Voting for Nobody in New York
If you’re a Republican because you’re a social conservative and not because you’re an economic conservative, a libertarian conservative, or you just enjoy joining clubs, Doug Hoffman in New York’s 23rd district is giving you the perfect opportunity to apply the principles of voting nobody to force the Republican Party to start tilting your way again. Looking at the record of the Republican’s hand-picked candidate, there’s practically no downside to voting Hoffman; even if the Democrat wins because of your vote, the Democrat won’t vote any differently on social conservative issues than Scozzafava.
Now, I say this as someone who doesn’t see Scozzafava’s most-complained-about positions as bad. I’m not a Republican; I tend to vote that way because I support effective self-defense and sane economic policies. Scozzafava has the support of the NRA and has apparently built a strong record in support of effective self-defense. I think that Republicans need to move away from being the party of “no” on gay marriage; either support it or support getting the government out of the business of approving who can and cannot be married. Scozzafava appears to be a pretty good candidate; if she also supported ending prohibition, she’d be a great one.
Some bloggers have been asking, “why doesn’t Sarah Palin get involved in this race?” I think the answer might be similar: on issues that matter, Scozzafava isn’t a bad candidate. Palin is against abortion, but she’s never been in favor of putting women in jail for having abortions. She supports traditional marriage, but vetoed anti-gay-marriage legislation in Alaska when it was unconstitutional. So though she obviously disagrees with Scozzafava on some issues, if she’s going to go against her party (and she’ll probably have to at some point) this is probably not the race to do it.
But the rest of you? If you want the Republican Party to listen to you, vote Nobody. This is your opportunity.
- October 31, 2009: Follow the Other McCain for excitement in New York!
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It’s hard not to be excited watching the House race in New York 23. Just the idea of both Republicans and Democrats getting a wake-up call is thrilling. Also, Hoffman looks a lot like a guy I went to college with and not at all like a guy I’d expect to take on two career politicians. To run a race as a third-party candidate against two entrenched major parties? It’s amazing, but what’s more amazing is that he’s running neck-and-neck to win.
If you want to keep up-to-date on the campaign, The Other McCain is the place to do it. He’s traveled there twice during the campaign on reader donations, and is using his experience both in Washington and as a grass-roots blogger to report and hypothesize on the candidates and players in this election.
New York
- Dede Scozzafava for Congress
- “It’s official. The campaign to replace John McHugh in Congress is on. I am confident that my platform of creating more good-paying jobs, reforming health care, and fighting for our seniors, is reflective of the peoples’ priorities. I will continue to travel the 23rd Congressional District to introduce myself to voters, and to articulate why I am the right person to represent us in Washington.”
- Doug Hoffman for congress
- “I’m running for Congress because I sense the America I love is being taken away from us. I want to tell Washington: No more bailouts. No more taxes. No more trillion dollar deficits. That's what I'm fighting for.”
- NRA Endorses Dede Scozzafava: Chris W. Cox
- “Based on your tested and proven record in the New York Assembly, as well as your responses to our federal candidate questionnaire, you have earned an ‘A’ rating from the NRAPVF. On November 3, we urge our members, gun owners and sportsmen in New York’s 23rd congressional district to vote for you for Congress.”
- Project Vote Smart: Assembly Member Dierdre K. ‘Dede’ Scozzafava (NY) at Project Vote Smart
- I’m seeing a lot of no votes on gun control, and yes votes on gay rights.
Nobody
- Make a difference as a voter
- The National Rifle Association knows how to ensure that their members make a difference when they vote.
- Super-Liberal ”Republican” Dede Scozzaflava Calls Cops on Weekly Standard Reporter: Ace at Ace of Spades HQ
- “Honestly, there’s no downside for us here in supporting Hoffman. If he wins—which he just might; Scozzaflava’s supporters apparently animated by the notion that she ‘can win’ will abandon her when it’s clear she can’t—awesome. And even if he doesn’t win, and the Democrat wins—still good. Still sends a message about the candidates we’re willing to support and the ones we’d rather actively work against. It’s the right message to send, win or lose.”
Sarah Palin
- NY23 UPDATE: Why is Sarah MIA?: Robert Stacy McCain at The Other McCain
- “Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman is in the fight of his life against the GOP establishment’s hand-picked RINO, in a crucial election that Hoffman’s media coordinator Rob Ryan says is ‘a referendum on the future of the Republican Party.’”
