Newt endorses Hoffman

Color me pleased but thoroughly unimpressed. Newt had no other call to make now did he? Jimmie, guest blogging at the Other McCain echoes my lack of excitement.

It's clear that the only reason Gingrich flipped his endorsement is because Scozzafava suspended her campaign and dropped out of the race. He still holds to the delusion that Scozzafava is actually dedicated to lower taxes (she's not) and opposing the Pelosi/Reid/Obama agenda (except where it involves pro-life issues, massive government spending, support for ACORN and big labor, and pork-barrel projects as vote bribes).

My take is that Newt deserves zero credit for doing the right thing only when all other options were closed to him. But, I suppose Newt might start thinking clearly again since he has pulled his head out of his, well you know.

Dede Calls it Quits

I've spent the morning running scans on my desktop in an attempt to rid it of an intrusive trojan/virus. Then comes word that Dede quits NY-23. Oh the irony.

Robert Stacy McCain is on scene and broke the news, at least, that's how I found out. This is exciting stuff! Who would have thought that a small special election in upstate New York would have turned into such a referendum on the GOP, RNC, NRCC and, well, Newt.

Professor Jacobson is calling it an all out referendum on Obama now. Liberals vs. conservatives.

The talk on Twitter is sort of cautious; some are hesitant to get too excited just yet. Part of that is because Scozzafava was such a liberal some of her voters may go to Hoffman. The last poll had it a dead heat with Hoffman and Owens with Dede a distant third.

Hot Air reports that Hoffman supporters are headed to Scozzafava's campaign to seek her endorsement. Heh. She's so far left, I'm not even sure that's a good idea.

Things are happening quickly now. Stay tuned for more updates!

(Cross posted at And So it Goes in Shreveport)

Is the NRCC waking up?

Is the House Republican leadership finally ready to embrace a valid Conservative candidate in the race for NY-23?

The House Republican leadership is prepared to welcome Doug Hoffman into its ranks, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) said Thursday, a sign that the GOP establishment is recalibrating its approach toward the contentious New York special election and the Conservative Party nominee whose candidacy has divided the party.


“He would be very welcome, with open arms,” Sessions told POLITICO in an interview off the House floor.


Sessions’s comments came as polls showed Hoffman surging in the Nov. 3 special election against Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava, a moderate who supports abortion rights and gay marriage, and Democratic attorney Bill Owens. Nearly a dozen rank-and-file Republican members announced their endorsements of Hoffman Thursday.


While the NRCC–along with House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.)—have all thrown their backing to Scozzafava, grassroots conservatives have revolted against the GOP nominee, asserting that she is too liberal for them to support. Some have even called for conservatives to withhold donations from the NRCC in protest.

This is very positive news, of course we need MORE of this type of news, but, it seems we might be making a dent in the GOP leadership's heads!

Big H/T to Another Black Conservartive!
Cross-posted at The DaleyGator

GOP dumping Scozzafava?

Well, it seems that they are still endorsing her, but, the money they were sending her? No mas! And other former supporters are bailing on her.

Dede Scozzafava is now losing her supporters to Doug Hoffman.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is switching his support in the New York special election from the GOP nominee to Conservative Party candidate Hoffman.

A spokesperson said Issa is overnighting Hoffman a $5,000 check from Issa’s political action committee.

Issa previously told The Hill that he supported Scozzafava, though he never gave her money. Now that she doesn’t appear to have a chance at winning, he is backing Hoffman.

Now, I would love to see the GOP leadeship switch too. Some folks fear this might hurt the GOP because it could encourage other third party candidates. A move that could, according to the pessimistic sorts anyway, cost the GOP in other races. Again, we, as a party, need to support the MOST conservative candidate if they can win. We ought to be reaching out to those candidates, and bringing them INTO the party if we can.

Conservatism is, after all, much about optimism. So, let’s be optimists. Supporting RINOs, and telling ourselves that we must sacrifice our principles to win is the path of pessimism, and of defeat. Optimism will leads us to support those candidates who DO share our principles, and that path, my friends, leads to victory!

Cross-posted at The DaleyGator

Biden Heads to Upstate New York

UPDATED BELOW!

