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Chris Matthews asks Eric Cantor about Bob McDonnell trying to move away from the right and presenting himself as some sort of moderate in the Virginia governor's race and when Cantor tries to say he wasn't running away from his "conservative values" Matthews asks Cantor why McDonnell didn't want Palin to campaign for him.

Matthews: Let me ask you about the big question here for you tonight. McDonnell…let’s put a real prize around him. I think McDonnell’s great claim to fame is he ran a positive campaign. The other guy was going after his term papers from 30 years ago and McDonnell talked about his daughter’s fighting for the U.S. as a servicewoman over seas on Iraq and a Norte Dame graduate, as a R.O.T.C. person—I thought he really sold the positive and that’s why he won.

Cantor: Well, I agree with you that his campaign was incredibly well run and the message was positive and I think it does say something about the voters of Virginia. They want to have a better prospect for the future and Bob campaigned and focused on jobs. It was clearly an economic message that won the day here in Virginia. And when you look at where people’s minds are here 85% of the people are concerned about the economy. They’re looking for another way. They’re rejecting the policies coming out of the Congress and the White House towards the economy. So it was, you’re right, a very positive agenda for the future that Bob McDonnell won the day on.

Matthews: Why did Bob McDonnell keep Sarah Palin out of the state? He let her use the robo-calls but no reference to him personally. Why would you…I have a theory that Virginia may not be a liberal state and certainly never will be probably, but it’s certainly not a whacko right wing state either. And I don’t think it would ever go for a Sarah Palin over a Barack Obama, but I may be wrong. In lousy economic conditions anything’s possible.

You wouldn’t call Virginia a Palin state, would you?

Cantor: Virginia has always bean a common sense, conservative state. There are millions of voters here who embrace Sarah Palin, obviously millions who are embracing Bob McDonnell. You know our state is one that is a center-right state. I think it is reflective of where the nation is and that’s why we are very excited about what this win tonight will mean for our prospects in November of ‘010.

Matthews: I’ve got it. You go home and check with your voters Congressman. A lot of your most trusted voters who like you personally are scared to bejesus out of Sarah Palin. She’s a theocrat. She’s a…she’s so far out in terms of basic American notions of pluralism that your voters would think she was frightening.

Cantor: Chris you’ve just said that Bob McDonnell won the day on a positive message.

Matthews: Right.

Cantor: Well here you go again. (crosstalk)

Matthews: No I’m just saying you wouldn’t let her in the state. (crosstalk) Did Bob McDonnell over rule you when you tried to bring Sarah Palin in the campaign for him?

Cantor: Absolutely not. She’s welcome in this state. I’m sure Bob McDonnell would say she is and again it’s that kind of negativity that’s been rejected here in Virginia and I…you said so yourself Chris.

After rightfully calling Palin out for being as extreme as she is, Matthews goes on to kiss Cantor's butt to make sure he gets another interview with him somewhere down the pike. Earlier in the broadcast Matthews did his best to give McDonnell cover for those "term papers" which he wrote when he was 34 years old, hardly a child and tried to pretend he was some kid that can't be held accountable for them now. Matthews threw Palin under the bus tonight but did his best to give McDonnell a bit of a white washing for his extremist views.

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Looks like someone's trying to out teabag "going rogue" Sarah. Tim Pawlenty's obviously planning on running in 2012 and has decided his best course of action is to throw in with the conservative wing of the party. From The Hill--Pawlenty takes on Snowe:

Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) warned Olympia Snowe today that she's risking her position in the GOP by considering a vote for healthcare reform.

"She's somebody who has gotten into the middle of the healthcare debate in a way that makes Republicans mad," Pawlenty said on Morning Joe. "They make accept that, but they're not going to accept her deviating on many other things."

Asked whether he was glad Snowe was a Republican, Pawlenty hedged.

"There is a process in her state that is broad based that endorses her, and the Republicans in that state say 'we want her to be our candidate,'" Pawlenty said.

Pressed on the issue, Pawlenty made clear he wouldn't offer a definitive answer.

PAWLENTY: "I think Olympia Snowe is somebody who is more liberal than most Republicans would like but she is better than having a Democrat represent me."

SCARBOROUGH: "Is that a yes? I think that's a yes."

PAWLENTY: Well look, the people of Maine have an open process, they selected her. It's different [than Scozzafava]."

