New York Race Shows The Power Of Values

The highly publicized congressional race in up state New York has taken an odd turn, Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava has decided to drop out. She stated that she came to her decision after seeing in a recent poll that she was the least popular candidate, with only 20% of the vote. The next day Ms. Scozzafava released a letter supporting her former Democratic opponent Bill Owens, and urged her followers to vote for him also.

The announcement came as no surprise to conservatives who had already opted to support Doug Hoffman instead of Scozzafava, as the candidate who harbored truly conservative values. Mr. Hoffman stands against abortion, gay marriage, bank bailouts, trillion dollar deficits, high taxes and run away government spending; whereas Scozzafava openly supports abortion rights, gay marriage and the labor union empowering policy of card check.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who had spoken out in the last few weeks in support of Scozzafava, now had to swallow his pride and switch his endorsement to Hoffman. Gingrich had argued against other conservative leaders who had backed Hoffman, saying that Scozzafava was the only real option to defeat the Democratic candidate, but new polls show otherwise.

Doug Hoffman now leads Democrat Bill Owens in a two-way match-up 54 percent to 38 percent with 8 percent undecided, according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted Oct. 31-Nov. 1. Hoffman is seen favorably by a 50 percent to 37 percent margin with 13 percent undecided. Owens is seen unfavorably by a 45 percent to 35 percent ratio with 20 percent undecided. Scozzafava was seen unfavorably by a 52 percent to 31 percent margin with 17 percent undecided.

The turn of events also shows how conservative voters are beginning to break with the Republican Party establishment. Scozzafava was nominated as the GOP candidate by local party leaders, rather than a primary election, and now that her candidacy is over and polls show her profound lack of support, conservatives feel emboldened to reclaim the Republican Party.

Old school Republicans such as Newt Gingrich and Michael Steel are seeing a backlash for their support of a candidate who was viewed as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Commenters on Gingrich’s own website say that he has become irrelevant to the party and should step aside. Critics on just about every blog are posting comments decrying Republican leadership’s support of Scozzafava and noting that it is time for the party to return to more conservative roots.

Republican leaders would do well to acknowledge that they can not force a candidate on conservatives who make up the base of their party. More and more people are saying no to “moderate” Republican candidates and are voting for those with more conservative views. We are repulsed by those who seek to be some form of Democrat-lite, but are inspired by those who are guided by Godly principals, not just in economics but in foreign policy and domestic issues also. Hopefully GOP leaders will see and understand this change in time to make a difference in elections that are just around the corner.