Reversal in NY-23 -House Republican Leadership Prepared To Welcome Hoffman

Maybe there is hope for the GOP after all. A few days ago the NRCC announced that they would will throw good money after bad in the NY-23 congressional election. The announced they would be spending  $200,000 to $300,000  on "TV ads propping up Scozzafava in the days leading up to the Nov. 3 contest and plans to keep up a near relentless barrage of press releases slamming Hoffman."

Since that time, Scozzafava the liberal Republican candidate, has been hemorrhaging  support to the Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman to the point where Hoffman is now in the lead and Scozzafava is a very distant third. Now Politico is reporting that the NRCC is getting the hint.

... House Republican leadership is prepared to welcome Doug Hoffman into its ranks, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) said Thursday, a sign that the GOP establishment is recalibrating its approach toward the contentious New York special election and the Conservative Party nominee whose candidacy has divided the party.

“He would be very welcome, with open arms,” Sessions told POLITICO in an interview off the House floor.

The comment came after nearly a dozen rank-and-file Republican members came out for Hoffman Thursday. The bottom line is voters who support conservative positions are realizing that it doesn't make sense to vote for someone who is on the wrong side of issues just because they are Republicans, and that's why they are abandoning the liberal Republican Scozzafava.

While the NRCC–along with House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.)—have all thrown their backing to Scozzafava, grassroots conservatives have revolted against the GOP nominee, asserting that she is too liberal for them to support. Some have even called for conservatives to withhold donations from the NRCC in protest.

On Thursday afternoon, Sessions appeared to tacitly acknowledge that Hoffman may represent the GOP’s best chance to keep the Republican-held seat from being picked up by a Democrat.

“I think it’s pretty clear that a person who would vote for John Boehner, support tax cuts, support growing our economy, and defeat Nancy Pelosi’s tax and spend agenda will be really welcome in our conference, and I think having a person who can win that district off that message would be really good for the Republican Party,” Sessions said.

...The NRCC’s support for Scozzafava had been premised on the idea that the state assemblywoman represented the party’s best hope of holding the competitive upstate New York seat vacated by Republican Rep. John McHugh.

Even more encouraging to Hoffman’s backers, the Daily Kos poll shows Hoffman is winning over more Republican voters than the GOP’s own nominee. He leads Scozzafava 41 to 34 percent among Republicans—a sign that GOP voters are increasingly identifying with Hoffman as the true Republican candidate.

And he holds a 19-point lead among independents over Owens, 47 percent to 28 percent, suggesting that his outsider message is resonating, and that his support isn’t confined to the conservative base.

....The NRCC in recent days has subtly refocused their messaging on ads attacking Owens, avoiding any mention of Hoffman.

Whether Hoffman wins or not, the NRCC better pay heed, Conservative Americans of ALL party affiliations are rising up to say "No More !" If the Republican Party doesn't want to represent those conservatives, they will find a party who will.