Armey throws Hoffman under the bus: ‘He didn’t pay enough attention to the local concerns.’
Armey throws Hoffman under the bus: ‘He didn’t pay enough attention to the local concerns.’
In the run-up to Tuesday’s special election in New York’s 23rd congressional district, Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman met with the editorial board of the Watertown Daily Times, the largest paper in the district. After Hoffman “showed no grasp of the bread-and-butter issues pertinent to district residents,” his companion in the meeting, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, rose to his defense by dismissing regional concerns as “parochial” issues that would not determine the outcome of the election. Armey’s comment was a major factor in the paper offering a “flat-out blistering” critique of Hoffman when it endorsed Democrat Bill Owens. Now, Armey is throwing Hoffman under the bus, saying that “he didn’t pay enough attention to local concerns”:
Armey, the former House GOP majority leader, noted that Democrats had seized on Hoffman’s inability to address local concerns.
“The fact of the matter is, he didn’t pay enough attention to the local concerns, and they were able to tag him as being unaware of the local needs and concerns,” Armey said.
North County Public Radio’s Brian Mann writes that since national conservatives like Armey “deliberately helped to shape Doug Hoffman into a national symbol, one whose stand on abortion, same-sex marriage and President Obama largely defined him,” it is “a stretch” for them to “complain now that he didn’t focus enough on local stuff.” But it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Armey would use political rhetoric he apparently doesn’t believe in. In a New York Times Magazine profile posted online yesterday, Armey says it’s “O.K.” with him that opponents of health care reform fearmonger about “death panels,” even though “he does not believe” they exist.
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Shorter Armey: “He didn’t do enough of what we told him to do.”
Hoffman failed to be PalinBot 2.0 for the GOP. Plain and simple.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:26 am“The fact of the matter is, he didn’t pay enough attention to the local concerns, and they were able to tag him as being unaware of the local needs and concerns,” Armey said.
Then perhaps he wasn’t the best candidate after all, eh, Dick?
November 5th, 2009 at 11:28 amWhat a disgusting bunch these conservatives are.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:29 am“The Dick” Armey set the house on fire and now blames Hoffman for getting burned alive in the blaze. How republican of him!
November 5th, 2009 at 11:29 amOf course, he might have paid more attention to the local concerns if he actually, y’know… lived in the district.
Eh, Dick?
November 5th, 2009 at 11:29 amRead that as, didn’t pay ANY attention to local issues and spent his entire campaign parroting the talking points of Dick Armey, Sarah Palin, and Glenn Beck.
If Hoffman was running in parts of Orange County, CA, he might have won. What Armey and the rest of the teabaggers haven’t realized, and will never realize, is that you can’t force your ideology on a district and expect to get elected. The whole point of eletoral politics is to represent a general will of the people. Upstate NY is pretty damn moderate. They care much less about hating gays and abortion and whether or not the President is a socialist/communist/racist/fascist and more about Fort Drum, healthcare costs, and keeping their homes.
Something which multimillionaire corporate whores like Armey will NEVER understand.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:29 amOT,
“Is it true fat kids never get kidnapped?”
November 5th, 2009 at 11:31 am- Levi Johnston
Sorta makes me wonder…what was the most blatant “vote for this guy (who doesn’t live in your district/state/city)” scheme out there?
I’m still stunned we elected Mitt Romney up here…
November 5th, 2009 at 11:32 amIs anybody else amazed at how well people from the “party of personal responsibility” point fingers at others whenever they fail?
November 5th, 2009 at 11:33 amWhat a di*k! Armey was the one who pushed this guy in! Armey is the one who held Hoffman’s hand during that disaterous interview! My God, these Repugs have no concept of the fact THEY can be wrong. It is ALWAYS the other person’s fault. You see this a most Repug leaders. They are just incapible of accepting blame. it must be in their DNA. I can’t explain it.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:36 amThere’s nothing I enjoy more than more news of perfidy and duplicity concerning that adulterous old windbag.
Mr. Traditional Values himself was doing the cha-cha with the current Missus while otherwise married to the previous sucker.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:38 amI used to be amazed, miss M.
