Dede Scozzafava Becomes a Political Suicide Bomber

It is understandable that Dede Scozzafava is upset. Dede Scozzafava was a liberal Republican who had been handpicked by the GOP party bosses in New York to run in the special election in New York's 23^rd Congressional district.

Since New York's 23^rd was considered a Republican district, Dede Scozzafava was assumed to have the election for the asking. Dede Scozzafava was depicted as a "moderate", though she had a number of views that would have to be considered far left, such as supporting the Stimulus Package. But Dede Scozzafava was considered a shoe in.

Dede Scozzafava and the GOP bosses who picked her did not reckon on two factors. One was the Conservative Party candidate, Doug Hoffman, who seemed to be a little bit more Republican than the actual Republican. The other was the voters, who were not going to swallow a candidate with views inimitable to their own just because she had the right letter after her name.

With her polls dropping and conservative heavy weights like Sarah Palin and Fred Thompson supporting Hoffman, Dede Scozzafava was forced to drop out of the race. This must have been bitter gall and wormwood to her. Nevertheless Dede Scozzafava should have drank it down, endorsed Doug Hoffman, and then gone off somewhere to contemplate her next move.

Instead it appears that Dede Scozzafava has chosen to become a political suicide bomber, endorsing Bill Owen, the Democrat, and even going so far as to record robocalls for him and to appear at Bill Owens rallies.

If Dede Scozzafava had hopes for a political future, she seems to have blown it all up in her attempt to bring down Doug Hoffman in revenge. The Republican voters who turned against Dede Scozzafava will never love her. But now the GOP bosses who put her name in and people like Newt Gingrich who supported her to the end have been made to look like fools. People who do politics for a living and who are in the public eye do not appreciate being made to look like fools.

The sad part of it is that Dede Scozzafava's jihad against Doug Hoffman and the Republican Party seems to not be working. Doug Hoffman's poll ratings are soaring. Remarkably the man who was accused of being a spoiler just a week ago looks to be the runaway winner in the special election in the New York 23^rd.

Let this be a lesson for all neophyte politicians. Revenge is sweet, but it is also a dish best served cold. In other words, Dede Scozzafava should not have done in anger immediately what she might have done calmly a year or so from now.

Source: Scozzafava comes out for Owens, Elizabeth Benjamin, New York Daily News, November 1st, 2009