At a meeting of Washington conservatives this morning, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, expressed pride over GOP success in last night’s election. But questions about NY-23 remain — so I asked him whether there was an effort to get New York Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, the GOP nominee in that race, to endorse Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman.
“There was a huge effort,” he replied.
When asked about rumors that the New York Republican Party picked Scozzafava because of the advice of Washington insiders who felt she would be a more electable candidate, Boehner rolled his eyes. “We told them to hold off on a decision, to work with us, but they went ahead and did it.”
So if she was a rotten egg, why spend money? “All the money spent on that race was anti-Owens money, not pro-Scozzafava money.”
UPDATE:
Boehner’s response obviously doesn’t cover for the anti-Hoffman web ads put out by the NRCC, accusing the third-party candidate of only being in it for himself. Or the active ripping on Hoffman, like in this statement to National Journal:
“[Conservative] Party bosses in New York have been sold a bill of goods in the form of Doug Hoffman’s deceptive smoke-and-mirrors campaign, but fortunately they aren’t the ones deciding this election,” said Paul Lindsay, a spokesman for the NRCC, which has produced Web ads attacking Hoffman’s conservative bona fides. “We will continue to remind New Yorkers that a vote for Hoffman or Bill Owens is a vote for Nancy Pelosi and her far-left, radical agenda.”
And any defense of Scozzafava’s electibility should have to address the character issue: Her campaign was willing to smear Weekly Standard writer John McCormack. Even if it was someone “misspeaking,” that someone should have been fired.
UPDATE 2:
Pete Sessions is playing “cover your assets” too. In a statement:
“After two special elections in New York, there is no doubt in my mind that the candidate selection process lacks openness and transparency and should be changed to a primary system so voters can have a say in who their respective parties nominate.”
