What does Scozzafava campaign suspension mean for the 'gun vote'?

November 1, 9:35 AMGun Rights ExaminerDavid Codrea

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(AP Photo/FILES)

A little over a week ago, we discussed candidates for New York's special 23rd Congressional District election from a gun rights perspective.

Republican Dede Scozzafava received NRA's endorsement, but was considered too "liberal" on other issues by many GOP voters. Conservative Party challenger Doug Hoffman also claimed to be deserving of support from Second Amendment advocates, citing his NRA membership. Democrat Bill Owens thought it prudent to simply keep his mouth shut about guns.

The implications of that are interesting, and one of the reasons I developed the gun rights questionnaire for politicians. Unfortunately, despite responses from the Scozzafava and Hoffman campaigns, neither candidate would commit to answering specific questions about the right to keep and bear arms. And the Owens campaign simply ignored my request without reply.

Two interesting developments have happened since my column on the race:

Gun Owners of America has endorsed Doug Hoffman:

Doug Hoffman is a 100% gun rights supporter who will be a leader in the battle to defend the Second Amendment.

And Dede Scozzafava has suspended her campaign:

It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so.

Readers here should know that, in a rare public disagreement, I have taken exception to GOA's endorsement based on the superlatives they used to back their man. I simply don't believe it's appropriate to characterize a man who declines to lead and champion as a champion and a leader. If you want to say Hoffman will probably be a lot better for gun owners than Owens, I'd say that's a reasonable assumption. But there is nothing on the public record to warrant going beyond that, and speaking only for myself, I'm tired of that kind of unsupported political rhetoric. Give me the facts, the pros, the cons, the implications, and then let me vote my informed conscience. Stop with the damned smoke-blowing.

But back to the race. From the Associated Press:

The announcement comes after a Siena College poll found she was in third place with 20 percent of the vote in the heavily Republican district that has been safe ground for the party for more than 100 years. Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman and Democratic nominee Bill Owens were too close to call with 35 percent and 36 percent, respectively.

It will be an interesting test to help guide the direction of the GOP in future campaigns. What I find particularly interesting is that no one in this race thought it beneficial to campaign against guns.