How nervous must the Democrats be about NY-23 to send Joe Biden to campaign for Owens? And he's bringing country singer John Rich with him.

Via Memeorandum, Biden is heading to upstate New York to make an eleventh hour push for Bill Owens. This is basically a two man race now between Owens and conservative Doug Hoffman. Dede Scozzafava's campaign has collapsed faster than the Chicago Cubs season did this year. With the RNC now welcoming Hoffman to caucus with them once he wins, Scozzafava must be steaming.

Politico reports that the Biden rally will be Monday in Watertown:

The visit by Biden underlines how badly national Democrats want to snatch this seat, Republican-held since before the Civil War, from the GOP. But it also reflects Democrats' 11th-hour efforts to avoid a clean sweep Tuesday of the three mostly closely-watched races. With Republicans almost certainly winning the Virginia gubernatorial contest and the New Jersey governor's race very much up in the air, the upstate New York congressional race may represent the party's best chance for victory.

We can only hope Stacy McCain will stick around up there to cover Biden's visit; maybe some more shoe leather donations would help!

Allahpundit reminds us how "popular" Biden is lately.

Smells like desperation to me!

Update: Add another reason for Scozzafava to get steamed; Rep. Issa, who supported her previously, is backing away from her now and is overnighting a $5,000 to Doug Hoffman.

(Cross-posted at And So it Goes in Shreveport)

NY-23: Pataki Endorses Hoffman

Former New York Governor George Pataki has endorsed NY-23 candidate Doug Hoffman. Via Memeorandum, here is Pataki's statement:

As someone personally engaged in the way of life in the Adirondacks and Northern New York, I’m deeply concerned about the course of our nation and the outcome of the election in the 23rd Congressional District.

Simply put, we cannot afford to give another vote to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid we cannot afford another vote for higher taxes, we cannot afford another vote for government run health care and we absolutely cannot afford another vote to take away from hard working men and women the right to secret ballot.

That is why tonight, I’m proud to endorse Doug Hoffman, a Republican, running on the Conservative line for Congress in the 23rd Congressional District.

Doug Hoffman will stand up to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. He will fight for all the residents of northern New York. He will fight for our proud servicemen and women at Fort Drum, our dairy farmers in Lowville and our manufacturers in Plattsburgh.

As a businessman, and as a life-long resident of the North Country Doug Hoffman understands the need to lower taxes on working families, the need to stand tall against terror and he won’t back phony stimulus programs that fail to create the jobs we need and leaves a mountain of debt to our children.

When elected to Congress Doug will work to reduce our taxes, he will stand tall against those who despise our freedoms and he will be a vigilant stalwart against those who would substitute government programs for individual initiative.

And Doug Hoffman can win.

I urge all the voters of the 23rd Congressional District – Republican Democrat, Independent and Conservative to come out and vote for Doug Hoffman for Congress.

Pataki now joins a very, very long list of folks who have endorsed Hoffman, including Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, Steve Forbes, Tim Pawlenty, and my own Representative, John Fleming. Conservatives4Palin has the list, here.

Now it seems that even the NRCC is bailing on Scozzafava as Pete Sessions says that Doug Hoffman would be "welcome with open arms" into the ranks of the Republican leadership. Politico reports that :

On Thursday afternoon, Sessions appeared to tacitly acknowledge that Hoffman may represent the GOP’s best chance to keep the Republican-held seat from being picked up by a Democrat.

“I think it’s pretty clear that a person who would vote for John Boehner, support tax cuts, support growing our economy, and defeat Nancy Pelosi’s tax and spend agenda will be really welcome in our conference, and I think having a person who can win that district off that message would be really good for the Republican Party,” Sessions said.

What? Now that Hoffman has surged past Scozzafava in the polls, leaving her now in third place behind the Democrat Bill Owens, Sessions wants in on the Hoffmania? I'm sure Scozzafava was thrilled when she read that one.

Don't expect the NRCC to have learned any real lessons here. As long as the Republican leadership is out of touch with the conservative base, they will continue to support whichever candidate they feel can win the seat. As conservatives, we need to send our support directly to those candidates that reflect our values rather than to the RNC as long as they continue to prop up candidates like Scozzafava and Charlie Crist in Florida.