Olympia Snowe responded to Pawlenty's criticism...via The Politico:

"I've been a lifelong Republican -- I haven't changed, I don't know what the problem is -- I really don't," said Snowe, speaking to POLITICO at the Capitol. "I know Gov. Pawlenty to be a thoughtful person and i know if he could have rephrased it or re characterized it he would."

But Snowe, who is pro-abortion rights, took serious issue with Pawlenty's underlying argument that some members of the GOP's fast shrinking left flank, including one-time NY-23 candidate Dede Scozzafava, are so far out of the party's anti-abortion, anti-gay rights mainstream they are a "joke."

"All I know is that I've been a life-long Republican, I [spent] 16 years toiling in the minority in the House of Representatives and [was part of] the effort to get us the majority in 1994 -- now were in the minority and I'm still here," she added, with a laugh.

"So, i don't know -- I think they could probably borrow more from me in that sense, in terms of being in touch with your constituents..."

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From the great mind that brought us both Sarah Palin and Dan Quayle, Bill Kristol first does his best to build up what electoral successes in Virginia and New Jersey might mean for the Republicans in 2010, even though he claims that’s not what he’s doing. Republicans managing to pick up a Governor’s seat in Virginia or having an unpopular Governor in New Jersey who is a former Goldman Sachs CEO in the middle of this scandal with Wall Street managing to hold onto his seat or barely losing are not exactly bellwether races for what might happen in 2010.

Kristol then tries to downplay the havoc that his girlfriend Sarah Palin is reaping upon the Republican Party with her endorsement of Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in the NY-23 Congressional race.

Kristol: Tim Kaine has said, and this is the favorite mantra now of the Democrats and of the liberal media I would say as you quoted “the divide between moderate Republicans and conservative Republicans” that’s kind of their hope. When was the last time that there was really a big divide between moderate and conservative Republicans? I would say in ’76 when Ronald Reagan ran a primary challenge to go then against an incumbent moderate Republican president Gerald Ford, barely lost, bitterness, divisiveness at the convention, he didn’t even really…give his full fledged, full support to Gerald Ford. In 1978 I remember a friend of mine, a young activist Jeff Bell challenged and beat the liberal incumbent Cliff Case, the Republican primary in Jersey, lost to Bill Bradley, in the general Al D’Amato challenged Jacob Javis in New York, actually won the general election. There was a huge amount of turmoil.

What came out of all of that—Reagan’s victory and a Republican takeover of the Senate in 1980. Turmoil in a party isn’t bad. Obviously it’s problematic. If you’re running a campaign you don’t, you know, it’s easier not to have a primary, it’s easier not to have people grumbling and complaining, but it’s—I think it’s a sign of health, it’s a sign of grass roots activity. It’s a sign of citizens getting involved. I don’t think people are going to go off the deep end. I think you’re going to have…the fact that there were challenges in the 23rd district of New York doesn’t mean that conservatives aren’t going to accept more moderate candidates which they will in Delaware where Mike Castle’s going to be the nominee, where Illinois where Mark Kirk’s going to be the Republican nominee.

The left keeps hoping that conservatives will be suicidal. They’re not going to be I think. But I think you do need the conservative populace’s energy and independence from Washington—and ideas. I think conservatives need that, that Republicans need that. You can’t just be top down, sort of rehashed ideas from inside the beltway, so I’m actually ah…Tim Kaine can console himself with tomorrow’s defeat—it’s going to be a pretty bad defeat and Republicans are going to win all the state wide races and I think pick up six to ten state legislative seats—Tim Kaine can console himself that hoping that the Republican Party will self destruct, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.

Bill, Hoffman wasn’t a primary challenge in case you didn’t notice. He’s a third party candidate propped up by a bunch of outsiders that are not from the state. And if you think this is going to stop with this NY-23 race and that “people aren’t going to go off the deep end”…you might want to go read this--Uncivil War: Conservatives to challenge a dozen GOP candidates.

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Former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe weighed in on Meet the Press on the role Sarah Palin is now playing in the Republican Party and her interjection into the NY 23 District Congressional race. This was before the news broke that Scozzafava endorsed Blue-Dog Democrat Owens over the Conservative Party candidate Hoffman today.

