Marilyn Musgrave, the Republican 4th District U.S. Representative who lost to Rep. Betsy Markey last year, has joined the national right-wing effort to elect Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman to the House in New York’s special election Tuesday. Hoffman’s strong third-party bid has made it a close race, highlighting widening faultlines in the national GOP between the moderate and ultra-conservative blocs. Hoffman is up against state Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, a Republican moderate, and Bill Owens, the Democratic nominee.
Musgrave is making two stops for Hoffman Saturday at Pastor and Home School Parent receptions. Musgrave is being sponsored by the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, for which she works as director of a program that targets vulnerable pro-abortion rights Members of Congress.
From a Susan B. Anthony List release:
Please join us at a special reception for Pastors and Home School Parents. Meet former Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave (R, Colorado) the author of the Federal Marriage Amendment. She is a tireless fighter for Life and Traditional Marriage, who will talk about Faith and Values in the Public Square and the New York District 23 Special Congressional Election. Refreshments will be served.
Hoffman has reportedly started to receive late attention from social conservatives like the National Organization for Marriage.
As MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow pointed out this week, however, the “conga line” of right-wing figures like Musgrave coming to the aid of Hoffman has got to give Hoffman as well as Republican observers pause.
MADDOW: Undeterred by the fact that the conservative party candidate doesn‘t actually live in the district in which he‘s running, undeterred by the local press saying the conservative party candidate has, quote, “no grasp of the bread and butter issues pertinent to district residents,” undeterred by any of that, a whole conga line of conservatives, who are not exactly famous for winning things, have decamped to this rural Upstate New York congressional race to try to make a national, political point.
[…]
We can send Washington a message—that‘s what all of these ambitious conservatives from the states like Tennessee and Colorado and all over the country are doing in this little Upstate New York special election. They are trying to send a national message that the Republican Party should be way more right-wing– and they should know, they are all famous for losing important elections. Musgrave, Santorum, Forbes, Fred Thompson, even Sarah Palin. The marquee name conservatives racing from across the country to overrule local Republicans and instead offer their own strategic guidance on their race, they are all famous for losing.
Video and a transcript available at Crooks and Liars.
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