The Party Purge Has Begun

Wow. We haven’t had a lot on the race in NY-23 lately. The most interesting aspect of the race was Dan Hoffman running in the Conservative Party to challenge the very liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava. Newt Gingrich made waves by endorsing Scozzafava two weeks ago. I listened to Bill Bennet interview Gingrich. He thinks the process in NY needs to be respected. I’m not convinced and wonder if Newt unwittingly became the spokesman for the Republican establishment. That wouldn’t be so bad if the powers that be didn’t think moderation was the key to winning.

The rising stars in the party endorsed Hoffman the Conservative and it has had the desired effect. The polls have showed for a week now that Hoffman was on the rise and Scozzafava was in decline. She finally got the message and dropped out today. Even Newt is on board now.

The clear message is this: Be conservative or we will not support you. Period. W lost his way-and support in the party-when he stopped being conservative. McCain received his largest boost in 2008 when he chose a dynamic conservative to join him on the ticket. The American people want conservative leadership. When we fail to give it to them they go elsewhere as 2006 and 2008 prove. I don’t expect the exile to last long now that the party purge has begun.

UPDATE: Matt Lewis breaks down the winners and losers in the whole affair. Sarah Palin is at the top of the list. Lewis does not inclued Bill Owens the Democrat in the race. He had a reasonable shot with two opponents splitting the Republican vote. Not so much now. RedState has some interesting observations, too. Fred Thompson posted this:

Tags: Conservativism, Dan Hoffman, Newt Gingrich