GREGORY: You talk about Palin. Let's put up what you wrote about her. "It was early morning, Denver time ... when my cell phone erupted with calls." This is when she was selected. "Palin--it took me a moment to place the name. ... Palin was a bolt of lightning," you wrote, "a true surprise. She was such a long shot; I didn't even have her research file on my computer. ... I started Googling her, refreshing my memory while I waited for our research to be sent. ... I thought it was downright bizarre, ill-considered, deeply puzzling. ... [McCain] had been shouting from the rooftops that Obama lacked the experience to be president. ... With the Palin pick, he had completely undermined his core argument against us. ... `I just don't understand how this ends up working out for McCain. In the long term, I mean ... when voters step back and analyze how he made this decision; I think he's going to be in big trouble. You just can't swing--wing something like that--it's too important.'" That was then Senator Obama speaking. What about Palin now? Is she a force to be reckoned with in 2012?

PLOUFFE: Well, I think we should thank John McCain for picking her, in terms of how it helped us win in 2008, but I think we should doubly thank him now. What's going on in the special election in New York 23 I think is a remarkable phenomenon and could affect our politics for years to come.

GREGORY: She endorsed the, the independent, more conservative candidate.

PLOUFFE: Yes.

GREGORY: And now we've got the Republican candidate who's stepped aside.

PLOUFFE: So a centrist Republican has been ridden out of that race. And I think what you're going to see in the coming months, if not years, is Sarah Palin--you know, by the way, she kind of playing the role as pied piper in the Republican Party, which is something I'm quite comfortable with.

So Sarah Palin, the other Republican candidates who are likely to run, the Limbaughs and Becks of the world are basically hanging a "moderates need not apply" sign outside the Republican National Committee headquarters. And for a party that has historic lows right now, because centrists and moderates are leaving them in droves, they have catastrophic problems with younger voters, Hispanic voters and African-Americans, it's a various curious strategy to kind of repair this damage. So I think they're becoming more a very motivated corps, but a small corps of about 23 percent of the country.

Steve Singiser has more over at Daily KOS on the latest turn of events in that race--NY-23: Did Doug Hoffman Throw The Democrats A Lifeline?

With the battle between Democrat Bill Owens and third-party insurgent candidate Doug Hoffman within the margin of error, Hoffman should have picked off the bulk of the Republican vote from Scozzafava's remaining core group of supporters, and that should have been the ball game.

Few people suspected that in an historically Republican district, Owens could survive without split opposition.

But, then, by virtue of his own gracelessness, Doug Hoffman complicated matters...for himself. [...]

To give a succinct recap: Owens praised Scozzafava and promised to work for upstate New York. Hoffman cackled a quick "I told you so" before returning on the attack.

That might explain why a large number of Scozzafava supporters, from the head of the state's Independence Party to several voices within organized labor, immediately turned to the Democrat Owens rather than her fellow Republican, Hoffman. This morning, one of the more prominent newspapers in the district, The Watertown Daily Times, followed suit, switching its endorsement from Scozzafava to Owens.

And then, in the second shocker from her in as many days, the Republican nominee endorsed the Democratic nominee. [...]

In the final analysis, it might not matter, of course. Owens is still fighting upstream in a GOP district against what is now for all intents and purposes a single GOP opponent. But Hoffman's own lack of class might have made this a lot of harder on him than it could have been.

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From Washington Journal Oct. 25, 2009. As much as I hate to say I agree with Newt Gingrich about anything, I'd say he's right here. Gingrich is asked what he thinks about E.J. Dionnne's article Is there room in the GOP for moderates?. Gingrich says there is and disagrees with Dick Armey who has injected himself into the NY-23 special election and endorsed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman over Republican Dede Scozzafava.

It appears not everyone agrees with Joe Scarborough and Dan Senor that this Republican food fight is good for the party.

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From Meet the Press, Joe Scarborough and Dan Senor think it's just fantastic that the GOP is running their "moderates" out of the party. Great game plan guys. Keep this up and maybe the GOP can get down to 15% instead of 20% of Americans that want to identify themselves as Republicans.

GREGORY: All right. Let--I've got about a minute left here. I want to talk politics here. Joe Scarborough, there seems to be, within the Republican Party, a litmus test going on. You had Sarah Palin on Facebook endorsing the conservative independent candidate in New York for that congressional seat in the 23rd district.

SCARBOROUGH: Mm-hmm.

