Another article today on the Scozzafava vs. Hoffman controversy which will come to a head next Tuesday. Eric Richter has a piece on the American Thinker entitled The Battlefield Paradox: Sozzafava or Hoffman? in which he compares the current Republican strategy to soldiers in foxholes who refuse to get up and carry the fight to the enemy. Go read the whole thing here. It's short.
I had some commentary on the topic last Friday here. My point then, and Richter makes the same point, is that simply having a seat with an "R" on it does little real good. Scozzafava would be a drag on the Republican party in the House. Scozzafava's votes would more often than not be used by Democrats to provide bi-partisan cover for what would otherwise be blatantly Democrat proposals, just as Olympia Snowe's vote in the Senate for the Baucus Health Care bill was used by the President to claim bi-partisan support. If we are to advance a conservative, Constitutionalists agenda, we can do without having a fifth column behind our borders.
But here is another way this could play out. Suppose the Republicans win a bare majority in the House, say 218 Republican to 217 Democrats (I know it's unlikely, but I can dream can't I.) The Republicans could at that point, name the Speaker of the House, chair each committee, set the agenda for what will and will not come up for a vote. In other words, Republicans would be in nominal control. Now along comes Scozzafava and declares herself, like Jumpin' Jim Jeffords, a Democrat. Suddenly the majority shifts to 218 Democrat to 217 Republican. So, while the American people have voted to give the majority to the Republicans, one person, Ms. Scozzafava could veto all of that and hand the House back to Nancy Pelosi and her merry band of Leftists.
One wonders whether the stupid party is really that stupid, or incompetent, or is it malice?
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The level of perceived incompetence and/or malice is so pervasive and persistent that one must assume it's deliberate. The greater fools we ... for putting them there, and then allowing them to stay.
ReplyDeleteThe GOP has been prioritizing short-term gains, real and apparent, over long-term thinking. It did that when it backed Arlen Specter for re-election. It did it when it tapped John McCain for President. And it won't cease doing it until American conservatives whack it across the snout by flocking to the support of genuinely conservative candidates, regardless of party affiliation, wherever they can be found.
ReplyDeleteIn that regard, the Hoffman candidacy in NY-23, and his remarkable surge to the front of the three-way race, just might be a harbinger. We can hope, anyway.
Gentlemen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. The NY-23 race has been bizarre to say the least,though I understand that NY politics in general can be bizarre, with a Conservative party and a Liberal party in addition to the traditional R and D. Long term I think we need a national Conservative party, but party building takes a lot of time, and we don't have time now, if we are going to save anything for the next generation.
So, hold onto your hats! It's going to be a bumpy ride, and the stakes could not be higher.