When Your Name Becomes A Verb
The Washington Post has a profile on unsuccessful Republican House candidate Dede Scozzafava and the fallout from the unusual race for NY-23.
Even as she now hopes to return to her normal life of local politics, laundry and choir practice for next month’s big performance of Bach’s Christmas Cantatas, the political forces that swept her up have not entirely let her go. Last week, while watching a news show about the next sharply contested Senate Republican primary in Florida, her parents reported that one of the commentators asked whether the moderate was in peril of getting “Scozzafaved.”
Yes, I’ve started seeing her name used as a verb. So perhaps we should ask if Castle will get Scozzafaved.
The conservative movement’s third-party candidate, Doug Hoffman, expected her support but, she said, the newcomer accountant “had no integrity.” Plus, the Democrats were so nice! They called. They sympathized. They made her feel good about tossing her support to Bill Owens, who — with her help — became the area’s first Democratic representative in more than a century.
You know that old saying – you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar – that definitely applies here. I was surprised when Scozzafava dropped out and endorsed Owens perhaps I shouldn’t have been. She was really treated quite poorly in my opinion. Usually the urging and pressure to drop out is done behind the scenes so as not to embarrass the candidate. In this case a bunch of high profile Republican figures came to the district, which I doubt any of them had ever visited before and endorsed an out-of-district candidate.
If there was any doubt, the Democrats were nice to her and the Republicans attacked her in public. Please go read the whole article to get the whole scoop, including the role of Bill Clinton. Her decision is not without consequences:
Scozzafava, who was stripped of her Republican leadership position in the New York State Assembly on Monday, says she has no regrets and even leaves open the possibility of running for the seat again as a Republican. She sees herself as a champion of local expertise over ideological purity.
“How can Sarah Palin come out and endorse someone who can’t answer some basic questions,” Scozzafava asked. “Do these people even know who they are endorsing?”
I feel quite sorry for Ms. Scozzafava. She was used as a political football in a way she was no doubt unprepared for. It must be quite disconcerting to be a long-time party member and elected official to suddenly find yourself persona non grata in your own party. I wish her the best but I think her future in politics is probably over even if she did become a Democrat.
Tags: Dede Scozzafava, NY-23, Purgers
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/holiday/usmc2009/default.asp?isc=gdr1162c
We sleep soundly in our beds at night, because rough men stand ready in the dark to visit violence on those who would do us harm.
“We sleep soundly in our beds at night, because rough men stand ready in the dark to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”
That’s your favorite fairy tale? Mine is Rumpelstiltskin.
don’t worry geezer, we don’t expect your ilk to say thank you.
our ilk don’t think the marines consider thread jacking and Right Wing Hate Party divisiveness the best tidings of a birthday lizard, you kool-aid drinking enemy of america.
For all the Republicans out there: yes, you’re more patriotic, more Christian, more oppressed, more armed, more righteous and more right, more moral, more traditional, more sacred, smarter, more clever, have “prettier” women, more brilliant children who never do anything wrong (like, say sign up for the Peace Corps), have better built houses, have faster American-made cars (good for those trips to that American icon, WalMart), hate unions more, love police and fire personnel (oops, I mean “men”) more and salute the flag better and are more real Americans than anyone else. Eh-va.
Now, can we please stay on the topics in the threads?
I’ll bet Jan Ting gives her a call. And maybe Arlen Specter.
Can’t wait for an open thread lizard?
LOL, brilliant PM.
They’re good enough, smart enough and gosh darn people like them. Oops – that’s an old Al Franken skit.
PM and a. price beat me to it. Stay on topic, or risk being moved into the open thread – which, btw, was created just for these sorts of comments.
Sorry about this, UI.
I especially liked the fact that Scozzafava singled out Palin. The dividing lines have been drawn.
Who knew Arlen Specter was the beginning of a trend. I thought he was a special case.
UI, I thought the way she was treated by both parties was interesting too … but then I remembered that, while the Republicans treated her like crap and have booted her from her party position, Democrats are still sucking up to Joe Lieberman. Repubs are too quick on the trigger; Dems don’t have a trigger, it appears.
