As we now move to a mere two weeks until ballots are cast in upstate New York, the special election to replace former Republican Congressman (and current Army Secretary) John McHugh has taken a peculiar turn:
Here’s a perfect -- and bizarre – illustration of what’s going wrong with Dede Scozzafava's campaign: She called the cops in response to a Weekly Standard reporter’s aggressive questioning at a GOP forum last night.
For their part, the campaign team for DeDe Scozzafava said that it was the Weekly Standard author (John McCormack) who was out of line, and not the candidate:
"This self-described reporter repeatedly screamed questions (in-your-face-style) while our candidate was doing what she is supposed to be doing: speaking with voters (remember, those who will decide this election?). And then he followed the candidate to her car, continuing to carry on in a manner that would make the National Enquirer blush. I have no doubt he intended to follow her home, too. His actions were reprehensible. Those are the facts."
This led the Weekly Standard's heavy hitter, Bill Kristol, to fire a shot back at the Scozzafava campaign:
"Let me emphasize: I have full confidence in the truth of John's account. And I won't allow a desperate campaign to try to tarnish the fine reputation John has built as a fair and accurate reporter -- and, for that matter, a very decent and mild-mannered young man...it really would be better not to start down the road of berating reporters for accurately reporting the facts, or of calling the police when your candidate doesn't like the questions reporters are asking."
Given that only the reporter and the candidate were there, this is likely to devolve into a "he said/she said" scenario. Both have legitimate claims here, which just underscores how utterly dysfunctional the political climate has become thanks to the far right in this country.
It is terribly upsetting that legitimate and relevant questions about political policy and personal ideology are being ducked by candidates, especially in such close proximity to an election. That said, it is not beyond the realm of plausibility that in this era of increasingly intemperate political discourse (town hall disruptions, anyone?), Scozzafava may well have felt legitimately threatened by someone apparently following her to her car, all the while yelling questions at the top of his lungs.
The far right might be frustrated by Scozzafava's actions in this case, but to some extent, they also served to inspire those actions.
Amid this backdrop of intraparty immolation, President Barack Obama is chipping in on behalf of the Democratic nominee, Plattsburgh attorney Bill Owens. Far from the fratricidal tendencies of the GOP in this race, Obama is lending his support to Owens, who could safely be described as a conservative Democrat.
Recent polls show that Owens has pulled into a narrow lead in this historically Republican district, in no small part because the district's conservative core is being split between Scozzafava and Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman.