Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava is not your typical Republican candidate. Running in a special election in upstate New York for the seat of departing Congressman John McHugh, she has, naturally, picked up the support of state and national Republican party officials. She has secured the full support of the National Republican Congressional Committee and that of its chairman, Texas Rep. Pete Sessions.
But, she has also picked up the support of the DailyKos, not a traditionally deep well of support for Republicans. Oh, and ACORN’s Working Families Party. Below is a memo Big Government obtained circulating among leaders of the conservative movement. It is from New York State Conservative Party Chair, Mike Long:
Donors to the Republican National Congressional Committee have a right to expect their support will help candidates who are broadly in accord with the Republican Party’s fundamental principles.
There is little doubt, in these lean times, Americans who make contributions to the NRCC would be shocked to learn their dollars are actually supporting the campaign of an unrepentant liberal who opposes the central achievements of today’s Republican Congressional delegation.
Yet that is exactly to sad a state of affairs we now confront. The NRCC is using the contributions of loyal Republicans across the country to fund the Congressional bid of Liberal New York State Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava.
Assemblywoman Scozzafava supports the Obama tax-and-spend Stimulus Package – – the same package the Republicans now in Congress unanimously rejected. She defends the kind of earmarked pork-barrel spending that cost Republicans so much credibility in the last election. She supports Big Labor’s card check attack on the secret ballot. And she twice voted to legalize gay marriage.
Assemblywoman Scozzafava wasn’t picked by the voters. Party bosses selected her, reportedly with the guidance and direction of the NRCC.
So, what is at stake here is more than the risk of electing yet another Arlen Specter-style liberal Republican. This is a battle about the soul and future of the Republican Party.
Some think the way to win elections is to mimic the Democrats, to offer the voters “liberal-lite” in hopes of finding accommodation with the Democrats and success at the polls.
The NRCC’s support for liberal Assemblywoman Scozzafava is a disturbing indication that the NRCC is test marketing a campaign message blurring the differences between the parties instead of principled opposition to the liberal Democrats’ agenda.
The “me-to” approach is both sure to fail politically and deeply dishonest to the NRCC’s core financial supporters. The donors who sacrifice to write checks to the NRCC don’t expect their efforts to be diverted to liberals like Assemblywoman Scozzafava.
Accordingly, while we are all friends of the NRCC, we reluctantly call for a moratorium on any financial contributions to the NRCC until that organization ceases support for Assemblywoman Scozzafava and clarifies its plans for candidate recruitment and support going forward.
There are great opportunities ahead for the Republicans in Congress. Those opportunities cannot be squandered by political miscalculations and a lack of faith in the central values of the Republican Party.
Sincerely,
Mike Long
Chairman, New York State Conservative Party
It isn’t mentioned in the memo, but Scozzafava has run for the state Assembly repeatedly with the endorsement of ACORN’s Working Families Party. The WFP was formed for the express purpose of pushing the Democratic party to the left. The principle-bending gymnastics involved for a Republican to seek out their endorsement are positively mind-boggling.
Count us as big believers in the “big tent’ theory of political parties. No matter how large you want to build your tent, though, it still has to be built on a solid foundation. You’d think Republicans could agree that ACORN’s Working Families party–based on what we know right now–wouldn’t have a place there.
Those of you who think a GOP return to the majority in 2010 will right what ails us should keep this in mind.
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