Hoffman

I'll skip down to the money quote, or quotes:

Ryan said an important factor in the decision to concede was the unexpected -- and erroneous -- close vote in Oswego County, where polls had Hoffman with a double digit percentage point lead heading into Election Day.

"That’s the thing that threw us off," Ryan said.

Oswego County elections officials blame the mistakes on "chaos" in their call-in center that included a phone system foul-up and inspectors who read numbers incorrectly when phoning in results. Of 245 races in the county -- not including the congressional and court races -- 84 had incorrect totals reported election night.

In the congressional race, more votes were cast in Oswego County than any other in the 11-county district.

The district’s second biggest voter turnout was in Jefferson County, where Hoffman also has benefited from a turnaround since election night, gaining about 700 votes. Owens led Hoffman by 300 votes on the final election night tally. But after recanvassing, Hoffman now leads by 424 votes, 10,884 to 10,460.

Jerry Eaton, the Republican elections commissioner for Jefferson County, said inspectors found a problem in four districts where Hoffman’s vote total was mistakenly entered as zero.

As a Vice Chairman of the New York State Conservative Party, I have been involved in the Special Election to replace Congressman McHugh from the beginning.

Personally, I opposed Dede because she is radically pro-abortion, a rare Republican who voted twice to legalize gay marriage, in favor of card check, refused to rule out the public option, and supported Obama's stimulus. When I warned friends in the national Republican Party that she is way to the Left of the voters in this district they refused to listen and dumped a million dollars into her race. I also speculated that if she won she would likely switch parties.

Today's, news that she endorsed the Democrat did not come as a surprise to me. Throughout this race I have been disappointed about how tone deaf most national Republicans have been to the millions of Americans who see candidates like Dede as the problem and not the solution.

Local Republicans (outside of New York where moderate Republicans have virtually destroyed their party) in Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, and elsewhere took it upon themselves to endorse our candidate Doug Hoffman . They understood what Newt, the RNC, and NRCC failed to comprehend: Millions of Americans feel that their country is being subverted by big government liberals and they are not interested in winning elections with the wrong candidates.

The national Republicans are so clueless that they praised Dede for suspending her campaign. Until the end they did not know that she is a Left wing opportunist not a loyal Republican.

On Friday, a leading Republican in the House asked me what the Republican Party should do to win back the trust of conservatives. I said run conservative candidates and continue to build a record of opposing Left wing policies. This Republican expressed a fear that third parties will emerge across the country. I told him a third party movement will materialize if the Republican Party does not embrace the majority of Americans who consider themselves conservatives.

I knew there was something about Newt Gingrich that was REALLY bothering me. Don’t get me wrong, Newt is a really bright guy, but I had severe doubts about his sanity when he started to cozy up to Hillary Clinton during the 2008 presidential campaign. Some of his choices recently lead me to believe he’s lost touch with the conservative patriot movement of the party, if he in fact was ever in touch with it at all. Newt’s endorsement of  FAR LEFT LIBERAL Republican Dede Scozzafava makes as much sense as Meg Whitman’s gushy endorsement of avowed communist agitator Van Jones and will have the same inevitable result..the only difference being that Newt is not seeking to be Governor of California..but that’s a story for another time. I’ve been talking about the  “Old Guard” Country Club Republican Party. The guys that meet and predetermine our presidential candidates before district or state elections or national primaries. That they’ve been wrong time after time doesn’t seem to bother them. They see themselves as beltway movers and shakers and the all-knowing decision makers for us ordinary little people. There is a ground swell phenomenon out there called the Conservative Patriot movement that the Old Guard is having difficulty comprehending, much less coping with. It’s a movement that is insisting that American Conservative values be followed…that honesty and transparency become the by-word of the party. That small government, anti-regulation, tax reform and fiscal responsibility become the focus of  a new and revitalized Conservative Republican Party. The 23rd District race in New York may very well be a bell weather indicator for what is going to occur around the country. The Old Boy network of New York GOP political bosses decided that ultra left Dede Scozzafava, a MAXI RINO, would be the party’s pick to run in the 23rd congressional district. This didn’t sit right with the natives, who promptly rebelled with immediate and potentially national implications. Conservatives flocked to the aid and support of  patriot dark horse candidate Doug Hoffman. Including the Conservative Club for Growth and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Hoffman may turn this race into a route…which should give establishment Republicans around the country pause for severe reflection. They should be getting this message; We don’t want deal makers. We want leadership who will stand up and FIGHT for what we believe in. We don’t want a CENTRIST limp-wristed  party leadership who will be pushed around by every Democrat on the hill. BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU FIGHT FOR, FIGHT FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE!!

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2009