A portrait of Dede Scozzafava

I produced a profile of Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava for this morning’s 8 O’Clock Hour. It’s an effort to push past some of the more hysterical attack-ad rhetoric of the last few weeks.

We’re also profiling Doug Hoffman (available tomorrow) and Bill Owens.

As I listened back through piles of tape that we’d recorded with Scozzafava, I had a couple of thoughts that didn’t quite fit in my story.

First, it’s amazing how much this woman’s professional accomplisment has been eclipsed by the conservative firestorm against her.

At a time when she (I’m assuming) wanted to tell the story of her family, her values, her accomplisments in Albany, she’s been pinned down by issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

Secondly, it’s remarkable the dichotomy between the North Country’s political culture (tolerant, flexible, reasonably nonpartisan) and the hyper-aggressive tone of the national discussion.

Here in the region, people who know Scozzafava view her as a nuanced, complicated figure. They agree with her some, they disagree with her some.

But she’s a real person, thoughtful and solid.

The caricature that’s appeared in the attack ads (and in the conservative national media) is nearly unrecognizable.