Ugh. Here comes the traveling Obama education circus again. This time, in Baltimore:

The odd couple of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the Rev. Al Sharpton will bring their quest for education reform to Baltimore on Friday.

Gingrich and Sharpton are on a three-city “listening and learning” tour to find out which school strategies are working and why.

The former speaker is a conservative Republican, and Sharpton is a civil rights activist and liberal Democrat. They don’t agree on much, but they found common ground in the concept that education is the new frontier on civil rights. They say the quest to improve schools should be nonpartisan.

Gingrich and Sharpton are joining Education Secretary Arne Duncan on the tour.

“Nonpartisan?” How about non-racial demagogue/non-hoaxster?

No quest to improve schools can succeed when it includes one of the nation’s worst, grievance-mongering shakedown artists.

This alliance was a bad idea when it launched. Even worse now in the wake of the NY-23 debacle.

Conservatives’ money went to pay for specious attack ads against Hoffman run by the NRCC like this.

Conservatives’ money went to support a GOP candidate who shares the same socialist alliances with fellow SEIU/ACORN/New Party/Working Families Party activist Patrick Gaspard, the Obama White House political director who intervened in the race to secure Scozzafava’s endorsement of Owens.

Hoffman’s candidacy illuminated the stark difference between GOP political opportunists willing to pimp out their endorsements to any old ACORN-embracing, Working Families Party-consorting, Big Labor crony who puts an “R” by her name — and movement conservatives who refuse to “mooooderate” for the politically expedient sake of mooooderation as dictated by out-of-touch Beltway party leaders. The NRCC/RNC’s $1 million debacle will cost much more than that.

As I’ve repeated many times over the last several weeks:

One thing is guaranteed at the conclusion of the NY-23 special congressional election: The Beltway Republicans who endorsed radical leftist Dede Scozzafava are going to have indelible egg stains on their faces. And GOP establishment fund-raising organizations will be the poorer for it.

To illustrate the point: This blog now has a regular feature spotlighting readers’ RNC rejected solicitation forms of the day.

Today’s rejected RNC donor form comes from reader Bud:

Which brings me to my syndicated column today.

Hoffman may have lost narrowly, but NY-23 is a much broader victory for conservatives who believe the Republican Party should stand for core limited government principles. Scozzafava, who was endorsed by far Left blogger Markos Moulitsas Zuniga and backed by Planned Parenthood, the National Education Association, and card-check-promoting trade unions, was denied the congressional seat because movement conservatives refused to support Arlen Specter in a skirt. This is a victory of principle.

Better a donkey in office that acts like a donkey than a donkey in elephant’s clothing making a complete ass of the GOP.

Moreover, NY-23 is a victory for conservatives who refuse to be marginalized in the public square by either the unhinged left or the establishment right. A humble accountant from upstate New York exposed the hypocrisy of GOP leaders trying to solicit funds from conservatives by lambasting Pelosi and the Dems’ support for high taxes, Big Labor, and bigger government — while using conservatives’ money to subsidize a high-taxing, Big Labor-pandering, bigger government radical. The repercussions will be felt well beyond NY-23’s borders. Conservatives’ disgust with the status quo has been heard and felt. They have been silent too long. They will be silent no more.

The GOP leadership knows it cannot afford to rest on its laurels, continue business as usual, and bask in yesterday’s electoral victories without confronting its abysmal abdication of principled conservative leadership in NY-23.

As Hoffman said in his concession speech, “This is only one fight in the battle.”

Onward. Upward. Rightward.

***

Who are you calling “extremist?”
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2009

Here is one of the loudest messages of the 2009 off-off-year elections: Conservatives in America will no longer let their opponents define them out of the mainstream. They will not submit to Democrats. Or to the media. Or to Beltway Republican capitulationists. They will not “rebrand.” They will not sit down. They will not shut up.

Just this past weekend, Democrat Rep. Jim Moran attacked the Republican candidates for governor and attorney general in his state of Virginia as the “Taliban ticket.”

New York Times columnist Frank Rich decried the Right’s “Jacobins” and “Stalinists” who he said joined a “putsch” by supporting Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman over ACORN-embracing, Big Labor-promoting, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, tax-and-spend Republican Dede Scozzafava in New York’s 23rd congressional special election.

And senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett told ABC’s “This Week” that the grass-roots conservative-vs.-GOP leadership battle over NY-23 showed that the Republican Party leadership was “becoming more and more extreme, and more and more marginalized.”

Let’s talk “extreme.” Valerie Jarrett is the White House official who bragged openly about recruiting disgraced Marxist rabble-rouser Van Jones for the green jobs czar post. She lavished praise on his public career and said she had followed him “for as long as he’s been active out in Oakland.” In Oakland, Jones was working to dismantle California’s juvenile justice system, pitting minorities against police officers, and crusading to free Death Row cop-killer Mumia abu Jamal.

Who are you calling “extreme?”

Jarrett’s White House colleague Patrick Gaspard, Obama’s political director who intervened in the race to convince Scozzafava to endorse the Democrat candidate Bill Owens after she dropped out, was a top organizer at the militant Local 1199 chapter of the Service Employees International Union and an activist/organizer for the New Party and the Working Families Party – both ACORN/Democratic Socialist Association front groups.

Who are you calling “extreme?”

“It’s rather telling,” Jarrett sniffed, “when the Republican Party forces out a moderate Republican and it says, I think, a great deal about where the Republican Party leadership is right now.” It’s rather telling that the White House persists with this pointless marginalization strategy as Gallup polls show conservatives continuing to outnumber moderates and liberals across America.

As I pointed out in my Oct. 16 column, there was never anything moderate about Scozzafava. There was no fiscal conservatism to balance her social radicalism. It wasn’t merely that she was “pro-choice.” But that she was a proud recipient of a pro-abortion award named after eugenics proponent Margaret Sanger.

It wasn’t merely that she favored higher government spending. But that she supported the stimulus that every single House Republican in office opposed, on top of her support for the union-expanding card-check bill, on top of her ambiguous statements on the energy tax-imposing cap-and-trade bill.

Newt Gingrich, who foolishly stood with Scozzafava until she threw herself under the bus over the weekend, piously invoked Reagan and condemned the extreme “purism” of unruly conservatives who wouldn’t keep quiet about Scozzafava’s radical Left agenda.

But conservatives are not demanding “purity.” They are simply abiding by Reagan’s own wise counsel in 1975: “A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency, or simply to swell its numbers.”

The Republican National Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee threw an estimated $900,000 down the toilet for a candidate whose core views and political alliances undermined conservatism’s fundamental beliefs in limited government from day one. It was a reckless expenditure of the GOP base’s hard-earned money and a bitter tuition bill for a teachable moment on the perils of political expediency.

The days when immoderate political operatives and feckless Beltway opportunists could define “moderation” by their own warped yardsticks without pushback are over.

***

Making sure the message sticks: More rejected RNC forms from readers.

Hey, how did that six-figure RNC donation to the NRCC plus $85,000 to the New York GOP plus nearly half-million-dollar investment in advertising and other independent expenditures on behalf of radical leftist Dede Scozzafava work out?

She repaid the GOP by endorsing Democrat candidate Bill Owens. Some gratitude, eh?

“Since beginning my campaign, I have told you that this election is not about me; it’s about the people of this District,” Scozzafava wrote in an e-mail sent to supporters this afternoon.

“It is in this spirit that I am writing to let you know I am supporting Bill Owens for Congress and urge you to do the same.”

I repeat: One thing is guaranteed at the conclusion of the NY-23 special congressional election: The Beltway Republicans who endorsed radical leftist Dede Scozzafava are going to have indelible egg stains on their faces. And GOP establishment fund-raising organizations will be the poorer for it.

Suckers.

***

TCOT Report: “The NRCC and RNC Just Spent $1 Million on Dede Scozzafava. This is their reward.”

The shadow of Big Labor looms:

At 10 p.m. last night – right in the middle of the Halloween festivities – Scozzafava’s husband, Ron McDougall, president of the Jefferson/Lewis/St. Lawrence Central Labor Council issued a statement through the AFL-CIO that he is endorsing Owens against Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman.