- Sarah Palin must choose her battles carefully: Josh Painter at Texas for Sarah Palin
- “Some other candidates shouldn’t present such a problem. In New York’s 23rd District, for example, Sarah can set herself apart from Newt Gingrich by giving her support to Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, as have Fred and Jeri Thompson.”
- Support Doug Hoffman: Sarah Palin
- “Doug Hoffman is committed to ending the reckless spending in Washington, D.C. and the massive increase in the size and scope of the federal government. He is also fully committed to supporting our men and women in uniform as they seek to honorably complete their missions overseas. And best of all, Doug Hoffman has not been anointed by any political machine.” (Hat tip to Robert Stacy McCain at The Other McCain)
More Doug Hoffman
- Doug Hoffman, Conservatives, and the Dangers of Unreasoning Partisanship
- Effective politics means supporting candidates who share your principles, not who share your party. If your support reflexively goes to a single party all the time, that party won’t care about your principles.
- Career politicians game the system in NY 23
- Take a look at those claw marks torn out of New York’s 23rd congressional district!
More Nobody
- Voting for a candidate supports that candidate’s positions
- Politics has meaning; your support of a candidate is support for that candidate’s policies. If you vote for candidates who move “your” party in a direction you don’t approve, no one knows that but you. Everyone else sees your vote as approval for moving the entire party in that direction.
- Make a difference as a voter
- The National Rifle Association knows how to ensure that their members make a difference when they vote.
- Nobody wants immigration reform
- “Immigration is not a problem to be solved.” A confident and successful electorate could understand that issues are more important than who you hate. Unreasoning partisanship, however, is a problem that often seems as if it has no solution.
More Republicans
- The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln
- As the founding president of the Republican Party and the man who guided the United States through the incredible sacrifices of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, Abraham Lincoln deserves more than adulation. He deserves to be read.
- The cyclic transmogrification of the Republican Party
- From Lincoln on, Democrats have accused Republicans of their own failings: hate speech, violence, madness. And the more the left recycles the same serpent’s lies they used against President Lincoln, the more the left turns Trump into the new Lincoln.
- Health insurance reform? What health insurance reform?
- The Truth About Republicans: they don’t want to repeal Obamacare.
- Two lessons for the price of one, for the Republican Party
- The Republican Party needs to stop trying to make it easy for the press to derail their primary process.
- You want your party back; so do Trump supporters
- You want your party back? So do Trump supporters. Whether Republican or Democrat, their party is either leaving them or has left them. They want their jobs, their religion, and they especially want their voice back. Trump promises to be that voice.
- 10 more pages with the topic Republicans, and other related pages
More Sarah Palin
- Sarah
- Published while Governor Sarah Palin was just Governor Sarah Palin and not the 2008 Vice Presidential nominee for the Republican Party, this is a fascinating look at the pre-media frenzy governor.
- The anti-politician
- In 2007, then-governor Sarah Palin turned down federal funds for a pointless Alaskan roads project in hopes that the money could be put to better use by another state, Minnesota, that had just seen a tragic bridge collapse during rush hour.
- Nothing to fear but a brokered convention
- The reason someone smart would want a brokered convention is that it’s exciting, and it means media coverage, and even more, it means unfiltered media coverage.
- President Obama pokes the bear
- Sometimes you eat the bear; sometimes the bear eats you. Why is President Obama running against his 2008 opponent’s vice-presidential candidate? Why is he lying about her? And why doesn’t he want to discuss real issues?
- Who is the fiscally-sane candidate?
- Which of the Republican candidates is most likely to help turn this country back on the path of fiscal sanity?
- 19 more pages with the topic Sarah Palin, and other related pages
Remember: Trump reassures crowd after assassination attempt fails. (read more…)
Blogroll
- According To Hoyt
- Ace of Spades HQ
- The Anchoress
- John Hayward
- Legal Insurrection
- National Motorists blog
- The Other McCain
- samizdata.net
- Sultan Knish
Disclaimer: I say this as someone who donated money to Hoffman’s campaign. I don’t feel too bad about it because Hoffman also seems to be a good candidate on some important issues, but I have learned to be more careful getting involved in local elections I’m not familiar with.
October 22 2009 update: Added a link to Palin weighing in on Hoffman’s behalf. I know some people have been complaining about her taking so long, but I really don’t think she can be faulted for giving a decision like this serious thought. It looks like she’s basing her decision on the fiscal conservatism of the candidates, and I agree that fiscal sanity is something we desperately need today.