NY-23: Hoffman Didn’t Talk to Scozzafava Before the Switch (VIDEO)

WATERTOWN, N.Y. — At a brief campaign appearance here last night, I asked NY-23 Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman to confirm whether he’d spoken with Dede Scozzafava after she abandoned her Republican bid, and before she’d been courted by Democrats to endorse Democratic candidate Bill Owens.

“No, I hadn’t had an opportunity to talk to her,” said Hoffman. “Of course I would have liked for her to endorse me, but hey, we’re going to win without her.”

The Hoffman campaign has really pushed the message that Scozzafava’s decision was not just disloyal, but corrupt. “Did Pelosi offer to pay off campaign debt,” asked Conservative Party chairman Mike Long in a statement released by the campaign yesterday, “or did Pelosi go even beyond that?” But the other side of the story must be the Hoffman campaign’s decision not to truly pursue a Scozzafava endorsement.

Watch: