Voting on Principle ... Good or Bad?

The talk radio waves have been burning up concerning two elections currently underway, and what they mean to national politics. The races are for the 23rdCongressional District of New York, and Governor of New Jersey.

The New York seat is vacant because US Representative John M. McHugh (R-NY) was tapped by President Obama to become the new Secretary fo the Army. A special election is being held to fill the seat for the remainder of Mr. Mchugh's term.

Three people are vying for the position - Bill Owens (D), DeeDee Scozzafava (R), and Doug Hoffman (I). Ms. Scozzaffa is the choice of the State's Republican committee, although most people do not consider her a conservative. Mr. Hoffman, a conservative Republican, is running for the Conservative Party of New York, because the NY GOP wouldn't endorse him. He is seen as a Reagan style Republican. Mr. Owens is expected to be a Pelosi lapdog, who will do as he is told while hoping the DNC will get behind him for the normal election next year.

The firestorm of opinion flowing back and forth is from New Yorkers who must choose between voting for Ms. Scozzaffa, who is seen as not a conservative, and Mr. Hoffman, who has very little chance of winning. Do conservative voters vote for Scozzaffa, who has a good chance of winning, to keep Pelosi from having another vote in her liberal campaign. Or do they vote for their principles, for Hoffman, who has little choice of winning? Do they vote for a Republican, no matter how distasteful, or do they vote to push their point of conservatism?

Much the same story is happening in New Jersey, where incumbent John Corzine (D) is running for re-election against Chris Christie (R) and Christopher Daggett (I). Daggett is seen as the far more conservative of the two challengers. Corzine and Christie are running neck and neck in this race, so votes given to Daggett on principles will have a direct impact upon who gets the governor's office.

It's a tough call for conservative voters - chosing between a conservative and knowing your vote will not bring them to victory (and probably handing victory to the Democrat nominee), or hold your nose and try like heck to get a Republican into the office?

While standing up and voting based upon principles sounds great, supposedly sending a loud message to the Republican Party to put up more conservative candidates, what does it really do?

A bit of history:

How many times have Ralph Nader, Jesse Jackson, and other 'no chance' candidates run for President? Sure, they pull in a relatively few votes, and those who vote for them feel good about having made a protest vote and sending a message, there really is no effect. Those votes are wasted, and the candidates really have no affect on the country's direction.

However, sometimes someone does run as a third party candidate who has a dramatic impact upon the race. How many of you remember that Ross Perot ran as an independent in 1992? His candidacy pulled a lot of protest votes, the vast majority of which were Republican. Those votes lost to President Bush (41) handed a close election to Bill Clinton. How'd that work out for the country? How many remember the voters who voted for their principles as anything but fools?

In the election of 2008, how many Republicans stayed home and didn't vote out of protest that John McCain wasn't conservative enough for their tastes? I like and respect Rush Limbaugh, but how many people took his advice early in the campaign and didn't vote, in order to send a message to the Republican Party that it wasn't conservative enough? Well, how'd that work out? We got Obama, and the GOP thinks it must move even further to the left as a result ....

To the voters of NY and NJ - if you don't like the direction of our country, vote for the Republican candidate. Even if they aren't conservative enough for you! Having someone in office with a R next to their name is important. It is better to have someone in office who will vote for conservative/Republican standpoints most of the time, than someone who will vote for Democrat standpoints 100% of the time. In the shortterm, no one is paying attention to protest votes. In the longterm, no one remembers such votes as anything but silly.

Update - Boy, I am going to eat crow on this one, it seems, and I am happy to do so. In the NY 23rd race, all of the national attention on it and the expose' of Scozzaffa as a Democrat in Republican clothing has spurred Hoffman's campaign. Polls yesterday (Oct. 30) showed Owens at 36%, Hoffman at 35%, and Scozzaffa at 20%. Scozzaffa today suspended her campaign, citing the poll results, and released her committed voters to go to Hoffman. Not exactly an endorsement, which would have been appropriate, but much better than not saying anything or endorsing Owens. If her supporters do indeed go to Hoffman, the race should not even be close.

This race should really open the national GOP's eyes. They've been trying to move the party and its candidates into Democrat Lite, thinking that they have to do this to regain power. Well, here's a BIG slapdown for Democrat Lite - conservatives far outnumber moderates, and far outnumber liberals - the GOP needs to pay attention, and get back to its conservative principles. That is how it will regain power, and it will do so quickly. Even if Hoffman loses to Owens, it will be clear to all who bother to look that Democrat Lite DOES NOT WORK.

In the NJ Governor's race, polls show a dead heat.

Another race I didn't mention was for Virginia's Governor, where the Republican candidate was leading the incumbent Democrat by about 15 points int he latest poll, even after Obama endorsed and campaigned for the Democrat.

The elections are this coming Tuesday - will be interesting to see the results.

Update II - Well, SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE.....Scozzaffa, the official Republican candidate, on Sunday endorsed Owens, the Democrat candiate. So, the Democrat Lite comes out and endorses an actual Democrat instead of a conservative Republican (Hoffman). The DNC, realizing that this race is being watched by the entire nation, can't allow a negative statement to be made about Obama's administration, and can't risk having the Congressional tide turned against them. It will be very interesting to find out what the DNC, NY's Democrat Governor, and Pelosi promises this turncoat to get her endorsement.

It will also be interesting to see if she tries to call back her committed voters and steer them towards Owens, after she had already released them to Hoffman. I'll bet you that will happen on Monday .... followed shortly by a triumphant announcement that she's officially joining the Democrat party.

Update III - Well, Hoffman did not win the election - he lost to Owens by 4 points. However, this should be an incredible encouragement to conservatives in the GOP. Hoffman was campainged against by both Democrats and Republicans until a week before the election. The Republican he was runing against droped out of the race and endorsed the Democrat, rather than the Conservative. The state and national GOP officials poured over $900,000 into trying to elect Scozzaffa, and not a thing to Hoffman. Hoffman is not a politican - he is an acocuntant who saw a need for a Conservative to be elected. The fact he drew so many votes and came so close to winning is an incredible statement on the power of Conservatism, and the need for the GOP to return to its Conservative roots and drop this 'moderate, Democrat Lite' B.S.

Pile that on top of winning governor seats in Virginia and New Jersey, and it was a great day for Conservatism and the Republican Party. This bodes very well for the 2010 mid-term elections.