NY-23: Local Paper Says Hoffman ‘Co-Opted by Right-Wing Politicians’
The Watertown Daily Times, the big paper in the sprawling 23rd district of New York, today endorses GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava for the special election. Democratic candidate Bill Owens is ruled out because he has “too much to learn” about the district. Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman gets roughed up.
“„Mr. Hoffman, an accountant and businessman who lives outside the district in Lake Placid, has harnessed a national firestorm of conservative dismay with government. But his ideological stands could harm the district. An example: He has sworn on principle not to request congressional earmarks even though they were essential to raise federal funds for the expansion and improvement of Fort Drum. Would he hew to this stand at the expense of the district which has benefited mightily from Drum’s development?
“„When asked a series of questions about the district last week, Mr. Hoffman drew blanks in several areas. We cannot wait for Mr. Hoffman, who has been co-opted by the right-wing national politicians, to do his homework.
You can expect conservatives to point out that the paper endorsed the Obama-Biden ticket in 2008. Still, this makes a raw issue out of the surge of conservative endorsements for Hoffman. Remember, one of Hoffman’s ads stars Fred Thompson, a former senator whose only connection to New York is his old role in “Law and Order.”