Time posts an article today which sums up this race:

Jeff Graham, the mayor of Watertown and a member of the Independence Party, says Hoffman is "a meek, soft-spoken guy who is mad as hell and just decided to go ahead and do this 2009 version of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. And it seems to be working."

Run Doug, Run!

(Cross-posted at And So it Goes in Shreveport)

Beware the Diminished Expectations of the Newtists

Why is the race in NY-23 so important? Why is Robert Stacy McCain spending time covering this race? Why are so many bloggers and prominent Republicans, Palin, Thompson, DeMint, Malkin, lining up and endorsing Doug Hoffman? I mean come on, he is not a Republican, he is a member of the Conservative Party. He is opposed by a Republican, Dede Scozzafava, who IS the candidate annointed by the local Republican Party, and Newt Gingrich.

So, if the Republican leadership, and Newt himself are pushing Scozzafava, then why would so many Republicans be against her. The Newtists would tell us “lesser Republicans” that Scozzafava is deserving of our suppprt because of that (R) by her name. They would tell us that we have to support her, because, well, cuddling up to Liberal Republicans, which Scozzafava most assuredly is, is the price we Republicans must pay to regain a majority in the House.

I call this the diminished expectations strategy. Yes, we want more Conservatives, but instead of daring to pursue that goal, we should settle for less. Hell, less IS easier isn’t it? So why not? After all, if the ONLY goal the Newtists have is to regain a majority, then we should accept any candidate as long as they call themselves a Republican.

Let’s assume for a moment that that strategy works. Imagine a glorious, shining, moderate-laden, big tent Republican majority. Folks, I am talking about a Republican majority that would make Meghan McCain and David Brooks break out in song! Now that you have a good image of what the Newtist majority would look like, imagine that a massive new cap and tax bill is to be voted on by the House.

Imagine Conservative Republicans voting to stop such a disastrous bill. Imagine Democrats, now the MINORITY mind you, voting for it. A close vote that is to be decided by, Moderate Republicans that Newt has convinced us to support for the, say it with me, good of the party. Care to guess which side those ” Republicans” would take?

Now imagine the same “Republicans” voting on new tax hikes, spending cuts, gun control legislation, health care, you name it. The chances are better than average that those moderates we bedded down with to regain the majority would stab us in the back quicker than Jesse Jackson would run over an old lady to get some camera time.

So, why is NY-23 so crucial? Well, because there we have a chance to give the boot to a genuine RINO, Scozzafava, and elect a genuine Conservative, Hoffman. It is really very simple. Either we elect a “Republican”, only because of that R, the Newtists are ready to sell our souls over, or we elect a person who will vote AGAINST ObamaCare, and other Liberal agenda items. Items that will no doubt wreck our economy, and forever fundamentally reshape America into a nation built on entitlements and big government rather than on liberty. So, really, it boils down to this. Do we care more about the “R” or about the U.S.A.?

If you are not sure, ask yourself this. WWTFFD? What Would The Founding Fathers Do? They damn sure would not have sold out and settled for the diminished expectations of the Newtists. They would have stood on principle. They would have fought, and they would have never, ever, forgotten their goal. So, now, I ask again my friends. Why is NY-23 so imoportant……….

Doug Hoffman Surges in Latest Poll

Jumpin' jehosaphat! Have you seen the latest Daily Kos poll on NY-23? Here's the summary:

Owens 33 (-2 vs. last poll, Oct. 22)
Hoffman 32 (+9)
Scozzafava 21 (-9)
Und 14

and the breakdown is here. That's quite a jump for Doug Hoffman, and I might note, quite a fall for Dede. The poll was conducted from October 26 to October 28 so it would reflect the Palin endorsement. Governor Rick Perry now joins the lineup of those who have endorsed Hoffman along with Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Fred Thompson and Rick Santorum, among others.

Allahpundit notes the poll with the reminder that this isn't actually a Daily Kos poll - they just paid for it. The pollster, Research 2000 is reliable. In addition, he says "Remember too that the campaigns have been whispering for the past week that internal polls show a two-man race now with Scozzafava fading. Consider this confirmation."