According to his statement, it basically all comes down to support of the labor movement’s top priority, the Employee Free Choice Act and its controversial card-check provision, which Owens and Scozzafava supported – much to the chagrin of the right – and Hoffman pointedly does not.

“This has been a difficult day for my family. But the needs and concerns of the men and women of the 23rd Congressional District remain paramount,” McDougall said. “As such, I wholeheartedly and without reservation endorse the candidacy of Bill Owens.”

“As a life-long labor activist, I know that Bill Owens understands the issues important to working people. On the other hand, Doug Hoffman has little regard for the interests of workers.”

“Hoffman’s opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, coupled with his support for the failed policies of the Bush Administration make him a poor choice to serve the citizens of the 23rd Congressional District.”

Finally: The spoiler exits the race.

Stacy McCain has the scoop:

Just confirmed that Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava has quit the race. Speaking to supporters, Scozzafava broke down in tears.

UPDATE: Scozzafava, the hand-picked choice of the New York state GOP in the key 23rd District special election, reportedly will throw her support to Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.

Scozzafava’s withdrawal came shortly after a new Siena College poll was released this morning, showing her in third place, with Hoffman neck-and-neck with Democrat Bill Owens.

Hey, GOP elites: Can you hear conservatives NOW?!

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air has the latest Siena Poll that doomed Scozzafava and adds:

This confirms the basic thrust of the three earlier polls, and especially the Daily Kos poll, which got the ranking of the candidates and the distribution of the vote almost exactly correct. Scozzafava has seen her negatives explode, while her two opponents have only become more accepted as they became more well known. She has no chance of winning this race, and her withdrawal leaves Hoffman with the Republican vote whether she endorses him or not.

Will the NRCC shift gears and start buying ads supporting Hoffman in the final three days of this race?

Just think of all those wasted NRCC/RNC dollars spent on the ACORN-Friendly, Big Labor-Backing, Tax-and-Spend, Margaret Sanger Award-Winning Radical in GOP Clothing.

Shame.

Help Doug Hoffman for Congress now.

***

More: 73wire on the campaign trail has Scozzafava’s farewell message:

In recent days, polls have indicated that my chances of winning this election are not as strong as we would like them to be. The reality that I’ve come to accept is that in today’s political arena, you must be able to back up your message with money—and as I’ve been outspent on both sides, I’ve been unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made about my record. But as I’ve said from the start of this campaign, this election is not about me, it’s about the people of this District. And, as always, today I will do what I believe serves their interests best.

It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so. I am and have always been a proud Republican. It is my hope that with my actions today, my Party will emerge stronger and our District and our nation can take an important step towards restoring the enduring strength and economic prosperity that has defined us for generations.

On Election Day my name will appear on the ballot, but victory is unlikely. To those who support me – and to those who choose not to – I offer my sincerest thanks.

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!

As of 11:13am Eastern, no comment from Scozzafava endorser Newt Gingrich.

The Watertown Daily Times reports:

Ms. Scozzafava told the Watertown Daily Times that Siena Research Institute poll numbers show her too far behind to catch up – and she lacks enough money to spend on advertising in the last three days to make a difference. Mr. Owens has support from 36 percent of likely voters in the poll, with Mr. Hoffman garnering 35 percent support. Ms. Scozzafava has support from 20 percent of those polled.

The Gouverneur resident said she thinks she will receive more than 20 percent of the vote, based on several factors, including her performance during a Thursday debate.

***

Thank you, Sarah Palin.

Thank you, Tea Party activists, Club for Growth, and RedState.

Update: Johnny-come-lamely Newt Gingrich endorses Hoffman.

Update from reader Paul:

My name is Paul Brock. I live in Rochester NY and took the five hour drive up to Saranac Lake last Tuesday to see how I could help the Hoffman campaign. I planned on staying a day maybe two but ended up staying till Friday at 11:30 am. I wanted to write you a quick note and let you know that I have never been ACTIVE in any political campaign. After reading many of your articles and Sarah Palin’s facebook page, I knew it was time to get off the couch! What I found when I arrived was a lot of very gracious,extremely busy people. I was able to jump right in and working with Dougs sister Sandie, we were able to accomplish an enormous amount of processing of contributions. The donations were just beyond anyone’s imagination. The letters brought tears to my eyes. The stories of people who have never donated, one person who had bought some neccessities at Walmart and then returned them so he could send a money order for $25.00. The elderly people who are so very afraid for their grandchildren and great grandchildren.

