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| Home Front: Politix |
| Reagan conservative in North Country |
| 2009-10-23 |
| Doug Hoffman didn't have a chance to make his case to Republican voters in a primary in New York's 23rd Congressional District. That's because the local GOP establishment chose its candidate behind closed doors, in a formerly smoke-filled room. The Republican grass roots never had a chance to choose among qualified candidates. And the National Republican Congressional Committee compounded this error by jumping into the contest with both left feet. That matters. Hoffman is a genuine Reagan conservative in a district that generally votes in that direction. Now, some smart people argue that in some districts, only a moderate Republican can get elected. That's what coalitions are all about. We cannot get all we want all the time. Even the Gipper would campaign for some Republicans I was less than thrilled about. He understood the importance of building a majority in Congress. That's not the situation that faces us in New York 23, however. There, the GOP establishment's nominee for Congress, Dede Scozzafava, is pro-choice and anti-marriage; she supported the failing Obama stimulus, and she has waffled on whether she would back Big Labor's demand for "card check." Card check, very simply, would extinguish the rights of labor to a secret ballot. It would empower union bosses to muscle workers into their corner -- not only on the job. Big Labor wants those extra union dues so it can swing elections for liberals. Any Republican who doesn't understand this is not paying attention. The party would become as extinct at the woolly mammoth. |
| Posted by:Fred |