The end is near: Hoffman, Scozzafava and Democrat Owens will debate tonight; election day is Tuesday. Stacy McCain is doing the road-trip-thing, on his way to Syracuse as we speak. I believe you'll be able to watch tonight's debate online.

It's not too late to send some cash Hoffman's way so he can keep the momentum! As Robert Stacy McCain says, it's HOFFMANIA!

(Cross-posted at And So it Goes in Shreveport)

NY23: Your RNC/NRCC Contributions Pay for Attack Ad Against Doug Hoffman

GOP dollars doing Dede's disgusting dirty work:

National Review's Guy Benson comments:

"Doug Hoffman: Running from himself" is the NRCC ad's tagline. Pitiful. In the NRCC's defense, however, it's still a bit better line than the Scozzafava camp's apparent new rallying cry: "Sprinting towards irrelevancy."

Gingrich and the GOP Establishment should be ashamed of themselves.

My How Times Have Changed

My how the times have changed. It wasn't that long ago that President Barak Obama came to Ft. Myers, Florida and Governor Charlie Crist threw his loving arms around him. The governor blew off a Cabinet meeting and a lunch with Jeb Bush so he could attend that rally with the new president and tell the citizens of Florida that he was reaching out in a spirit of bi-partisonship and embracing the stimulus money just as he embraced Obama in a great big man hug.

What did Crist get in return for those stimulus dollars? Florida is among the nation's leaders in unemployment rates and foreclosure rates. On that all important day, Floridians got screwed while Crist got the thrill.

President Obama will be back in Ft. Myers this week but Charlie won't be there to give him a hug. The governor says he has a cabinet meeting to attend. That is called irony. Or bullshit, depending on your point of view.

What has changed? I'm guessing this:

Cross posted at Carol's Closet

NY23: Ordinary Americans make miracles happen -- start doing what you can!

Letter to the editor, Watertown (N.Y.) Daily Times:

It has recently come to my attention that the Republican Party bosses met behind closed doors to select the candidate for the special election to fill the vacancy created by the appointment of John McHugh to the office of Army secretary.
They selected Dede Scozzafava, a liberal member of the state Assembly. She received the same Planned Parenthood award that was awarded to Hillary Clinton. With President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushing an anti-life agenda through the House, we do not need another pro-abortion politician in Washington.
Let's send a message: both the Democratic and Republican candidates are pro-abortion, but the Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman is pro-life. On Nov. 3, pull the lever for Doug Hoffman on the Conservative line and cast a vote for life.
Ann Dougherty

To repeat what I wrote in "Memo to the Grassroots":

One of the problems that hinders grassroots activists from making a difference is that they see problems so big that they think to themselves, "What's the point? I'm just one person. I'm not important. Why waste my time? There's nothing I can do anyway." . . .
The reason the GOP national leadership is so out of touch is because too many grassroots conservatives don't know how to fight back against the RINOs and sellouts and self-serving GOP headquarters staffers who collect fat paychecks for screwing up over and over again. . . .

If you haven't read that essay yet, you should do so now. Because if all you're going to do is sit around whining, "What can I do?" you're part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Don't become discouraged and start telling yourself that you can't do anything to fight back. Doing the little things you can do -- like sending short, clear, well-reasoned letters to the editor of your local paper -- is the key to successful grassroots activism. "Steady licks kill the Devil," they say.

Ms. Dougherty's letter boiled down to its essence a key point about the NY23 special election, namely that it was the "lords of the backroom" who picked Scozzafava as the GOP candidate. How many people in the 23rd District are really aware of that dirty little secret? With that one letter, then, Ms. Dougherty may have struck an important blow for Hoffman by helping inform local readers about the real story of this election, namely the battle between the grassroots and the out-of-touch Republican elite.

That's just one example of the difference the Ordinary American can make, if you'll ignore those pessimistic Eeyores who are always spreading negative gloom and doom by telling you there's no point trying, because you're certain to lose. If Doug Hoffman had listened to that kind of advice -- when he was growing up poor, pumping gas at age 14 to earn money -- he never would have become a successful businessman, and he sure wouldn't be running for Congress today.

The Doug Hoffman campaign collected $116,000 online in a single day last week. This morning, I spoke with a campaign source who told me that the overwhelming majority of those donations were in the $20-$50 range.

