NY-23: Scozzafava Endorses Owens

Filed in National by on November 1, 2009

The GOP war is now fully engaged:

Scozzafava released the following statement at 2 :06 p.m.:

I want to thank you for your support and friendship. Over the past 24 hours, I have had encouraging words sent to my family and me. Many of you have asked me whom you should support on Tuesday.

Since announcing the suspension of my campaign, I have thought long and hard about what is best for the people of this District, and how to answer your questions. This is not a decision that I have made lightly.

You know me, and throughout my career, I have been always been an independent voice for the people I represent. I have stood for our honest principles, and a truthful discussion of the issues, even when it cost me personally and politically. Since beginning my campaign, I have told you that this election is not about me; it’s about the people of this District.

It is in this spirit that I am writing to let you know I am supporting Bill Owens for Congress and urge you to do the same.

It’s not in the cards for me to be your representative, but I strongly believe Bill is the only candidate who can build upon John McHugh’s lasting legacy in the U.S. Congress. John and I worked together on the expansion of Fort Drum and I know how important that base is to the economy of this region. I am confident that Bill will be able to provide the leadership and continuity of support to Drum Country just as John did during his tenure in Congress.

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.

Please join me in voting for Bill Owens on Tuesday. To address the tough challenges ahead, we must rise above partisanship and politics and work together. There’s too much at stake in this election to do otherwise.

Is it already cliched to say pass the popcorn?

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Opinionated chemist, troublemaker, blogger on national and Delaware politics.

Comments (31)

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  1. lizard says:

    will Jason330 now ask “what did the Democrats promise her?”?

  2. jason330 says:

    Here is the great thing about the GOP fratricide….the more wingnut Republicans lose, the more they will think that they are losing because they are “NOT CONSERVATIVE ENOUGH!!” – which is awesome news for the country.

  3. I don’t think Scozzafava has anything to lose anymore.

  4. lizard says:

    looks like Obama was succesful:

    Jarrett: Dems want Scozzafava nod

    Politico ^ | 11/1/2009 | Josh Gerstein
    White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett seemed to confirm Sunday that President Barack Obama’s top political aides are working to get the Republican candidate who dropped out of a New York congressional race, Dede Scozzafava, to endorse the Democratic contender, Bill Owens. “We would love to have–of course, have her support. And 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 leadership is right now,” Jarrett said on ABC’s “This Week.” Jarrett said Scozzafava’s exit symbolizes a swing to the right by the Republican…

  5. jason330 says:

    liz, Feel free to use this space to heap wingnut scorn on Mike Castle.

  6. “I don’t think Scozzafava has anything to lose anymore.”

    Maybe a few pounds…

  7. lizard says:

    330 lbs. I wouldn’t want to usurp your roll as the resident Castle Stalker.

  8. jason330 says:

    Suit yourself Red Hat.

  9. Hoffman has signed some Glenn Beck pledge. Here are the 9 principles and 12 values:

    9 Principles, 12 Values
    The 9 Principles
    1. America Is Good.
    2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
    3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
    4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
    5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
    6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
    7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
    8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
    9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
    The 12 Values
    * Honesty
    * Reverence
    * Hope
    * Thrift
    * Humility
    * Charity
    * Sincerity
    * Moderation
    * Hard Work
    * Courage
    * Personal Responsibility
    * Gratitude

  10. cassandra_m says:

    Read Hoffman’s statement about Scozzafava leaving the race — in fact, contrast what he says (scroll down in the article) with Owen’s statement.

    Just based upon that statement I’d say Hoffman isn’t living up to quite a few of those “Beckhead Values”.

  11. Here are the statements:

    First, the statement by Democrat Bill Owens, which offered a very conciliatory tone:

    “Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava has been an honorable public servant for years now and I have a tremendous amount of respect for her and her commitment to her principles. While we disagree on certain issues, we share a dedication to serving the best interests of Upstate New York and the Obama administration’s efforts to get our economy back on track. Those interests will always be my highest priority.”

    Contrast that statement with this sneering, almost taunting, statement from Doug Hoffman:

    “This morning’s events prove what we have said for the last week; this campaign is a horserace between me and Nancy Pelosi’s handpicked candidate, Bill Owens. At this moment, the Democratic Party, the Working Families Party, ACORN, Big Labor and pro-abortion groups are flooding the district with troops and they are flooding the airwaves with a million dollars worth of negative ads. They are throwing mud; they are trying to stop me.”

  12. jason330 says:

    Hoffman’s base will swoon for the standard GOP “poor me – I’m a victim” talking points.

  13. MJ says:

    I think we’ve found a winner of schmuck of the week. Anyone want to guess who?

  14. I Know who will win the race. Hoffman This is not playing well in the district. Owens is up by 10 to 15 according to prelim numbers from PPP.

