Also at The Albany Project
Rep. Scott Murphy, NY-20, won his seat in a March 2009 special election by a mere 700 votes, and has always been a top 2010 target for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
After voting to support the HCR bills that passed this week, Murphy has now been called a "traitor" by Republican pundit/profiteer Dick Morris, and will have local teabaggers hitting the doors tomorrow with a strong anti-Murphy message.
Morris' "traitor" slur has nothing to do with giving aid and comfort to enemies. It's about Murphy, and some other House Democrats, voting no on the first House HCR bill, then voting yes on the final package.
And the teabaggers, like the conservative Republican activists they are, would be out knocking on doors no matter how Murphy voted on anything -- because he's a Democrat and they are angry Republicans.
Details, below.
Morris' "traitor" column, which is posted at Newsmax, is full of lies and overheated rhetoric about HCR.
But it's not at all clear who Murphy et al. "betrayed," other than conservatives like Morris.
The real point of Morris' column is the link to an anti-Democrats PAC, the League of American Voters, which will allegedly "bring the voters in their districts the full story."
Of course, what it will do, first of all, is enrich Morris and the other Republican hacks involved in yet another GOP astroturf operation.
The local teabaggers will have more impact in NY-20 than this obscure D.C. outfit, because they will be talking to and identifying voters in NY-20.
Starting tomorrow.
Local John Birch Society/tea party organizer Kevin McCashion put out the call on teabagger sites today, here's a taste:
Talk the Talk? Now Walk the Walk.
Everyone re-energized by Murphy's support for the Stamp Act of our time, can join us in our first neighborhood walk in the 20th Congressional District this Saturday, March 27th.
We will be delivering the attached door hangers to highlight his votes and the cost per household. ... Be prepared to take the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of potential supporters and recruits.
Neighborhood canvassing of this sort is essential to expose voters to Murphy's misbehavior and for the growth of the movement, it is of the utmost importance. ... Let it not be said that our Republic died because we were lazy or embarrassed.
Give the locals some credit, they say Murphy has been misbehaving, not traitorous.
McCashion neglects to mention that the teabaggers have a candidate in the NY-20 race -- Patrick Ziegler -- a conservative Republican, natch. No doubt he will mention it to whoever shows up tomorrow.
The door-hanger, at right, is sourced to a website that does not exist, but is clearly Bircher in its anti-government message and report card format.
On the front, it calls on governments to "do not disturb my life, liberty and property," and exhorts readers to "keep what is rightfully yours."
On the back, there is a Bircher report card, showing that Murphy voted for "higher taxes and more government" on the cap and trade bill, a bill to increase the debt limit (and keep the federal government going), and a transportation/HUD appropriations bill.
Not exactly hot-button issues now, but I'm sure the teabaggers will have an anti-Murphy HCR harangue ready for anyone unfortunate enough to be home.
Just as Morris is not completely honest with his readers, so McCashion does not mention Ziegler, who is in the midst of trying to get town and county Republican committee support to challenge Murphy.
It's not going well for Ziegler; the Republican establishment has lined up behind Chris Gibson, a recent Army officer retiree from Columbia County who is apparently just as right-wing as Ziegler.
Ziegler has picked up two counties (Warren and Essex) in the 10-county district, but he is unlikely to get any more. He can primary Gibson, but some press reports indicate that he won't.
So a major issue for Gibson will be whether he will get motivated teabagger support for the general, after beating a teabagger candidate.
A week ago, Ziegler's wife (also an active teabagger) was excited about him winning a county, and clearly not very happy with Gibson:
Patrick is in this race BIGTIME!!!
We need all hands on deck. The grassroots can actually get a liberty minded, consititutional candidate elected to Congress right here in the 20th.
We are up against a huge machine and well connected political organization. This is going to be truly a grassroots campaign as we are building mommentum and Patrick is getting out the message that voters have been waiting for.
Please visit the website, donate, volunteer, do whatever you can. This is a team effort and guys we can really do this if we have an army of citizens behind us.
Mrs. Ziegler will be disappointed, but better (for her and her family) sooner than later, because there is no way that a no-name with no money like Ziegler could ever beat Murphy.
The party bosses clearly believe that Gibson has a better chance of winning, though he is essentially a no-name with no money too.
The party bosses have also taken the measure of the teabaggers. They know that the teabaggers are all conservative Republicans who will vote for, and some will work for, whoever is the GOP candidate against Murphy.
And the bosses know that there are only a few score really active teabaggers in the district -- nowhere near enough to carry a teabagger candidate to victory against a well-funded, savvy incumbent.
Finally, there's Charlie Cook. His operation follows electoral politics closely, and has rated NY-20 as Likely Dem, despite its large Republican registration advantage.
Cook has evidently also discounted the teabaggers as few and already Republican, and therefore unlikely to make much of a difference, at least in NY-20.
But give the teabaggers their due, a few dozen of them will be out at the doors tomorrow dissing Murphy, while NY-20 Democratic activists will be watching basketball, doing spring cleaning, shopping, reading blogs, etc.