NY-23: Fred Thompson Weighs In

Meredith Jessup | October 28, 2009 11:35 AM

During his radio show on Tuesday, former Senator Fred Thompson weighed in on the race for New York's 23rd congressional seat, Newt Gingrich's support for a liberal Republican and what the race means to true conservatives:

It kind of makes me sad when a good Republican friend of mine says that I and the other good conservative Republicans who have endorsed Hoffman are misguided, and that'd be my friend Newt Gingrich. I respect Newt, he's a friend, done a lot of good I think, but he endorsed Scozzafava early on.

So we have an honest disagreement in the family. Newt said that our supporting Hoffman was a 'purge,' was 'misguided,' we were applying a 'litmus test' that said 'if you're not 100 percent with us; then you're not with us at all;' and that Scozzafava was more in-step with her district and therefore we shouldn't substitute our judgment for the party elders of the district.

Who's applying the litmus test here? Are we saying that as Americans, you've gotta have an 'R' by your name before you'll vote for 'em? Where do you draw the line? If somebody with a record like [Scozzafava] gets our seal of approval regardless, only because she's got an 'R' by her name, you know... just 'cause we're Republicans doesn't mean we're deaf, dumb and blind.

In addition, chalk up another endorsement for Doug Hoffman. RedState is reporting that Senator Jim DeMint has just voiced his support for the Conservative candidate.