I am not a political kind of person, but I know that helping this campaign is the right thing to do. I have three children, one who is a former navy sailor, another who is still in the navy and a sixteen year old daughter(who has morals and values and ethics!). I fear for their future with this current administration. I know I am not the only one.

The reason for this email is to ask you to keep this story alive for Mr. Hoffman. Keep your readers aware and if possible, keep directing them to Doug’s website to contribute. ALL the support he gets will help guarantee our country a much needed victory.

On a side note, tomorrow I have been asked to go to Syracuse to pick up Captain Scott O’Grady from the airport. He was the pilot shot down in Bosnia in 1995. I get to be his sidekick for two days. How blessed am I?

Again, thank you for the work you do and please continue to spread the word for the Hoffman campaign. The contributions are so necessary and so much appreciated……

Newt Gingrich continues to “Alinsky” his conservative critics and hide behind straw men.

He took to the airwaves last night to decry what he called a “purge” of the GOP by opponents of his chosen candidate, radical leftist Republican congressional candidate Dede Scozzafava, in the NY-23 special election:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) late Monday had some choice words for Republicans supporting Conservative Party party candidate Doug Hoffman (N.Y.), accusing them of conducting a “purge” of the GOP…

The former Speaker faced a push-back from the right after his announcement but he upped the ante on Monday.

“This idea that we’re suddenly going to establish litmus tests and all across the country we’re going to purge the party of anybody who doesn’t agree with us 100 percent; that guarantees Obama’s reelection, that guarantees Pelosi as Speaker-for-life,” he told Fox News last night.

100 percent unadulterated nonsense on a stick.

Scozzafava isn’t just “anybody who doesn’t agree with us 100 percent.”

She’s an ACORN-Friendly, Big Labor-Backing, Tax-and-Spend, Margaret Sanger Award-Winning Radical in GOP Clothing — a left-wing saboteur who seeks to marginalize mainstream conservatism with conservatives’ own money.

As for Gingrich’s attack on conservative candidate Doug Hoffman’s supporters outside of New York…

“So I say to my many conservative friends who suddenly decided whether they’re from Minnesota, or Alaska, or Texas, they know more than the upstate New York Republicans? I don’t think so,” he added.

…I’ll repeat what the New York Post editorial board said today in its endorsement of Hoffman:

New York’s 23rd Congressional District lies near Canada, far to the north — but next week’s special election merits attention throughout the state.

That’s because the Republican candidate in that race, Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, is the product of an obscenely corrupt political bargain by GOP bosses that sells out their party — and New Yorkers generally.

Because of that, and because so many of her positions ill-serve the interests of New York and the nation, The Post today endorses businessman Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party nominee.

No, Republicans needn’t toe the conservative line without any deviation. Moderate GOPers like Rudy Giuliani have managed to stray on some issues without wholly betraying their party.

But a Republican should adhere to certain minimum GOP principles. Scozzafava is just too far to the left too often.

And not only on social matters, like same-sex marriage and abortion. In Albany, Scozzafava has been such a profligate tax-and-spender, she can almost make Speaker Sheldon Silver blush.

With the backing of the ACORN-allied Working Families Party, she supports Big Labor’s favorite organizing bill — card-check — as well as the federal stimulus, opposed by every House Republican.

Hoffman, by contrast, understands the dangers of unchecked spending, monster deficits and ever-higher taxes — i.e., concerns of average working Americans.

And I’ll repeat what I said last week: “One thing is guaranteed at the conclusion of the NY-23 special congressional election: The Beltway Republicans who endorsed radical leftist Dede Scozzafava are going to have indelible egg stains on their faces. And GOP establishment fund-raising organizations will be the poorer for it.”

Today’s rejected RNC solicitation form of the day comes from reader I.B.:

The latest Club for Growth poll on NY-23 shows conservative candidate Doug Hoffman continuing his surge over the liberal Democrat and the radical leftist “R” in the race. (Caveats: Sample size is small and CfG is pro-Hoffman. Still. Hoffman’s got the mo’. Scozzafava has left-wing dough.)

