Let’s call last week Week One in the 23rd House District special election. It’s arbitrary, especially given the fact that the election hasn’t been scheduled yet.<\/p>\n
But we have to begin somewhere.<\/p>\n
I have to give this week to Dede Scozzafava. After a few tough weeks of pre-campaign muddle — and the tough duty of caring for her sick father — she had a strong showing.<\/p>\n
The Republican sounded confident and relaxed in her conversation with David Sommerstein, unfazed by concerns about her relatively liberal social positions. <\/p>\n
Her organization moved to open county offices across the district, staking out a grassroots ground game that could counter the Conservative Party challenge.<\/p>\n
She also won some face time with Democratic leaders, boosting her image as a bipartisan pragmatist. <\/p>\n
Her big assist came from Sen. Chuck Schumer. Asked about Democratic candidate Bill Owens, he muffed it — talking instead about how tough it was not to have Darrel Aubertine in the race.<\/p>\n
Ouch.<\/p>\n
Owens and Conservative Doug Hoffman also helped out by spending the week mostly off-radar. <\/p>\n
My sense is that Owens and Hoffman have to come out pretty strong in the next week or two to establish a real contest here.<\/p>\n
Otherwise, in a Republican stronghold district against an experienced candidate like Scozzafava the momentum might be tough to reverse.<\/p>\n
My Score: Week One to Scozzafava. <\/p>\n
How do you handicap it? Comments below…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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