The Wall Street Journal has a new story up today about the “tea party” movement that’s datelined Plattsburgh, NY.<\/p>\n
Yup, another look at the NY-23 race in the context of the national political scene. According to Naftali Bendavid’s report<\/a>:<\/p>\n The rise of conservative “tea party” activists around the country has created a dilemma for Republicans. They are breathing life into the party’s quest to regain power. But they’re also waging war on some candidates hand-picked by GOP leaders as the most likely to win.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Journal’s case-study is Conservative Doug Hoffman’s wildly successful flank attack on Republican Dede Scozzafava.<\/p>\n By all accounts, he’s been a devastating force on the GOP’s efforts to hold the seat, which was once considered as safe as any NY district can be for Republicans.<\/p>\n (Democrat Bill Owens now leads by 4 points…)<\/p>\n Tea partiers have targeted other moderate Republicans, including Charlie Crist in Florida and Arnold Schwarzenegger in California.<\/p>\n