GREGORY: Is this what's going on inside the Republican Party, this sort of run to see who can be the most conservative as a means of retaking power in 2010?

SCARBOROUGH: Well, it, it depends. How could any Republican, how could--let me strike that. How could any conservative be against the person that the Republican establishment in D.C. is for if they're conservatives? This woman, this Republican candidate, is for card check. She was for the Obama stimulus package. She has voted for taxes. I mean, she's been one of David Paterson's best allies. Why would a conservative support that Republican? This is, this is just one more example of how the Republican Party in Washington, D.C., is so disconnected from conservatives.

SENOR: You're seeing a revolt all over the place. In Joe's state, in Florida...

SCARBOROUGH: And, and I'm saying...

SENOR: ...Marco Rubio, who's running against Charlie Crist for the U.S. Senate...

SCARBOROUGH: Yeah.

GREGORY: Right.

SENOR: ...the Republican establishment in Washington rallied behind Charlie Crist because he was supposed to deliver the general election. Suddenly the polls in the Republican primary are closing, all the Republican primary conservative support is getting behind Marco Rubio, who's the start-up candidate.

SCARBOROUGH: And by the way, people love...

MAYER: This can't be good for the Republicans that have their own base being fractured, is it?

SCARBOROUGH: No. It's great for the Republican Party because...

SENOR: It's fantastic for the Republican Party.

SCARBOROUGH: ...when I, when I ran in 1994, the Republican Party on the state, national and local level tried to run against me a moderate Republican. And I'm not talking, I'm not talking abortion or gay marriage, I'm talking taxes and spending, small government. That's great to reinvigorate the base.

GREGORY: All right. And the president's out there for two big governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia this week, which a lot of people will see as some kind of referendum. We're going to leave it there.

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Alex Castellanos has some advice for Republicans on how to lose a few more elections. Hearing this GOP dirty trickster talk about having principles is pretty rich. The only principles I've seen them espousing are how to use the government to enrich themselves and their campaign contributors and redistribute wealth to the have-mores. Talk is cheap Alex. I think most of the public has had a belly full of your type of "principles".

BLITZER: There's a story out there -- Alex, I will start with you -- that Republicans should look to Rahm Emanuel's playbook on how to get members elected, how to get people elected to the House and Senate, and forget about ideology, focus strictly on who can win a district or a state.

What do you think about that strategy?

CASTELLANOS: Well, you know, Rahm Emanuel has certainly been successful, but America doesn't need Republicans to be Democrat-lite. You need to draw a difference.

And Republicans have principles. We don't need to be lite beer. We just need to be a better beer. The way to moderate for Republicans is that you don't moderate. The way to win the middle is to say, look, we have got our principles, but here how -- here's how they work better. And we will lead the country to a better place.

I actually was looking at some election data. And it -- from the American National Election survey, 2008, a very respected survey -- it said that John McCain was closer to the ideological center than Barack Obama was, and that Republicans were closer to the center than Democrats were.

BLITZER: You know...

CASTELLANOS: What -- what -- the reason we lost is, we couldn't take the next step, which is, hey, do you -- how will those principles work?

Continue reading »

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Laura Ingraham pulls out the "Obama was the most liberal Senator" canard on Fox News Sunday while discussing his potential pick for a Supreme Court nominee. If memory serves that talking point didn't work out so well for them this past election but that doesn't stop Ingraham from continuing to beat that dead horse. She also has some wonderful advice for the GOP. The hell with the middle.

Ingraham: There are a lot of moderate Republicans out there giving advice saying okay the party needs to the middle. We need to embrace these new ideas and okay, interesting debate. The question is how did the Democrats gain power in recent years? By going to the middle? Democrats gained power by going to the most liberal Senator in the U.S. Senate and they ran him for the Presidency and they won. They were relentlessly attacking George Bush for several years from the left. They didn't move to the middle. And the idea that Republicans now have to move to the middle, what beyond John McCain's middle, I don't know, is ridiculous. The Republican party has to grow the party with new ideas and effective communication and I haven't seen a lot of that lately.

I'll agree with her on one thing. I haven't seen any new ideas out of any of them either.

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On Hannity and Colmes when asked about the Saxby Chambliss victory in Georgia, Mike Huckabee says that the GOP needs to move away from the "squishy middle" and be more conservative. Yeah, that's just what the GOP needs Mike.