October 19, 2009

by Michael Patrick Leahy

6:00 am EDT

page 3 (Continued)

Susan McNeil, the newly named Republican Chairman in Fulton County started hearing complaints from Republicans in her county about Scozzafava's liberal views soon after she was nominated. In an exclusive interview with The TCOT Report over the weekend, she articulated this dissatisfaction:

"I have had constituents tell me they are disappointed with some of her decisions."

Scozzafava's defenders seem incapable of understanding the nationwide opposition to her from the Tea Party Movement and conservatives within the Republican Party. A broad array of conservative new media leaders have documented countless instances of Scozzafava's left wing policies, ranging from support of the Obama stimulus package to support of "card-check" legislation to any number of social issues. Mysteriously, these issues appear not to count as "real" tests of conservativism to Scozzafava's apologists.

Sandy Corey, who last month resigned as Jefferson County Chairman, seems to know little about Scozzafava's liberal record. In an exclusive interview with the TCOT Report, she excused Scozzafava's support of card-check legislation.

"I agree with secret ballots, but you know we don't have to agree with our candidates on every position," she said.

When asked to explain why Conservative candidate Hoffman's support has surged to 23%, she responded that "it's only because of all the lies the Conservative Party has been telling about Dede's record on taxes. I am disappointed in Mike Long and the Conservative Party for being such liars."

Corey's support for Scozzafava, it appears, is based almost exclusively on her admiration of Scozzafava's personal qualities. It certainly can't be based on her support of Scozzafava on the issues, because she disagrees with her on one key issue, and appears unaware of her positions on most other issues.

Corey's attitude appears to be shared by Republican Congressman Pete Sessions, who represents a very conservative district in Dallas, Texas, and chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee(the NRCC), the Republican National Committee, and former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Within the past month, the NRCC has both endorsed Scozzafava and provided hundreds of thousands of dollars of cash to her campaign. Michael Steele and the RNC, which had equivocated in their support of Scozzafava, last week endorsed her and donated $85,000 to her campaign. And on Thursday, Gingrich endorsed her.

Gingrich's endorsement ignited a fierce backlash from the blogosphere. Red State's Erickson pronounced him done as a legitimate candidate for the 2012 Presidential nomination as a consequence. And the Tea Party Movement, which embraced his early participation in the April 15 Tax Day Tea Party, skewered him for his support of a candidate who embodied every aspect of political life the movement abhors.

For her part, the woman who engineered this epic Republican political fiasco, Assemblywoman Janet Duprey, remains unbowed and unrepentant in her conservative apostasy. Nor does she make any excuses for the blatant cronyism she exercised in supporting her friend and ideological compatriot in the New York State Assembly in her bid to win a seat in Congress.

To the outside observer, while Duprey's actions are both legal and within the rules of the Republican Party, they exemplify the kind of cronyism and insider dealing that makes the every day Americans who comprise the Tea Party Movement furious and disgusted with elected political officials of both parties.

At the very least, Duprey left herself open to charges of cronyism by not acting more transparently and inclusively in the decision making process to determine the candidate for whom she would vote. While it is not against any law or party rule for one individual to simultaneously hold an elective position in the State Assembly and the Republican Party Chairmanship in a county (at least one other politician in New York holds both positions simultaneously), it clearly concentrates power in the hands of one individual in a way that creates the opportunity for the abuse of power.

Duprey claims that she reluctantly accepted the County Chairman position early in 2009 when it became vacant, and no other qualified candidate emerged. While this may be accurate, it is hard to imaginge that within a county that has a population of close to 80,000 there existed not one qualified Republican who would have been willing to assume the Chairmanship when the news that a special election was in the wings became public in June.

Such considerations of propriety apparently still fail to register with Assemblywoman Duprey. Remaining true to form for those who have risen within the Republican Party power structure in New York State, Duprey closed out her exclusive interview with The TCOT Report by focusing on the issue that really matters most to her.

"Dede is a winner. She will win this special election. She will end up with a little over 50% of the vote. The other two candidates will split the rest."

It remains for the voters of the 23rd Congressional District to determine if they agree with Assemblywoman Duprey's hand picked candidate and the methods the two of them use to succeed in the political arena.

The answer will be revealed for the entire country to see on election day, two weeks and a day from today, on November 3.



page 3

Author's Note:
I grew up in the 23rd Congressional District. I was born in Oswego, attended elementary school at St. John's Academy in Plattsburgh and Dannemora Public School (both in Clinton County), and attended Stockbridge Valley High School in Madison County.

Michael Patrick Leahy is the publisher of The TCOT Report and author of the new book Rules for Conservative Radicals. You can reach him at michaelpatrickleahy@gmail.com.

Page 1
Page 2



Return to The TCOT Report