The two remaining candidates in the NY-23 special election, Democrat Bill Owens and Conservative Doug Hoffman, have now each reacted to moderate Republican Dede Scozzafava dropping out of the race.
Owens gave a conciliatory note, praising Scozzafava’s public service and denouncing Hoffman as a right-wing extremist, a clear play for Scozzafava’s voters:
“Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava has been an honorable public servant for years now and I have a tremendous amount of respect for her and her commitment to her principles. While we disagree on certain issues, we share a dedication to serving the best interests of Upstate New York and the Obama administration’s efforts to get our economy back on track. Those interests will always be my highest priority.”
“I remain focused on my campaign. Over the next 4 days I will continue traveling the district to discuss my record of helping create jobs and my plans to continue that work in Congress.”
“Voters have a clear choice on Tuesday: they can elect to go back to the George Bush economic agenda, or they can vote to move forward. Doug Hoffman and the Club for Growth’s extremist agenda won’t do a thing to get our economy moving again. While Doug Hoffman is solely committed to continuing tax cuts for the wealthy which will add $500 billion to the deficit, protecting tax breaks for companies who ship jobs overseas, and privatizing Social Security, I will fight to turn the page on that agenda. I will work to create jobs Upstate to get our economy back on track because that is the type of leadership we need right now in Congress.”
Hoffman’s statement says this race is a fight against Nancy Pelosi, the Working Families Party, ACORN and other such villains, a reminder to Republican voters of which side they ought to be on:
This morning’s events prove what we have said for the last week; this campaign is a horserace between me and Nancy Pelosi’s handpicked candidate, Bill Owens. At this moment, the Democratic Party, the Working Families Party, ACORN, Big Labor and pro-abortion groups are flooding the district with troops and they are flooding the airwaves with a million dollars worth of negative ads. They are throwing mud; they are trying to stop me.
It’s time for us to send a message to Washington–we’re sick and tired of big-spending, high-taxing, career politicians and by voting for me on Tuesday you will send that message loud and clear.
