How did the hapless Dede Scozzafava, whose travails my Examiner colleague Mark Tapscott has chronicled, get the Republican nomination in the special election in New York’s 23rd congressional district? Blogger and tea party activist Michael Patrick Leahy has the scoop. It’s an interesting example of how local political stumbling can affect a race of some national significance. Any of the other eight candidates would apparently have received the Conservative party nomination and probably would have won the special without too much trouble. But in a district narrowly carried 51%-47% by George W. Bush in 2004 and 52%-47% by Barack Obama in 2008, Democrat Bill Owens now has a strong chance to capture the district for his party since many Republican voters, turned off by Scozzafava’s support of the Democratic stimulus package and the unions’ card check bill, will vote for Conservative nominee Doug Hoffman.