  15. Brooke says:

    “Maybe a few pounds.” Yeah. Because the IMPORTANT thing about women is how aroused men are about them… and that’s based on how much they look like a teen pron star.

    See, I’m sure Mike Matthews is a freaking Abercrombie model. @@

    *upchuck*

  16. Okay. We agree the weight comment was wrong. Let’s not compound it by insulting MM on the same basis.

    Ms. Jared was hilarious today. This has nothing to do with rejecting moderates. It has to do with rejecting liberals. Even Governor Pataki couldn’t stay aboard with Dede Brutus Scozzafava. His endorsement counts a lot more than hers and the fact that Hoffman has soared in Democrat polling is evidence of it.

    She is not a moderate. She does not diverge a third or even half the time from most Republicans. Worse where she does diverge she seems to go to the extreme half the time. She is not just pro-labor. She favored card check and was backed not just by liberals but the socialist leaning working families party of new york run by ACORN. She is not pro-choice. She favors tax funded abortion which puts her in a 20% minority. She received awards from Planned Parenthood types. She doesn’t just favor gay rights. She favors gay marriage. She has voted for tax increases and bloated spending everytime she could. She was so bad that even moderate Pataki couldn’t swallow her if he had the realistic chance for better.

    Anyone who calls her a moderate is committing lingual malpractice.

  17. Sorry I meant Hoffman is up over Owens. The Dede endorsement moves Owens up from 15 down to 14 down. BTW which of the 9/12 principles and values do you find extreme? Name it.

  18. Brooke says:

    How about a conflict between #2 and #4? Or about a concern for #7 that overrides a concern for Acts 4:32 and seq.?

    You see, it’s possible for people, even people attempting to live by Christian Scripture, to ask themselves “Who needs Glen Beck to write up a list for my spiritual guidance when I have The Lord’s Prayer and the Sermon on the Mount?”

    This is a list which conflates, in a way that is offensive to me personally, a very narrow, and, I believe, essentially Un-Christian fundamentalism with a vicious and ignorant streak of American exceptionalism that is an affront to our Founding Fathers and every sincere patriot since.

    It’s revolting,

    The fact that ANYONE would sign on to it is enough to mark them as unfit for governance, and one of you lily-livered so called conservatives should grow a pair and say so.

    *settles hat*

  19. CinqueB says:

    Brooke, you seem to have some anger problems, maybe you need to seek some professional help.

    Thanks
    CinqueB

  20. John Manifold says:

    Brooke’s comment was on target.

  21. Conflict between 2 and 4? God is the center of my life and in my family my spouse and I are the ultimate authority not the government. Where is the conflict? Point 2 makes point 4 to be understood in terms of submission to God. That is aimed at government interference not God. That is just puzzling as an attempt at a rebuttal. Where in Acts does it refer to anyone being forced by the government to give or even forced by the Church which is a voluntary membership organization? It is like you did not even read point 7 which says,’I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to…. ” not that I will not share.
    The sixth value in fact is charity.

    As for Acts 4 and 5, the charity was voluntary. St. Peter reiterated that in the case of lying Ananias. In Acts 5:4, The great Apostle said, While it remained was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your control?

    The Church did not even ask for the money, let alone require it.

    Maybe someone else will tell me what they hate about values shared by 93% of Americans and most of the world. You agree with them. You just hate that Beck is the one who put them in one package.

  22. Geezer says:

    I love the “I work hard” bullshit. Which it is. Glenn Beck does not work hard, except at making shit up.

  23. Progressive Mom says:

    “Maybe someone else will tell me what they hate about values shared by 93% of Americans and most of the world. You agree with them. You just hate that Beck is the one who put them in one package.”

    Actually, most people of faith believe that their deity, or his/her agent, put them in one package.

    For me, it’s called the Bible. Not the Beck.

  24. jason330 says:

    Man oh man, I love Brooke’s total smackdown of Beck and his empty headed unAmerican follower’s love of bullshit. I may have to frame that.

  25. cassandra_m says:

    Post of the week, Brooke! And it is incredibly early yet.

    You also have to wonder about people who need to get their “values” from a TV entertainer. These are the same people who tut tut over kids being too influenced by the hip hop artists they see on TV.

  26. Rebecca says:

    I laughed and laughed over *settles hat*

    Go Brooke!

  27. Brooke says:

    “Conflict between 2 and 4? God is the center of my life and in my family my spouse and I are the ultimate authority not the government. Where is the conflict? Point 2 makes point 4 to be understood in terms of submission to God.”

    Oh, goodie, we’ll start here.

