Some strong-arming from the right
It appears that Doug Hoffman is harboring delusions of grandeur. He is telling anyone willing to listen that he must be the Republican candidate in the 23rd Congressional District for the GOP to be able to unseat freshman Rep. Bill Owens. Mr. Hoffman, who has been guaranteed the Conservative Party line on the ballot by state party chairman Mike Long, wants everyone to know it will take two lines on the ballot to defeat Mr. Owens.
Needless to say, this is not sitting well with the Republican hierarchy, most of whom think the party ought to be able to select its own candidate without the interference of Mr. Long. Most of the county chairmen are embracing a Republican primary to determine the party’s candidate, since all are anxious to avoid the debacle that ensued after their seemingly legitimate selection of Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava to run in last year’s special election to succeed Rep. John M. McHugh. You will remember that Mr. Hoffman, along with many of his high-profile supporters, charged the Republicans with selecting a candidate behind closed doors. Of course, since it was a special election, the GOP chose their candidate the way the law provided, and had Hoffman not acted as spoiler, it’s a good chance the honorific after the 23rd district representative’s name would today be R-Gouverneur rather than D-Plattsburgh.
Doug Hoffman, who has become a poster boy for the far right of the political spectrum, continues to spew positions and statements to cozy up to that faction, without giving much consideration to the needs of politics — the need, for example, to work within the Republican Party if he seriously wants to be considered a Republican candidate.
He is tightly wrapped, however, in the grips of the likes of Bill O’Riley, Rush Limbaugh and Mike Long. Mr. Long has gone so far as to say Mr. Hoffman can win because Mr. Owens has broken all his campaign promises.
Actually, I tend to believe Mr. Owens has pretty much done what he said he’d do. He’s kept a close eye on Fort Drum, he’s been a very centrist Democrat who did not appear to be a knee-jerk vote for the party’s more extreme elements and he’s been attentive to Northern New York concerns. The only campaign promises I see that he’s broken were Mr. Hoffman’s — and that, after all, is why he was elected in the first place.
It’s gratifying to see that county Republican chairmen across the sprawling 23rd District aren’t willing to toss the rank and file under the bus by playing Mr. Hoffman’s game of strong-arm politics. The process of selecting a Republican candidate is going to run its course, with a legitimate campaign leading up to an honest primary. I’m not at all sure Doug Hoffman is going to BE the Republican candidate, because a lot of what he’s selling, moderate Republicans don’t want to buy. Mr. Hoffman has already shown he’s no loyal Republican. If he was, we’d have Rep. Dede in the House right now. That lack of loyalty shouldn’t be rewarded in September.
