Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) is headed to NY-23, to campaign for Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman — and to send a message to the national GOP by stopping moderate Republican Dede Scozzafava.
“We win when we are us. We lose when we are Democrat lite,” Armey told Erick Erickson. Armey also explained: “Big Government Republicans, though they call themselves Big Government Conservatives, do not win. I would tell the Republican Party leadership it cannot win if it insists on recruiting and supporting candidates out of step with the voters.”
Armey’s presence could provide an interesting counterweight to Newt Gingrich, who led the House Republicans with Armey in the mid-1990’s, and who recently endorsed Scozzafava.
Of course, it should be noted that Hoffman’s candidacy has itself increased the chances of Republicans losing this seat, formerly held by GOP Congressman John McHugh, who was appointed to be President Obama’s Secretary of the Army. The most recent Siena poll had Democratic candidate Bill Owens with 33%, Scozzafava 29%, and Hoffman 23%.
With a significant third-party candidate on the right, the line from Hoffman supporters that moderate Republicans can’t win could prove to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
