NY-23: ‘Doug Rode the 50-Foot Wave’

SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. – Supporters are slowly trickling into Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman’s election night party at the Hotel Saranac, into a small ballroom with four flatscreen TVs tuned to election coverage. The reaction to Bob McDonnell’s long-expected victory in Virginia’s gubernatorial race was muted — no bursts of applause, no high-fives, just a few of the supporters remarking to each other that “the Republican” had won in Virginia, and that it seems like good news.

I talked briefly to Rob Ryan, Hoffman’s spokesman, who wasn’t making any predictions about the race–”if it’s a blowout either way, we’ll know soon”–but was already giving subtle hints of optimism.

“Let’s be honest,” he said. “Doug rode the 50-foot wave, just like last year Obama rode the 50-foot wave.”