The spoiler in this race is ACORN-friendly, Big Labor-embracing, tax-and-spender Dede Scozzafava. There is nothing — nothing — “mooooderate” about her.

Who’s making the “mistake?”

The most prominent GOP endorser of radical leftist NY-23 congressional candidate Dede Scozzafava is openly musing about running for president in 2012.

No, thanks:

Callista and I are going to think about this in February 2011. And we are going to reach out to all of our friends around the country. And we’ll decide, if there’s a requirement as citizens that we run, I suspect we probably will. And if there’s not a requirement, if other people have filled the vaccum, I suspect we won’t.

“They” shouldn’t bother.

The conservative base is wising up and pushing back. And constantly invoking Reagan isn’t going to erase the damage Gingrich has done to his brand over the years by wavering on core issues and teaming up with some of the Left’s biggest clowns.

Picture the cabinet:

Al Sharpton as education secretary.

Scozzafava as labor secretary.

Al Gore as global warming czar.

Noooooo, thanks.

***

A reader sends video of Gingrich “going Alinsky” on Hoffman supporters:

***

Related NY-23 news: Have you read about Scozzafava’s scuzzy family business?

Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman in the NYPost on Sunday: Take back the party!

Still stuck on stupid: GOP officials: We won’t abandon Dede

And from Gallup:

Conservatives continue to outnumber moderates and liberals in the American populace in 2009, confirming a finding that Gallup first noted in June. Forty percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 20% as liberal. This marks a shift from 2005 through 2008, when moderates were tied with conservatives as the most prevalent group.

***

The Chicago Sun-Times covered my speech in the Windy City to Republicans:

Conservative firebrand and columnist/blogger Michelle Malkin came to Chicago on Thursday night to slam President Obama in his hometown and to slap Republicans who work with Obama instead of fighting him.

“Many of you fight not just the culture of corruption among Democrats but the culture of corruption that has paralyzed and plagued much of the Republican Party nationally and locally,” Malkin told 250 members of the United Republican Fund of Illinois.

And Malkin made it clear to the crowd at the Hilton Chicago that she thinks Illinois and Chicago are “ground zero” for political corruption in America.

“You know the White House and its tax cheats, crooks and cronies better than anyone else in the country,” she said. “You tried to tell your friends around the country, and they wouldn’t listen, and now they’re having tremendous buyer’s remorse.”

Malkin did not name any Illinois Republican candidates she considered disloyal or corrupt, but she said, “One of the problems I see here is you have Republicans candidates accepting money and support from some organizations that funded Barack Obama.”

Malkin also took a shot at Education Secretary Arne Duncan: “There are some delusional mainstream conservatives who think Arne Duncan is a friend because he pays lip service to charter schools. Wake up and smell the radical socialism!”

Check this out. Newt Gingrich is on his latest book promotion tour — and his embrace of radical leftist Dede Scozzafava (whom he champions as a “moderate Republican”) is getting heated pushback from movement conservatives in the heartland.

Earth to Newt: There is nothing “mooooderate” about radical leftist Dede Scozzafava.

Here are video clips of Dallas Tea Party activists raising their voices at Borders Books in Dallas. I repeat: Can the GOP hear conservatives yet?

Oh, and does the rest of the media elite finally understand the Tea Party movement is not just an anti-Obama, anti-Democrat movement — but a movement to hold all politicians’ feet to the fire?

***

Here Gingrich snarks that conservatives who object to backing radical leftists don’t think Reagan was conservative enough. There he goes again:

Here Gingrich worries about “intra-party” fighting in the NY-23 race. But he’s backing the radical Margaret Sanger, high-taxing, Big Labor and ACORN leftist who is splitting Republicans instead of backing the conservative:

A Dallas Tea Party activist calls for GOP commitment to core conservative principles:

Keep calling them out.

Fundraising reports for all the candidates in the New York special election are due today, but the candidates have been required to report all donations above $1,000 in the final weeks of the race.

And, to get a sense why conservatives have been so cool to her campaign, Republican Dede Scozzafava’s recent financial support has come primarily from abortion rights groups, labor unions and the National Education Association.

