Leading Republicans Back 3rd Party Conservative Candidate in NY Race

On Friday, Rick Santorum threw his support behind Doug Hoffman in the controversial N.Y. District 23 House race.  In a recent Conservative Daily News article, it was noted that the GOP is backing a very liberal candidate in this race.  As of Friday, many top republicans have parted ways with GOP leadership and supported Hoffman instead.  Politico reported that:

“..Santorum joined former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, and former presidential candidate Steve Forbes, all of whom announced their backing for the conservative third-party candidate [Doug Hoffman] this week.”

This could finally be the turning-point for the GOP.  The real question is whether the current GOP leadership (ahem, Mr. Steele, are you listening?) will see that true Conservative candidates can and will win against Democrats and Republicans that do not support Conservative values.  In the same article, Politico notes that Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is hinting at supporting Hoffman as well:

“When asked about the race Friday during an interview with ABC, he [Pawlenty] expressed frustration with GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava and said he will “probably” endorse [Hoffman] in the race.”

Boehner, Gingrich and Steele need to wake-up and smell the roses, before they find themselves facing third-party Conservative candidates for their positions.  But as the article points out, they don’t get it.

“In defending his endorsement of Scozzafava to the National Review, Gingrich warned conservatives that “if you seek to be a perfect minority, you’ll remain a minority.”

What Newt doesn’t get is that the only minority is the current, corrupt, and valueless Republican leadership.  We may have fewer Republicans in power in 2010, but we can work to put a Conservative majority in its place.