{"id":1354,"date":"2009-11-28T11:16:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-28T15:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2009\/11\/28\/scozzafava-debacle-sparks-purity-test-debate-within-gop\/"},"modified":"2009-11-28T11:16:00","modified_gmt":"2009-11-28T15:16:00","slug":"scozzafava-debacle-sparks-purity-test-debate-within-gop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2009\/11\/28\/scozzafava-debacle-sparks-purity-test-debate-within-gop\/","title":{"rendered":"Scozzafava debacle sparks purity test debate within GOP"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After four years of stunning electoral defeats, the Republican Party appears poised to capitalize on some big-mo building developments.<\/p>\n<p>A lot of independent voters are angry about budget deficits and the sagging economy.  There&#8217;s a strong anti-incumbent sentiment.<\/p>\n<p>President Barack Obama&#8217;s ambitious domestic agenda &#8212; combined with the unpopular war in Afghanistan &#8212; could continue to depress his poll numbers.<\/p>\n<p>Some pundits have even argued that the GOP might reclaim a majority in the House or Senate next year.  <\/p>\n<p>But now in-fighting within conservative movement, a muddled GOP brand, and fierce divisions among tea party activists are threatening to banish Republicans back into the wilderness. <\/p>\n<p>Over the weekend, North Country Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava appeared on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/video\/watch\/?id=5823896n&amp;tag=contentMain;contentBody\">CBS&#8217; Face the Nation<\/a> to debate the GOP&#8217;s future with Dick Armey and Ed Gillespie. <\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2009\/11\/29\/AR2009112902935.html?hpid=topnews\">new Washington Post<\/a> poll found Republicans and Republican-leading independents deeply divided. <\/p>\n<p>No one&#8217; s sure who leads the GOP, or what the party stands for. <\/p>\n<p>The debate over a new &#8220;purity&#8221; test for Republican candidates threatens to expand the rift.  <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QKTaAWNzmnI\">Here&#8217;s former Vermont Governor Howard Dean<\/a> leading a discussion of the idea on MSNBC.<\/p>\n<p>This muddle could have huge implications next year for half a dozen North Country races. <\/p>\n<p>Republicans are trying to mount challenges to Democratic congressmen Bill Owens, Scott Murphy and Mike Arcuri. <\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s also talk of conservative primary challenges to Assemblywomen Dede Scozzafava and Janet Duprey.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats, you can bet, are poised to capitalize on any GOP infighting in those contests.<\/p>\n<p>Will Republicans be able to rally behind strong, electable candidates?  Or will the big tent continue to contract? <\/p>\n<p>Your comments welcome below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After four years of stunning electoral defeats, the Republican Party appears poised to capitalize on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[886],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1354\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}