Wow! NY race update

[rae]

Scozzafava bows out of NY-23 race - Charles Mahtesian - POLITICO.com

Scozzafava bows out of NY-23 race

(First paragraphs here, the rest by following link.)

Republican Dede Scozzafava announced Saturday that she is suspending her campaign in the Nov. 3 House special election in New York, a dramatic development that increases the GOP's chances of winning the contentious and closely-watched race.


"In recent days, polls have indicated that my chances of winning this election are not as strong as we would like them to be. The reality that I've come to accept is that in today's political arena, you must be able to back up your message with money—and as I've been outspent on both sides, I've been unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made about my record,” she said in a statement.

“It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so. I am and have always been a proud Republican.”


Her decision came as a Siena Research Institute poll released Saturday confirmed that her support has all but collapsed over the last month. In her statement, Scozzafava acknowledged that while her name will continue to appear on the ballot, “victory is unlikely.”


The Siena poll conducted Oct. 27-29, in line with other recent polls, showed Democrat Bill Owens holding a razor-thin lead over Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman, 36 percent to 35 percent.

Scozzafava trailed far behind at 20 percent, with 9 percent of voters still undecided.

[intheknow]

Considering she is aliberal that is running as a Republican for who knows why, I'm glad she bowed out. Now she needs to join the Democratic Party and be honest.

Now let's get a true conservative there.

[rae]

And now, the former Republican candidate endorses the Democratic candidate.

Watertown Daily Times | SCOZZAFAVA THROWS SUPPORT TO OWENS

I read earlier today on HuffPo that the White House was going after the endorsement, so I'm not surprised.

[Lesley]

Republican Scozzafava Endorses Democrat After Exiting N.Y. Congressional Race - FOXNews.com

Republican Scozzafava Endorses Democrat After Exiting N.Y. Congressional Race
Republican Dede Scozzafava endorsed her former Democratic opponent Sunday in the race for an upstate New York congressional seat, shaking up the contest for the second day in a row after exiting the race Saturday.

Scozzafava dropped out after Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman experienced a late-in-the-game surge. The move was expected to consolidate GOP voters behind Hoffman on Tuesday.

But on Sunday, Scozzafava issued a written statement in which she backed Democrat Bill Owens.

"I am supporting Bill Owens for Congress and urge you to do the same," she said. "In Bill Owens, I see a sense of duty and integrity that will guide him beyond political partisanship. He will be an independent voice devoted to doing what is right for New York. Bill understands this district and its people, and when he represents us in Congress he will put our interests first."

Hoffman and Owens are competing for the 23rd Congressional District seat formerly held by Republican John McHugh, who was lured away by the Obama administration to be Army secretary.

Scozzafava was criticized by members of her party for being too moderate on social issues. However, it's unclear how much of an impact her endorsement will have as there were mixed messages coming out of the GOP -- a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee said Saturday that Scozzafava was releasing her supporters to vote for Hoffman.

And poll numbers suggest Owens would have to make significant inroads among Republican moderates to pull support away from Hoffman. A Siena Research Institute survey showed 64 percent of Scozzafava voters were self-identified Republicans -- only 19 percent identified themselves as Democrats.

Democrats, though, were clearly banking on Scozzafava to try to tilt the balance in their favor.

White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett said on ABC's "This Week" that Democrats would "love" to have the Republican candidate back Owens.

"It's rather telling when the Republican Party forces out a moderate Republican and it says, I think, a great deal about where the Republican Party is right now," she said.

Well well well....interesting. Still don't think a Dem has a chance in that district, but the anouncement is still interesting and certainly a reflection of ITK's opinion of this ex-candidate.

[rae]

Politico has an interesting read in how the Dems got her endorsement at:
Winning Dede Scozzafava: How Dems got her nod - Jonathan Martin and Charles Mahtesian - POLITICO.com

Winning Dede Scozzafava: How Dems got her nod

Also, PPP has polling numbers from the weekend while all the changes were happening. Curious quote from their press release: "But there were no significant differences in the numbers at any point over the course of the weekend." I am taking that to mean that no matter the events, minds were already set for the most part. I don't know how robocall polling stacks up against human polling, but the numbers are interesting.

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/p...23_1101424.pdf
Hoffman primed for dominant victory
Hoffman 51, Owens 34

[Pearls]

And her campaign manager endorsed Hoffman. I wish I had more time to pay attention to this race, but the headlines are entertaining in themselves. Newt is taking a beating over all of this.

Gavin Newson dropped out of the California governor's race......I wonder how Meg Whitman is doing there. She seems to still be in the mix......they say Fiorina has a good chance of beating Boxer. Oh dare to dream.

Anybody heard anything more about New Jersey? I just saw this blip, and was wondering.......

Nervous W.H. intervened in N.J. race; top Obama adviser now in charge - Politico.com Print View

[Pearls]

Well, this is interesting......

Public Policy Polling: Christie leads

[Julester]

Skazzo-woman should have never called herself a republican and I can honestly say that if she was running in my district I wouldn't vote rep, I would have gone 3rd party too. This is a good message to send out to our current political hacks out there....watch out. Stand by your convictions or you are gone.

[Lesley]

I've recently read a couple of Dems that have complainted about a liberal candidate that acts, walks, talks like a Rep, and will not vote for them.....even if it means the only other alternative is a real rep. So there ya go, there may be other Reps that are liberal enough even for a liberal to consider lol

[robine]

as long as the dead do not get to vote, I am cool with any outcome..and as long as military ballots are counted

just saying