Rush, you should be ashamed.

Media Matters grabbed this clip from Rush Limbaugh's show today where he speaks in a crude way about state Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava's exit from the 23rd Congressional District's race.

If Mr. Limbaugh doesn't like a certain candidate, he can give an impassioned argument why. But he should be embarassed that he's resorted to denigrating a politician, a woman, a human being that he neither knows nor cares to know - whose biggest sin, apparently, was trying to seek higher office.

I'm not going to even transcript this, but be warned: It's rude. It's crude. It's totally uncalled for. And he frankly Mr. Limbaugh should apologize. And Doug Hoffman should distance himself from this sort of ad hominem attack immediately.

Rob Ryan, Mr. Hoffman's spokesman, said his candidate hasn't heard Mr. Limbaugh's comments.

"We can't control what other people say," he said.

True, but I'm more curious to hear if Mr. Hoffman wants to stand with Mr. Limbaugh and his comments - or denounce the radio commentator's words.

UPDATE: Bill Owens, the Democrats' candidate, has denounced Mr. Limbaugh's words in a statement.

“This despicable attack on Assemblywoman Scozzafava offends me personally and exemplifies exactly what's wrong with Hoffman and his right wing backers," he said. "Assemblywoman Scozzafava is an honorable public servant who has served Upstate New York as an independent and principled leader who always prioritized the best interests of Upstate New York ahead of a partisan agenda. Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the right wing special interests that are running Hoffman's campaign can't even begin to compete with what she has accomplished over her career.”

“Doug Hoffman and his supporters have sunk to a new low today. There is no excuse for this kind of shameful rhetoric and Doug Hoffman ought to denounce Limbaugh immediately.”

UPDATEx2: Mr. Hoffman hadn't heard the clip, but when I read it to him twice, he didn't have much to say.

Q: "What do you make of that statement?"

A: "I don't know. I have to interpret it first. I don't know. That's Rush Limbaugh. I don't think I can comment to that."

Q: "Do you denounce what he's saying? He's one of your most vocal supporters."

A: "No, I don't denounce it. I just heard it this second. Do you want to read it to me again?"

Q: "Sure. Dede Scozzafava has (read rest of Mr. Limbaugh's statement)."

A: "I don't have any comment to that."

UPDATEx3: The Observer's Jimmy Vielkind has captured this video of Mr. Owens' talking about Mr. Limbaugh's statement.

"I have not been angry in the course of the campaign," he said. "The comments that Mr. Limbaugh made today made me angry. This is not how we have a civil discourse. This is not the way we conduct politics."

UPDATEx4: Conservative blogger Robert Stacy McCain says I ambushed Mr. Hoffman with a "gotcha" question. Mr. Limbaugh's quote was being circulated around the Internet by 4 p.m. today, and Mr. Owens had a statement out denouncing the comment by quarter to six. I asked Mr. Hoffman the question about 8:30 p.m.