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.