This week, Scozzafava received $1,000 from the Planned Parenthood PAC and $2,500 from the New York Choice PAC. The International Longshoreman’s Association and the United Transportation Union PAC each chipped in $2,500, while the local International Brotherhood of Electric Workers gave her $1,000. The National Education Association’s political action committee spent $5,000 for her campaign, while a renewable energy association donated $2,000.

Via Politico.

So, Newt Gingrich is invoking Reagan to defend his endorsement of radical leftist Dede Scozzafava in the NY-23 special congressional election?

Triple-gag:

“If you seek to be a perfect minority, you’ll remain a minority,” says Gingrich. “That’s not how Reagan built his revolution or how we won back the House in 1994.”

Let’s quote Reagan back to Gingrich, shall we? From his seminal 1975 CPAC address:

Let our banner proclaim our belief in a free market as the greatest provider for the people.

Let us also call for an end to the nit-picking, the harassment and over-regulation of business and industry which restricts expansion and our ability to compete in world markets.

Let us explore ways to ward off socialism, not by increasing government’s coercive power, but by increasing participation by the people in the ownership of our industrial machine.

Our banner must recognize the responsibility of government to protect the law-abiding, holding those who commit misdeeds personally accountable.

And we must make it plain to international adventurers that our love of peace stops short of “peace at any price.”

We will maintain whatever level of strength is necessary to preserve our free way of life.

A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency, or simply to swell its numbers.

I do not believe I have proposed anything that is contrary to what has been considered Republican principle. It is at the same time the very basis of conservatism. It is time to reassert that principle and raise it to full view. And if there are those who cannot subscribe to these principles, then let them go their way.

Perhaps it is time to go your own way, with Al Sharpton and Nancy Pelosi:

***

Related: Voter fraud in NY-23 involving Scozzafava’s good friends at ACORN front Working Families Party:

Brian Suozzo voted with an absentee ballot in the Working Families Party primary on Sept. 15 because, as his application stated, he was “at home recovering from medical procedure.”

Jessica Boomhower’s application said she would be attending a “work conference in Boston.”

Michael Ward couldn’t vote in person because he was “taking care of elderly parent.”

Kimberlee Truell was on a “Bus trip to casino,” as was Miguel Vazques.

The only problem with these absentee ballot records at the Rensselaer County Board of Elections in Troy, N.Y., is that they’re phony, voters and investigators say — and they’ve prompted what’s being called an unprecedented investigation of suspected voter fraud.

Thirty-eight forged or fraudulent ballots have been thrown out — enough votes, an election official admits, to likely have tipped the city council and county elections in November to the Democrats. Candidates would have been able to run both on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines in two weeks, and that could have given the Democrats the general election.

A special prosecutor is investigating the case and criminal charges are possible. New York State Supreme Court Judge Michael Lynch ruled that there were “significant election law violations that have compromised the rights of numerous voters and the integrity of the election process.”

The Doug Hoffman campaign asks Obama for federal monitors. Can’t expect much from a corrupted DOJ, but at least the request is on record.

Related: Scozzafava campaign leaks info about conservative journalist inquiries to left-wing websites.

Conservatism you can count on!

If you have given to the NRCC, RNC, or Newt Gingrich under the impression that they are using the money to support conservatism, you might want to ask for your money back.

As I mentioned in my column post on the NY23 special election, the NRCC is using conservatives’ money to back a radical leftist and attack a bona fide, viable conservative candidate for Congress in a safe Republican district. Gingrich has endorsed the radical leftist.

Now comes word from CQ that the Republican National Committee has made a “six-figure transfer” of funds to the NRCC to support Scozzafava:

The Republican National Committee also confirmed Friday that it was making a six-figure transfer to the National Republican Campaign Committee to help in that race.

The NRCC has already spent nearly half a million dollars on advertising and other independent expenditures. And with the Scozzafava campaign on television only sparingly — reportedly because of slow fundraising — it has become the main source of advertising for the Republicans at this point.

The RNC is also giving $85,000 to the state party, the maximum allowed for a coordinated campaign, and has two staffers on the ground in the district.

