New York’s 23rd District: Why Scozafazza Must Win
On another thread, the author argues that real conservatives must back Hoffman over Scozafazza in the up-coming and closely-watched NY 23rd congressional district race. To which I responded…
Thus would we send another democrat to Washington. Hoffman cannot win; he can only guarantee a democratic victory.
And don’t bother saying that it doesn’t matter. It does! Once in DC, members of congress are more-or-less held in line by their party’s caucus, as Scozafazza would be.
An estimated 8 - 10 million conservatives withheld their vote from John McCain in 2008. Look what it got us. The rigid litmus-test applied by conservatives [principle over pragmatism] has cost us dearly and will continue to do so. Remember that democrats would unite behind a cockroach if they thought it could win.
Here are the voter registration numbers for the 23rd…
Voter Registration As at 4/1/07
Dem - 115,660 (29.50%)
Rep - 173,376 (44.22%)
Other - 103,050 (26.28%)
A shift of only 20,000 votes - among those who ACTUALLY turn out, could easily hand the democrats a victory.
Finally, here is some interesting background information about the 23rd from racetracker.com.
“New York’s 23rd Congressional District primarily covers most of the Northern Adirondacks and the St. Lawerence Seaway regions. The district is ancestral Republican territory and has been represented by Representatitive John M. McHugh (R - Pierrepont Manor) since 1992 when David O’Brien Martin (R - Canton) retired. The 23rd district is now the only remaining Eastern Upstate New York congressional district still being held by a Republican.
Although the 23rd district continues to maintain a fairly large GOP registration advantage, Bush only carried the district with 51% in 2004, and Al Gore narrowly won the district under the previous configuration in 2000. This is largely due to the fact that the northern portion of the district, along the Canadian border, now consistently votes Democratic in presidential elections.”
Nothing would make me happier than a Hoffman upset, but sooner or later we have to learn to play the cards we are dealt, and stop trying to reshuffle the deck to guarantee a conservative purist.
Nothing is more satisfying to the liberal-left than the constant squabbling between ‘republicans’ and ‘conservatives’. They win. We lose.”
