Republicans suck in New York. Period. End of Story.
- Erick Erickson, Redstate
I read Redstate and Freep regularly, as it is an important part of Keeping an Eye on the Enemy.
I was totally amused by E. Erickson's pronouncement blockquoted above. He essentially is saying the excellent results in NY-26 last night were the fault of the NY State Republicans. And not just the party, but all of them, including the electorate.
Of course, this is a wishful-thinking misreading of the result. But there is some solid underlying truth about himself that can be gleaned here.
I lived in NY for 10 years, all over the state, and I know the territory and the people pretty well. When Erickson denounces NY Republicans, he's illuminating the differences between his brand of conservatism and the NY brand.
See, the NY Republicans I know are generally of two types. There are the downstaters, who are low tax, fiscal conservatives. The upstaters are more typically 2nd Amendment and American Exceptionalism conservatives. These are generalizations, certainly. You may know some exceptions.
Being in the Northeast, neither of these groups runs with the teabaggy fire of a Georgia or South Carolina nutjob. The way I read Erickson's comment about NY Republicans is that they don't meet the purity that he feels is necessary to be a good Republican.
It's true that occasionally we have some pie fights around here about the hardcores vs. the moderates. And it's cool.
But I don't think you'd ever see anyone here categorically dissing Democrats from an entire state, and certainly not one the size of New York.
I gotta go now. I have a Redstate article to forward to Peter King.
:)