The right’s embrace of Hoffman is a double-barreled suicide for the G.O.P. On Saturday, the battered Scozzafava suspended her campaign, further scrambling the race. It’s still conceivable that the Democratic candidate could capture a seat the Republicans should own. But it’s even better for Democrats if Hoffman wins. Punch-drunk with this triumph, the right will redouble its support of primary challengers to 2010 G.O.P. candidates they regard as impure. Frank Rich
Seriously, it appears that the teabaggers are gaining steam. And lest we think they are just a funny joke, it would probably pay to recall instances in history when radical, paranoid right wingers got legitimate political power. The joke can easily turn into a nightmare.Digby
I'm not sure who's right here, because I think it depends on whether the economy returns to normal. I'm not sure it will, and if it doesn't, continued economic anxiety will pull more so-called independents or moderates into alignment with the teabagger mentality.
NY 23 doesn't matter. The midterms next year do. If the Dems get some kind of decent healthcare passed and people are feeling the benefits before next November, and if the economy continues to improve, the Dems should hold on to their seats and even gain some. The challenge is independents, the people in the mushy middle who sway this way or that depending on the mood of the times, which is largely a media construct.
Movement conservatism isn't going away. That it represents are a fairly small minority doesn't matter so much as the fact that they are motivated, well organized, well funded, and have a high-decibel media megaphone. They will always have far more influence than their numbers warrant because of those factors. And they will be ready to move in as soon as the Dems stumble, and sooner or later the Dems will stumble. The midterms will be their first significant test, but they can wait. They know that they will be the only aternative when people can't bring themselves to vote for a Dem.
What worries me is that there really isn't a sane center that plays a significant role in shaping the political sphere in this country. I think most Americans are decent and sensible, but those people are not in politics or the media. And because we are in this neither-here-nor-there time of cultural transition, I'm not sure we have the collective ballast not to capsize if a serious storm hits. We won't really know until we're tested. In the 1930s populist energies leaned left; now they are leaning right, and that should be worrying to anybody with a lick of sense.
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