    If the sequence of points is essential to our understanding of them, we start with point 1. That is “America is good.” This establishes this as a list where the primary concern is our responsibilities to our secular government. Not surprisingly, Jesus addressed that directly. There are three iterations of the story in the most commonly used U.S. Bibles, since it appears in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, so we can assume that the church fathers considered it an important point. I’ll quote the whole story, for folks who’d like to follow us along at home.

    Matthew 22:15-22 (King James Version)

    15Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.

    16And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.

    17Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?

    18But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?

    19Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.

    20And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?

    21They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.

    22When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.

    So, by selecting “America is good.” as the primary point, Beck has made the secular world, Caesar’s world, the reference for the list, just as Jesus used the denari as the standard for answering the question. Beck, in fact, plants himself quite firmly as a man who is criticizing GOVERNMENT, and his reference to things spiritual is ancillary, except when it suits his political purposes.

    Therefore, and according to your own “logic”, point one, the ‘goodness’ of America, is the control of all subsequent points. It’s placed above God. The conflict still exists between 2 and 4, however, because for a Christian, neither spouse can be “the ultimate authority”, both being subservient to God. We have already established by Mr. Beck’s list that God is subservient to America’s goodness.

    See a problem, yet?

    “That is aimed at government interference not God. That is just puzzling as an attempt at a rebuttal.”

    Government cannot ‘interfere’ where it has already been given jurisdiction.

    “Where in Acts does it refer to anyone being forced by the government to give or even forced by the Church which is a voluntary membership organization?”

    Is Acts the only book of the Bible? Because the Bible is just jam-packed with examples of the government ‘forcing people to give’ via taxes and mandatory service. A few high-lights…

    Luke 2

     1And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
     2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
     3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
     4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
     5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
     6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
     7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

    Matthew 9:9-13 

     9And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.
     10And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.
     11And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
     12But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
     13But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

    There is ZERO Biblical evidence that Jesus supported either the building of wealth, or its concentration in the religious structure of his time. NONE. That was an essential issue in his worsening relationship with the Pharisees. He interfered with their fundraising. He was quite clear than an obsession with tax resistance or a resentment of the people who collected taxes even though they are defined as sinners is not part of His agenda, at all. It’s Caesar who cares about that, not Christ.

    It’s Beck who cares about that.

    “It is like you did not even read point 7 which says,’I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to…. ” not that I will not share.”

    This point is out of sequence, but I will deal with it, anyway. By choosing to be part of a Democracy, you have chosen a method for setting governmental priorities. You have a right (and I would consider, an obligation) to make sure your priorities are considered when the decisions are made. And if you want to say, “I don’t like feeding the hungry through my taxes, I’ll donate all that to a food bank, instead” say it as often as you like, and try to convince other people to go along with you. It has been my personal observation that most people do not support charity to any significant extent, and that government performs a valuable service in routing money to organizations (including government departments, flawed as they are) that provide needed support to JUST the kind of people Jesus had dinner with. It works for me, and *I* will continue to say so.

    “The sixth value in fact is charity.

    As for Acts 4 and 5, the charity was voluntary. St. Peter reiterated that in the case of lying Ananias. In Acts 5:4, The great Apostle said, While it remained was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your control?

    The Church did not even ask for the money, let alone require it.”

    I have gone on too long here to give a full account of the many reasons I disagree with this ridiculous, shallow and self-serving read of Ananias and Sapphira, one of my favorite New Testament stories. It will suffice to say that if I saw that the only members of my community who did NOT give the full sale price of their house to the Church were stricken stone dead, I would not be looking at my contribution as “voluntary” and I doubt I’d be alone in that. Modern folks like to talk about this as an issue of ‘lying’. I’m LOL. To believe that is to believe that no one lied about anything until it HAPPENED to involve turning over large assets to the Church. Right.

    “Maybe someone else will tell me what they hate about values shared by 93% of Americans and most of the world. You agree with them. You just hate that Beck is the one who put them in one package.”

    We hate that Beck presumes to use Scriptures that are respected as part of the heritage of Western Civilization, if not actually revered as religious texts, to advance his puerile agenda.

    That’s a different issue.

  28. anon says:

    Brooke finds her groove…

  29. Geezer says:

    Wow…I’m in awe.

  30. anon says:

    If it ever penetrated David’s skull that Jesus was the original DFH, his head would explode. All you need is love, money is not important, don’t judge others, etc.

  31. lizard says:

    White House Prepares for Disappointing Election Day

    ABC News Blogs ^ | November 2, 2009 | Jake Tapper
    You can tell that the White House isn’t expecting such a great election day — Democrats are down in recent polls in the governor’s races in both Virginia and New Jersey — both by how much officials are insisting the outcomes have no relevance to the President and how much they’re trying to change focus to the conservative in-fighting in the special election for an upstate New York congressional seat. The White House is setting the stage for a bad day tomorrow, pre-spinning any losses as irrelevant. On Friday White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said, “Whatever the results are,…