We have a clash of ideas within the Republican Party, and it is being fleshed out in NY 23. Who is showing principled leadership in lending their voice (and cash) to Doug Hoffman, the true conservative in the New York 23rd Congressional District Race?
Well we know that Newt Gingrich has sold out so he isn’t, and I can say that any respect I did have for him is essentially gone.
I checked Huck PAC, because I knew Mike Huckabee made an “anti-establishment” endorsement of Marco Rubio in the Florida Senate Race over the establishment pick of Governor Charlie Crist. So I’m surprised he’s silent in the NY 23 race. I would like to think he’d jump in, and maybe he will later on (not that there is much time left), but his silence is deafening in this very important race.
Mitt Romney is absent from this race, but I would suspect that his leanings would be toward Dede Scozzafava. I could be wrong, but I don’t expect anything remotely resembling principles to come from the Romney camp. He’s proven time and time again that he’ll do, or say anything he thinks he needs to, in order to win.
Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota, who will likely be in the 2012 race started Freedom First PAC, and a big deal was made about it with the intention of making an impact in pre-2012 races. With this race though, he’s asleep at the wheel.
Pawlenty happened to be speaking to reporters in Washington after a fundraiser for his new political action committee. The Minnesota governor refused to make an endorsement when asked about the race.
"You know I haven’t been following that, I haven’t studied the race at all," he said. "It’s not that I would or wouldn’t, I just don’t know anything about it. I haven’t taken the time to study their positions, their records, so I haven’t taken a position on it."
He hasn’t been following it? What is he doing with his PAC?
Sarah Palin in her endorsement of Hoffman is demonstrating the principled courage and leadership sorely lacking in the GOP establishment. In her endorsement she said:
Doug Hoffman stands for the principles that all Republicans should share: smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and a commitment to individual liberty.
Political parties must stand for something. When Republicans were in the wilderness in the late 1970s, Ronald Reagan knew that the doctrine of "blurring the lines" between parties was not an appropriate way to win elections. Unfortunately, the Republican Party today has decided to choose a candidate who more than blurs the lines, and there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race. This is why Doug Hoffman is running on the Conservative Party’s ticket.
Republicans and conservatives around the country are sending an important message to the Republican establishment in their outstanding grassroots support for Doug Hoffman: no more politics as usual.
Small government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and a commitment to individual liberty… so where are the other conservative leaders? Whether you like Sarah Palin or not she is filling a leadership void. She embraces the tea party movement and she gets the grassroots. Others can step up, but now they have to play catch up. Josh Painter takes note of what this endorsement represents:
With her endorsement of Doug Hoffman, Sarah Palin has taken a stand in solidarity with the gathering storm known as the grassroots movement in this country. The disaffected conservatives, conservative libertarians, common sense independents and blue collar Democrats (aka Reagan Democrats) who are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore always seemed to us to be former Governor Palin’s natural base constituency. These are not only the people who have turned out for TEA parties and Townhalls across the country, but the many more of them who didn’t demonstrate, but feel the pain. It’s a big step for the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate to take toward earning their trust as the national public figure who best voices their concerns.
As for the Republican Party, its establishment which has refused to listen to the rank and file has officially been put on notice by Sarah Palin.
She’s already making a huge impact. Which is vitally important because this race matters.
Update: Mike Huckabee was on Neil Cavuto’s show on Fox News. He was asked about Doug Hoffman (who was interviewed later on) and whether or not he supported him. He declined saying he chose to stay out that race because he’s giving a speech to the Conservative Party. He said he doesn’t want to get that speech mixed up with an endorsement speech. What?!?!? That doesn’t even make sense, it sounds like a lame excuse to me. Governor Huckabee I’m disappointed!
2nd Update: Pawlenty now becoming concerned… well welcome to the party Governor. I’m glad that you could look into this race. You still aren’t forthright on who your are going to endorse though.
Also… what is Scozzafava getting into with campaign cash???? Great pick there Speaker Gingrich. Also got to love how the NRCC is handling this race… nice.