Here’s a snippet that kind of says it all:
Owens won in Hoffman’s home Essex County, where Republicans have a substantial voter registration advantage, with 3,718 votes compared to 3,175 for Hoffman and 432 for Scozzafava. Keene town Councilman Paul Martin couldn’t vote in the Hoffman-Owens race because, like Hoffman, he lives in the neighboring 20th District, but he found Owens’ taking of Hoffman’s own Essex County interesting.
“This used to be a tremendous conservative center, this whole North Country area,” Martin said. “You couldn’t find a Democrat in this whole area. … And of course, all that’s changed. … It’s kind of like what Vermont went through.
“I think there are a lot of thinking people up here, and maybe they figured it was time for a change somewhere along the line.”
Probably around the time Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin descended on their communities.
“This used to be a tremendous conservative center, this whole North Country area,” Martin said. “You couldn’t find a Democrat in this whole area. …
With 3 SUNY centers in the 23rd, that statement seems just a tad inaccurate.
Perhaps the man doesn’t spend much of his time on the local campuses. It is true that Democrats have traditionally struggled to crack 30% in House races in the 23rd.
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(Politico Scorecard) – Cook Political Report House analyst David Wasserman, in the district, calls an Owens victory “virtually assured” — and sends over this bit of analysis:
This is a geographically enormous district where the largest town is only 28,000 people and voters pride themselves on living in a land apart. The fierce out-of-district support that Hoffman generated from grassroots conservatives caused a backlash among many voters who felt as if outsiders were meddlesome and dismissive or ignorant of myriad local issues, ranging from saving Fort Drum to repairing the Champlain Bridge.
Read more …
My diary @BooMan – NY23 Owens Victory and Palin Factor
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."