A GOP mistake in New York

NY Times:

From a command center inside the Days Inn here, conservatives from around the country are fighting to preserve what they see as the integrity of the Republican Party.

Urged on by leaders like former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska and Dick Armey, the former House majority leader from Texas, they have come to defeat Dede Scozzafava, the Republican candidate for Congress in the 23rd District, whose views on abortion, same-sex marriage and taxes they deem insufficiently conservative for anyone running as a Republican.

They have committed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the effort and plan to run 800 radio spots, print 80,000 leaflets and recruit some 200 volunteers to work the polls on Election Day next Tuesday.

Many of the workers acknowledge that their efforts could deliver the election to the Democratic candidate, but they say it is more important to send a message than to win this race.

“This is the shot that needs to be fired to Republican leaders to wake them up,” said former Representative Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado, who was one of the most outspoken conservatives in Congress until her defeat last year.

The race, for an open seat in the far northern reaches of upstate New York, has become a contentious referendum on the party’s future, and its outcome will help shape what kinds of candidates the Republicans run as they look to rebuild their ranks in Congress next fall.

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The Republican candidate is certainly out of step with the mood of voters as demonstrated by the Tea Party movement and polling that suggest interest in liberals is dropping after seeing what Pelosi and Obama have been pushing. The story does not seem to get into what those who selected this woman were thinking. It is more about what those who reject her campaign are thinking. While that is interesting, it does not explain how the selecting process was so out of touch with voters.

The Times editorial board kept describing Scozzafava as a moderate yesterday, but few of those who oppose her consider her positions moderate. In fact, many of them probably think that if the Times editorial board thinks she is "moderate" then she is really the liberal they think she is. They do not seem to understand why conservatives object to Blue Elephant Republicans. There may be some districts where that can be tolerated, but why tolerate it in a conservative district?

For some, it is always a good time to take a stand against the evils of liberalism.