With only two weeks to go, conservative businessman Doug Hoffman’s race in New York’s 23rd congressional district is becoming a top priority among conservatives nationwide.
The insurgent conservative’s gains may be due to Hoffman’s pro-life, anti-bailout, and anti-spending platform -- or disgust with liberal GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava and the means in which she was given the nomination by ten Republican county chairmen – or both.
Just this week, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Tex.) announced his support for Hoffman. Armey, a key player in the tea party tax protests nationwide on September 12, will jet to the upstate New York district on Thursday (October 22nd) to appear with the Conservative hopeful.
Armey’s stand puts him at odds with his old comrade in the House GOP leadership, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who upset conservatives by endorsing the liberal Scozzafava a week ago.
This latest endorsement comes on the heels of the Club for Growth’s announcement of a new wave of TV ads on behalf of Hoffman. In addition, the conservative grassroots organization National Republican Trust PAC has just endorsed Hoffman, with Trust Executive Director Scott Wheeler telling reporters: “New York’s out-of-touch GOP party hacks chose the most liberal nominee possible in a backroom meeting without any input from the voters of New York.”
Late support for Hoffman is coming from coast to coast. At the Western CPAC Conference in Newport Beach, California this weekend, I talked to numerous California conservative activists who not only were aware of the New York contest but had sent money or were planning to send money to Hoffman. American Conservative Union Chairman David Keene devoted much of his luncheon address to the Western CPAC to denouncing national and state party leaders for the deal that gave the nomination to Scozzafava.
“We’re getting tons of small donations from around the country,” Hoffman spokesman Rob Ryan told me when I spoke after returning from California.
Meanwhile, Scozzafava had to play defense last week. She came under fire for her position on the Americans for Tax Reform pledge not to vote for a tax increase or any new taxes if elected to Congress. The state assemblywoman signed the ATR pledge October 15 two weeks after the Adirondack (N.Y.) Daily Enterprise reported (October 3rd) her adamant stand that she wouldn’t sign the pledge. And the Watertown (NY) Daily Times reported on October 19th that Scozzafava feels the ATR pledge “doesn’t bind her hands” on supporting the federal stimulus bill or earmarks.
With days to go before the balloting, watch for more “name” conservatives as well as more small donors to rally to the Hoffman banner in what is shaping up as a defining moment for the modern conservative movement.
The insurgent conservative’s gains may be due to Hoffman’s pro-life, anti-bailout, and anti-spending platform -- or disgust with liberal GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava and the means in which she was given the nomination by ten Republican county chairmen – or both.
Just this week, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Tex.) announced his support for Hoffman. Armey, a key player in the tea party tax protests nationwide on September 12, will jet to the upstate New York district on Thursday (October 22nd) to appear with the Conservative hopeful.
Armey’s stand puts him at odds with his old comrade in the House GOP leadership, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who upset conservatives by endorsing the liberal Scozzafava a week ago.
This latest endorsement comes on the heels of the Club for Growth’s announcement of a new wave of TV ads on behalf of Hoffman. In addition, the conservative grassroots organization National Republican Trust PAC has just endorsed Hoffman, with Trust Executive Director Scott Wheeler telling reporters: “New York’s out-of-touch GOP party hacks chose the most liberal nominee possible in a backroom meeting without any input from the voters of New York.”
Late support for Hoffman is coming from coast to coast. At the Western CPAC Conference in Newport Beach, California this weekend, I talked to numerous California conservative activists who not only were aware of the New York contest but had sent money or were planning to send money to Hoffman. American Conservative Union Chairman David Keene devoted much of his luncheon address to the Western CPAC to denouncing national and state party leaders for the deal that gave the nomination to Scozzafava.
“We’re getting tons of small donations from around the country,” Hoffman spokesman Rob Ryan told me when I spoke after returning from California.
Meanwhile, Scozzafava had to play defense last week. She came under fire for her position on the Americans for Tax Reform pledge not to vote for a tax increase or any new taxes if elected to Congress. The state assemblywoman signed the ATR pledge October 15 two weeks after the Adirondack (N.Y.) Daily Enterprise reported (October 3rd) her adamant stand that she wouldn’t sign the pledge. And the Watertown (NY) Daily Times reported on October 19th that Scozzafava feels the ATR pledge “doesn’t bind her hands” on supporting the federal stimulus bill or earmarks.
With days to go before the balloting, watch for more “name” conservatives as well as more small donors to rally to the Hoffman banner in what is shaping up as a defining moment for the modern conservative movement.
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