafava has withdrawn from the race, just two days before the election. The RNC immediately threw its weight behind Hoffman, pledging major new funding and “get out the vote” efforts to his campaign. One local Republican leader said the campaign against her and her subsequent withdrawal are a “detriment to democracy”. He suggested a radical element in the national party is “trying to bang 435 races across the country into one mold”, without regard for public sentiment or the party’s broader cause.
The marginalization of centrist Republicans is more significant than just an attack on local party structure or moderate candidates: it signals an intensifying radicalization of the Republican party itself. Instead of the arch-conservative candidate running against the Republican party as “too mainstream”, there is now a visible, concerted effort by national figures to use the Conservative party to fundamentally alter and seize control of the mainstream Republican party.
Sunday afternoon, Ms. Scozzafava endorsed the Democratic candidate, Bill Owens, confirming the deepening split in the Republican party. Scozzafava is admittedly more liberal than many Republicans, even in her own district, but the party had hoped she might serve as a moderate voice to lend credibility to the idea of a “big tent” Republican party that might compete with a national Democratic movement reinvigorated by Pres. Obama’s historic run and ambitious reform agenda.
The RNC is getting two candidates for one now, as Scozzafava’s attacks on Owens are still running, despite her having endorsed him, and the Conservative party candidate Hoffman is now the Republican party’s candidate of choice. But in another sign of how grave the rift is between conservative movement Reoublicans and those with a national electoral strategy, conservatives are now abandoning Gingrich, vilifying him as unprincipled and a frend of the enemy. Such a battle means even the conservative wing of the party is split and may be heading for a fractious leadership struggle, pitting ideology against practical public service.
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