Think about that. Raising a six-figure sum -- in one day! -- with the average donor contributing less than $35. If you haven't kicked in yet, what are you waiting for? And if you've already given the Hoffman campaign $20 or $50, how about another $10 or $20 just to say, "Keep up the good work?"

HOFFMANIA: CATCH IT!

The Other McCain: Complete coverage of the NY23 special election

(Cross-posted at Hot Air Greenroom.)

From Fox Business News

Very refreshing to hear an elected official understand how actual jobs are created. Not by government decree but in the private sector.

He discusses that as well and a couple of other subjects in the clip.

Sarah Palin for Hoffman!

Sarah Palin's endorsement of Doug Hoffman, via Facebook (emphasis mine):

The people of the 23rd Congressional District of New York are ready to shake things up, and Doug Hoffman is coming on strong as Election Day approaches! He needs our help now.

The votes of every member of Congress affect every American, so it's important for all of us to pay attention to this important Congressional campaign in upstate New York. I am very pleased to announce my support for Doug Hoffman in his fight to be the next Representative from New York's 23rd Congressional district. It's my honor to endorse Doug and to do what I can to help him win, including having my political action committee, SarahPAC, donate to his campaign the maximum contribution allowed by law.

Our nation is at a crossroads, and this is once again a "time for choosing."

The federal government borrows, spends, and prints too much money, while our national debt hits a record high. Government is growing while the private sector is shrinking, and unemployment is on the rise. Doug Hoffman is committed to ending the reckless spending in Washington, D.C. and the massive increase in the size and scope of the federal government. He is also fully committed to supporting our men and women in uniform as they seek to honorably complete their missions overseas.

And best of all, Doug Hoffman has not been anointed by any political machine.

Doug Hoffman stands for the principles that all Republicans should share: smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and a commitment to individual liberty.

Political parties must stand for something. When Republicans were in the wilderness in the late 1970s, Ronald Reagan knew that the doctrine of "blurring the lines" between parties was not an appropriate way to win elections. Unfortunately, the Republican Party today has decided to choose a candidate who more than blurs the lines, and there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race. This is why Doug Hoffman is running on the Conservative Party's ticket.

Republicans and conservatives around the country are sending an important message to the Republican establishment in their outstanding grassroots support for Doug Hoffman: no more politics as usual.

You can help Doug by visiting his official website below and joining me in supporting his campaign:
http://www.doughoffmanforcongress.com/donate3.html.

Mark Steyn Opines on the NY-23 Race

Mark Steyn offers some observations of the NY-23 race:

Newt really needs to re-think his support for Dede Scozzafava. This isn't RINO but DIABOLO - Democrat In All But Official Label Only. It's not one of those "socially liberal, fiscally conservative" bi-swinger deals - not when you're pro-"stimulus", pro-cash-for-clunkers. And the reductive argument that her sole redeeming value - a willingness to vote for John Boehner as Speaker - is reason enough to support her is silly in a special election. If he's ever Speaker, Boehner won't be till January 2011, and it's 12 months premature for Newt to be telling voters they need to suck it up and accept that a handful of Jim-Jeffords-in-embryo-form are necessary for the Republican tide.

He makes an interesting point. It does seem that Scozzafava's "sole redeeming value" is her willingness to vote for John Boehner as speaker, but there is so much more at stake than that. And as Steyn points out, that wouldn't even occur until 2011 at best. And what guarantee does anyone have that she would still vote for Boehner when the time came? The rumor mill has offered the possibility that she might change parties. Arlen Specter redux.

Steyn goes on to raise a competence issue with Scozzafava as well:

At this stage in the nation's affairs, Washington doesn't need another incoherent buffoon insulated by a phalanx of thin-skinned twerps already guarding her like a 30-year incumbent for whom routine questions are an outrageous form of lèse-majesté.

After the weird incident with John McCormack this week, Michelle Malkin points out that we can also add "liar" to the list of Scozzafava's credentials.

Hoffman can win this race. But, as Steyn points out, if he doesn't then a large part of the blame falls to the crap weasels at the NRCC who endorsed Scozzafava and decided she was the Republican that could win. In a traditionally conservative and Republican district, why in the world would they think such a thing?

