Mario Piperni dot Com

.

What should of been a victory for Republicans, now seems unlikely.

In a huge development in the NY-23 special election, Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava has announced that she is suspending her campaign, citing an inability to win in light of recent polls and a lack of money — leaving this race as a vote between Democrat Bill Owens and Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, and a strong message that the Republican Party can no longer nominate moderate candidates, or else face a right-wing revolt.

[...]

Her platform was socially liberal and economically conservative, and there was a lot of bad blood between the local GOP and Conservative campaigns.

Scozzafava was ahead in the polling until Sarah Palin inserted herself into the race.  While Palin’s favorable ratings have been on a steady downswing, she obviously still has influence over the wingnut crowd.

Scozzafava fails to meet Palin’s requirements for a good Republican because of her moderate position on gay marriage and abortion. While she says she won’t vote for new taxes, Palin doesn’t believe her. Friending Hoffman on Facebook, Palin wrote that the best thing about him is that he’s “not been anointed by any political machine” and stands for bedrock Republican principles. Invoking Ronald Reagan, Palin added that he knew that “blurring the lines wasn’t an appropriate way to win election.”

By throwing her support behind the Conservative candidate and thrashing the Republican one, Palin proves once more that there is no place for moderates in her party.  At a time when upwards of 40% of the electorate call themselves independents, Republicans continue to isolate themselves from the mainstream by shunning all who don’t adhere to strict conservative values.

The Party of No is also the Party of No Tolerance.  While Republicans might see some short term success, the long range forecast is bleak at best.

___

To receive email notifications of new posts from MarioPiperniDotCom, click on Subscribe.
.

.

Happy Halloween.

___

To receive email notifications of new posts from MarioPiperniDotCom, click on Subscribe.
.

.

Tom Daschle chimes in on the fate of the public option.

Don’t throw a victory party yet. That was the message from former Sen. Majority Leader Tom Daschle this morning in a speech to health care professionals, students and legislators in Columbia.

… On the so-called “public option,” or a safety-net insurance option operated by the federal government, Daschle said something will likely appear in the final legislation, but he doubts it will be a robust, no-strings-attached public option.

“Most likely, it would be one that involves a great deal of flexibility among states whether it’s opt-in or opt-out,” he said.

“If I had to guess today, I think the best thing we’re going to get is a trigger,” Daschle said.

I hope he’s wrong on the trigger option. It would appear to be the worst possible way to go. If health care is in as dire a condition as Democrats claim it is, then how does it make sense to let it continue on as is for another 2 or 3 years. The health industry would love nothing more than to delay true reform.

The trigger option is nothing more than a shallow ruse to appease both progressives and conservatives (the Republican and Democrat variety). If anyone believes that the health industry will police themselves and cut into their profits as a way of bringing down the cost of premiums and make insurance affordable to all, then they just haven’t been paying attention for the last 40 years.

___

To receive email notifications of new posts from MarioPiperniDotCom, click on Subscribe.
.

Another reason why you’d might want to consider getting goldfish instead of a dog.
.

.
___

To receive email notifications of new posts from MarioPiperniDotCom, click on Subscribe.
.