Message to GOP Bosses: Conservatives Got Game in New York and Nationwide!

From the Los Angeles Times, "Conservatives Emboldened by Moves in New York Election":

The upstate rebellion that drove a moderate Republican off the ballot in a special House election is sending a message likely to resonate in upcoming races: Don't ignore the grass roots of the right.

The triumph of conservative forces over the Republican Party establishment in upstate New York has emboldened like-minded activists around the country, and it could drive the GOP sharply to the right as it lines up candidates for the 2010 midterm congressional elections.

The rebellion that drove a moderate Republican off the ballot in a special House election today is sending a clear message to the party leadership and its candidates: Ignore the conservative grass roots at your peril.

That message is likely to resonate in the coming months in several congressional primaries and in races where third-party challenges are springing up and threatening to divide the Republican vote.

In Columbus, Ohio, a conservative has decided to run for the House because he does not see enough difference between Democratic Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy and her leading Republican opponent.

In southern Virginia, where Democratic Rep. Tom Perriello has been expected to face a tough fight for a second term, a conservative is campaigning against a Republican he considers a RINO -- Republican in Name Only.

The most prominent battlefield on which the conservative wildfire is spreading is Florida, where Gov. Charlie Crist, the GOP front-runner for the Senate nomination in 2010, faces a spirited challenge from a conservative former state House speaker, Marco Rubio.

That's why all eyes in the party will be turned toward the northern reaches of New York in today's off-year elections. In the state's 23rd Congressional District, voters face a choice between Democratic lawyer Bill Owens and businessman Doug Hoffman, who is running on the Conservative Party ticket.

Hoffman's persistent charges that the Republican Party's hand-picked candidate, state Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, was too liberal -- an assertion echoed by conservative activists nationwide -- resulted in her dropping out of the race Saturday.

"If Hoffman wins this, it will be like dropping a bomb into the center of the Republican caucus," said David Keene, head of the American Conservative Union. "Conservative leaders are standing up and saying, 'On to Florida.' " Even if Hoffman doesn't win, experts say waves will rock the GOP.

See also, Matt Lewis, "NY-23: How Sarah Palin Stands to Win (and Charlie Crist Stands to Lose)." (Via Memeorandum.)

Photo Credit: Doug Hoffman for Congress, "Doug attends the St. Lawrence County Fair in Gouverneur on Aug. 7 where he met numerous supporters and well-wishers."