Robert Stacy McCain profiles the NY-23 race here, and quotes Hoffman's media coordinator Rob Ryan's response to the Scozzafava/McCormack incident as saying "The only thing the police need to investigate in this race is if Dede Scozzafava is impersonating a Republican."

Ryan also says that this race will be a real bellwether for the Republican party, something Steyn notes as well. How big a tent does the Republican party want to pitch? According to Steyn, if Hoffman loses and the seat falls to a Democrat, largely due to the NRCC's misguided endorsement, "it will be a cautionary tale for party leaders who, as in NY-23, make choices that confirm everything a disgruntled base thinks of them. "


More on this race at Memeorandum.

(Cross posted at And So it Goes in Shreveport)

Not One Red Cent to the NRCC!

I got this tip via Robert Stacy McCain, although now it is all over Memeorandum. The crap weasels at NRCC have given a huge donation to RINO sellout Dede Scozzafava in the NY-23 special election in November despite Conservative candidate Hoffman's surge in the polls.

WTF?!

It's infuriating that the Republican leadership continues to back liberal Republican candidates. Oh, I know all about that big tent thing, and how being hard-line conservative is the "death knell of the Republican party...". Don't even go there.

Michelle Malkin's comments on this pretty much sums it up:

Then you use their money to try and elect Dede Scozzafava, an ACORN-friendly, union-pandering, tax-and-spend radical Republican. And you use that money to fight Doug Hoffman, a viable, bona fide conservative candidate in the race who is closing the gap in the polls.

Meanwhile, Weekly Standard debates whether or not Scozzavava will even remain a Republican:

Will Dede Scozzafava, the liberal Republican running in the November 3 special election for Army Secretary John McHugh's open upstate New York seat, stay in the Republican party in the (unlikely) event that she wins? Would she run in 2010 as a Republican—facing what would likely be a tough primary? Or would she pull a Specter?

Then John McCormack updated the post with this comment:

[Scozzafava spokesman] Burns adds that Scozzafava would run in the Republican primary in 2010 if challenged. He declined to say whether or not Scozzafava was open to running as an independent if she lost the primary.

So if Scozzafava is, for all intent and purposes, a liberal and as near a Democrat as you can get, why would the NRCC endorse her?

As Michelle said, watch your coffers dry up, NRCC. The American conservatives are sick and tired of it all; have you not noticed the tea parties? The town halls? The sinking-like-rocks poll numbers for liberal policies? The growing majority of Americans are not going to support candidates like Scozzafava or Charlie Crist. We aren't voting for an "R" behind their name; we're looking at their politics.

And those two? Liberal.

Just remember, Not One Red Cent!

(Cross posted at And So it Goes in Shreveport)

Support Michelle Bachmann -- Competent Conservative, Democratic Target!

This coming election cycle is going to be a referendum on incumbency, and in most cases, Democrat or Republican, the electorate would be best served by kicking the bums to the curb, as they have long since forgotten both ideals and the hard fact that they work for us.

Michelle Bachmann is the exception, and the Democrats know it. That's why she has become one of their biggest targets, second only to Limbaugh, Palin and Beck.

Show your support for Michelle Bachmann and competent government today!

RINO season opens in NY!

Conservative Hoffman vs RINO Scozzafava:

Pushing for GOP victory in upstate NY!

As Michael Steele, Cornyn and the rest of the RNC haven't realized yet, this election will be a referendum on incumbency and business as usual... and they are on the wrong end of the bull...

Crist Gets the Money, Rubio Gets the Votes

Fresh on Memorandum is this report from The Hill, Gov. Crist and Freedom's Watch funder plan to fundraise together:

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will head to Las Vegas at the end of the month for a well-backed, high-priced fundraiser with perhaps the Republican Party's wealthiest donor.

Crist will benefit from a fundraiser at the Palazzo Hotel and Casino, one of the newest casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, on Oct. 29. His host, Las Vegas Sands Corp. CEO Sheldon Adelson, is the 26th-richest man in America, according to Forbes magazine.

Adelson funded the conservative group Freedom's Watch during the 2008 campaign, spending millions of dollars to attack then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Democratic candidates up and down the ballot.