In a letter to supporters, Gingrich called the Nov. 3 special election “an important test” for the party in advance of the 2010 mid-term election. Scozzafava is “Our best chance to put responsible and principled leaders in Washington,” he said.

In addition to Scozzafava’s radical leftist record that I outlined this morning, Scozzafava is the proud recipient of the Margaret Sanger Award from New York family planners.

Yes, that Margaret Sanger.

You can watch her speech here.

Call the NRCC and RNC — and call them out.

Contact the NRCC
Address:
320 First Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003

Executive
Phone: 202-479-7000

***

Republican National Committee

p 202.863.8500 | f 202.863.8820

This is what happens when you get too much Beltway on the brain.

Newt Gingrich — who sidled up on a couch with Nancy Pelosi for one of Al Gore’s global warming ad campaigns — championed President Obama’s education speech today.

Subtext be damned.

Gingrich, you should know, has been on a summer road trip with police-bashing, violence-inciting, race charlatan Al Sharpton and Obama Education Secretary Arne Duncan:

The tour starts Sept. 29 in Philadelphia, heads to New Orleans on Nov. 3 and then to Baltimore on Nov. 13 — cities selected for what they can teach others about school reform.

Gingrich paid homage to Sharpton earlier this spring along with Vice President Joe Biden.

Sharpton is an agent of hate with nothing — I repeat, nothing — of value to contribute to the school reform debate.

Keep this self-serving traveling circus away from America’s classrooms.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has added Republican former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) to the roster of witnesses for its hearing on a climate bill today. He joins former Vice President Al Gore on the witness list.

The Hill is reporting the meeting of these two as a “global warming showdown.” It isn’t. Not unless you consider “humans are definitely causing global warming so we must act” and “humans are probably causing global warming so we must act” to be drastically opposing views.

Gingrich jumped the eco shark long ago when he appeared in ads with Nancy “don’t know much about waterboarding” Pelosi urging Americans to take action on climate change. Click the pic to see the commercial:

Pelosi and Gingrich urged everyone to go to WeCanSolveIt.org and help fight climate change. The site features a video of Oprah nodding in unquestioning approval of Al Gore, the man who has become the Ravi Shankar of new millennium junk science by using fear, misinformation, gullibility and blind faith as a sitar that he plays with wildly lucrative virtuosity.

Unfortunately, the only “showdown” that will occur today will be over what to order for lunch. Speaking of that, if many of the attendees want to know what’s really causing global warming — Gore included — all they have to do is strip off their shirts and look in a mirror. Most preferably in private.

He crumbled on the behemoth bailout.

He cuddled Nancy Pelosi on Al Gore’s global warming couch.

And he’s played footsie with Hillary Clinton on health care.

Is Newt Gingrich really the best choice for RNC chairman?

You tell me:

***

E-mail or leave your suggestions for the best person for the job.

WaPo looks at some of the contenders.

Update: Michael Steele wants the job.

Ralph Hallow has the scoop.

You’ll note that when Newt Gingrich announced his opposition to the bailout last week, I wrote:

“Couch buddies no more. For now, anyway (emphasis added).”

I knew he’d be back on the sofa. So did you.

See?

STEPHANOPOULOS: “Speaker Gingrich, there’s also, I think, a recognition, at least in some of the polls I’ve seen, that something has to be done.”

SPEAKER NEWT GINGRICH: “Sure, look, something has to be done. … I suspect were I still in Congress, in the end George [Will] is right, and I probably would end up voting reluctantly yes, because I think when you’re given no choice …”

God save us from bipartisanship.

We’re Screwed ‘08.

***

Update: GOP Rep. Mike Pence remains a staunch “NO!” Thank you, Rep. Pence…

Republicans improved this bill but it remains the largest corporate bailout in American history, forever changes the relationship between government and the financial sector, and passes the cost along to the American people. I cannot support it.

Before you vote, ask yourself why you came here and vote with courage and integrity to those principals.

If you came here because you believe in limited government and the freedom of the American marketplace, vote in accordance with those convictions.

Duty is ours, outcomes belong to God.

We have fought the good fight. Now we need to finish the race and make sure that posterity and the American people know there were conservatives who opposed the leviathan state in this dark hour.