I also thought the article was a bit condescending to Scozzafava. She comes off a bit emotional: crying in the car at the convenience store for an hour? Sitting alone in the driveway to avoid the phone? Mentions of her red cheeks and brimming eyes? I found myself getting annoyed, either at her for revealing that kind of emotion to the writer, or at the writer for pulling stuff out of his butt.
Maybe you don’t remember Pat Shroeder. I do.
UI. Pan.
I’ll be working outside, enjoying the fresh air at noon, feel free to move my birthday salutation to the open thread.
its a crappy day out liz. or have you decided to embrace balmy rain because Obama enjoys the sun?
They have to go outside when they’re given yard time, a. Don’t be rude. 😉
“don’t worry geezer, we don’t expect your ilk to say thank you.”
Your unawareness that it’s a fairy tale does not make it any more real. Go suck military dick somewhere else. We didn’t ask, and we won’t tell.
That’s gotta smart! ;o)
Brooke, that’s funny! 🙂
to the thread, this raises a question. Cant the wingnuts actually take power?
I realize currently they are too insane to win any kind of actual power. But if they totally purge the party…. and they have full support for Faux News. Glenn and Billo can wrap the M-backs and Palins of the world in “real american” packaging. There are ALOT of stupid people in this country. almost 50% voted for Palin, and this nation even elected Bush once. (in 04) It may only be a matter of time, between the GOP lack of leadership and false indoctrination my the ass-hats over at Fox until people like Westboro baptist become normal and accepted.
Think of the progressive movement. This was a pretty conservative country until the the end of the 60s. and when i say conservative, i mean de juro (sorry lawyers if i spelled that wrong) racism, sexism, classism, xenophobia (more than today), and isolationist.
THEN, the end of the world happened. we had civil rights, gender rights, we started to take care of the sick and poor and under privleged….
Our country has a long history of a pendulum swinging as far as politics and laws and movements. Are we on the verge of a real conservative takeover of the country?
a.,
I do think this is a real possibility. Since we’re in a 2-party system there is always the chance that Republicans will take power. Right now there is real anti-incumbent mood in the country so Republicans could gain, which would empower the far right even more. I think Democrats do risk getting on the wrong side of public anger because some of the ConservaDems seem tone deaf to populism. So, yes, I think if Republicans could appeal to economic populism and Democrats don’t they could take a lot of power.
It’s hard to believe that Brooke hasn’t been snarking with us for a long time. She fits right in. 😀
Thats a very simplistic vision of our political history, a. Having worked in politics through much of the era you’re describing, I can say that it was seldom so easy. Some strides forward were made in civil rights…and that was as much a factor of pragmatism as ethics. The ERA wasn’t passed. Nixon opened China, but you really can’t credit that to “progressivism”. We let the AIDS crisis go MUCH too far during the Reagan years, but SOME work was done.
In each individual there’s a struggle to balance their fears and their loves. This is true for elected officials, too. And because of that, it’s very seldom even that they, much less the electorate, arrive at finished conclusions together. They do things piecemeal.
I was much more worried about the damage Reagan would do than about wingnuts now. We have to concentrate on keeping people voting, and the population trends are on our side.
As long as we behave as the good guys.
“There are ALOT of stupid people in this country.”
Almost 50% have below average intelligence.
Almost 50% have below average intelligence.
Wow, that’s like, two-thirds!
Geezer – lizard/gecko only does his down-low mansex in the bathroom of his neighborhood park. Just had to get that off my chest.
I’m waiting for the GOP to finally divide into 2 parties – the GOP and the “conservatives.” It’s obvious that they don’t want to be under the same tent. I think it’s only a matter of time.
Hopefully, they’ll get to that before the D’s divide into the Democrats and the Progressives. 🙁
call me a pessimist, but i dont think that will happen. When…since the turn of the century (1900) has the GOP EVER rejected the far right…. hell, after the racist dixicrats left our party, the gop EMBRACED them. No, i think half the GOP “leadership” is actually in philosophical agreement with the TeaBags and the other half HAS no tea bags and will never stand up to them. If anything, the moderate repukes will form an Indi party and the National Republican Party will be totally populated by teabagers. They will do a good job acting normal, employing Karl Rove and Rodger Ailes and possibly winning big elections. The GOP we THOUGH we hated and couldnt stand will look like harmless Mike Castle (who got crushed on colbert last night) compared to the raving hate filled lunatics who will be the entire GOP in a few years.