But the economic downturn hit Las Vegas and the tourism industry hard, and Adelson lost $24 billion — reportedly more than any other single American. He has since quit politics, and Freedom's Watch folded.

This is a case of throwing perfectly good money after bad. Very bad. While it is undeniable that it is better to have too much money when running a campaign than not enough, ultimately, it is the voters who matter. How poorly is Crist doing with the voters? From Senate Guru:

This has been Charlie Crist's summer, getting crushed by Marco Rubio time and
time again and facing rebuke after rebuke by Republicans at the local level. To
recap:

Pasco County: Rubio wins, 73-9 Lee County: Rubio wins,
"7-to-1 margin" Highlands County: Rubio wins, 75-1 Bay County: Rubio wins, 23-2
Volusia County: GOP Committee censures Crist Palm Beach County: GOP Committee
almost censures Crist as motion fails on a 65-65 tie, still a stinging rebuke
Broward County: GOP Committee attempts a straw poll, blocked only by Crist
acolyte eager to avoid embarrassment for Crist

Let’s be blunt-Floridians don’t like Charlie Crist. Crist burned his bridges when he embraced President Obama and accepted the Stimulus dollars. Florida unemployment is currently at 10.9% a full two points higher than it was in January and six points higher than it was in April of last year. With ten of thousands of Florida families hurting how has Crist responded? He broke his promise not to raise taxes.

Crist should enjoy his time at the Palazzo. While he is hanging out in Vegas, Rubio will be traveling Florida shoring up the vote.

Cross posted at Carol's Closet

Rubio Raises Almost $1 Million

Via Memeorandum: From The St. Pete Times:

Charlie Crist ought to start worrying. The Marco Rubio campaign says the underdog Republican candidate for U.S. Senate raised nearly $1 million in the last fundraising quarter — a giant improvement over his last quarter and a number sure to help eliminate doubts about his viability.

"It says to me that Marco Rubio is going to be the next senator from Florida, and it should say to a lot of other people that Marco Rubio is a very, very formidable candidate," said senior adviser Pat Shortridge, who did not have an estimate on how much money Rubio has on hand.

Charlie Crist has not yet released a number, but supporters are speculating he will raise at least $2 million. of course, the last time Crist allies floated a number like that he reported raising more than $4 million.

Who needs the stinkin' NRSC anyway? Not Rubio.

Rove Writes a Check to Rubio

Well this is interesting...via Memeorandum, MSNBC reports:

"While Crist has financially overwhelmed Rubio to date, there are many Republicans -- particularly those in Flordia that are close to former GOP Gov. Jeb Bush -- who have publicly become more comfortable airing their skepticism about Crist in public. One of those Republicans with close ties to the Bush family, Karl Rove, has signaled his preference with his wallet. Rove confirms to NBC News that he has contributed a $1000 to Rubio's campaign, the donation will be made public when Rubio files his next FEC report (due Oct. 15). "

Will an endorsement from Rove help Rubio's momentum? We shall see. Some see Rove's endorsement as a vicarious endorsement from Jeb Bush who hasn't come out for anyone. Jeb is walking the tightrope not wanting to alienate either of them. Jeb has the same problem that the NRSC has in that Crist is "the favorite" so let's just go with him - never mind what he stands for. Rove's endorsement, or support, could be a silent nod from Jeb, at least, that's the way Ben Smith at Politico is reading it.

The Tampa Bay Buzz at the St. Pete Times is reporting that Rubio has earned over $600,000 this quarter which is enough to keep him going.

(Cross posted at And So it Goes in Shreveport)

"Hysterical Douchebaggery is the Highest form of Patriotism"

Alan Grayson (D is for Dumbass, FL), has made a big splash recently, claiming that the Republican alternative to the Democrats' health scare plans is for people to "die quickly". He has also had the immortal rind to refer to our current health care system as a "holocaust." What else do you need to know about him? The lockstep leftists at Crooks and Liars (not just a blog name, but an admission) are big fans, as are the Democrat fundraisers at Act Blue.

This clown is a Democrat who won election in a Republican district in Florida during the 2008 election, and is thus highly vulnerable. He needs to go. He can always find a job somewhere as a game-show host or time-share salesman.



Cross-posted at Paco Enterprises