Just like I used to be amazed at the athletic capabilities of cats. But then I got used to seeing it as just a part of their nature.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:39 amArmey puts the “pig” in repiggie like few others can.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:40 amP.D. says:
——————————————————————————–
What a di*k! Armey was the one who pushed this guy in!
November 5th, 2009 at 11:42 amMy thoughts exactly.
Did you guys see ‘HardBall’ when Armey insulted Joan Walsh? I don’t think Tweety has ever had him back on. Along with Melanie Morgan who walked of Tweety’s show after he accused her od skewing her own poll.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:43 amthe white wing wrong side party reminds me of animal house
were d-day tells flounder hey you f-ed up cause you trusted us.
guessing all the Conservatives are on double secret probation.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:44 amI saw that P.D. Remember him saying something about he was glad that she wasn’t his wife so that he didn’t have to listen to her crap. Or, something like that.
This guy is truly a sick piece of work.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:46 amPurple State says
November 5th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Sorta makes me wonder…what was the most blatant “vote for this guy (who doesn’t live in your district/state/city)” scheme out there?
___________________________________________________________
Well, let’s see…there was Hillary Clinton’s run for New York Senator in 2000. Of course, she admitted she wasn’t a lifelong New Yorker, and even poked fun at herself by using an actual carpet bag as a prop at some of her rallies. She did promise to work hard for the people of New York state, and apparently she pleased them enough that they re-elected her in 2006.
And then there was Elizabeth Dole’s run for North Carolina Senator in 2002. Unlike Hillary, though, she was marketed as a “North Carolina native” (which she was, technically, but she hadn’t lived in the state for decades). She bought her mother’s house in Salisbury so she could establish residence, but spent her entire term living at her apartment in the Watergate in DC, seldom visiting the state she represented. She didn’t do diddly-squat for the North Carolinians, and they responded by turning her out of office when she ran for re-election in 2008.
And then, of course, there’s Alan Keyes’ run for Illinois Senator in 2004. He was a very vocal critic of Hillary Clinton in 2000, but when he was accused of carpetbagging himself, he called Hillary’s campaign “pure and planned selfish ambition”, but called his case a “moral obligation to run”. He never really moved to Illinois, and established his residency by renting a studio apartment and putting a bed in it. He failed to impress the voters, and they elected his opponent, Barack Obama, by a landslide.
Out of all these instances of “vote for me even though I don’t really live here”, I’d have to give the chutzpah award to Keyes.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:50 amDick Armey would pimp his mother
November 5th, 2009 at 11:50 amI watched this Hoffman character on the news……he looked like a deer in the headlights and did not seem to be smarter than a fifth grader. Where do those wingnuts get these people? Is there a pool of idiot ideologues at the RNCC? God help us if they ever get back in power….the party had been reduced to dictators and fools.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:50 amIgnor@17, Yeah, and she replied she was glad she wasn’t married to him either. But then Tweety blew. Instead of rebuffing Armey, he shrugged it off. I wasn’t until the next guest who came on, the smart black guy, who came to Joan’s defense.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:50 amTweety blew it again.
The teabag fringe are not interested in local or national issues. They are unhinged, angry hicks that can’t stand the fact that the Democrats are in charge.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:51 amWell, there’s a nice semantic thicket. Of course, parochial isn’t quite the same thing as local, since parochial carries connotations of closed-minded and blinkered, which happens to be a pretty good description of Dick “Dick” Armey when he’s on his ideological hobby horse. When he’s playing Republipimp tactician, he’s just a nasty bastard.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:53 amThe Dick will never understand that just because he used to represent a bunch of illiterate hicks who didn’t care that he was a philandering, lying pig as long as he promised to love him some Jeebus and kill him some commies/blacks/illegals/whatever they are afraid of this week not all districts will swallow a nutty outsider just because he waves the flag.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:53 amspeaking of buses and tea parties;
there are the tea Party Patriots, who don’t have a bus; and then there’s the Teabaggers that Dick Armey provides the ‘Tea Party Express’ buses for, who have been referred to as the Express .
So….Patriots is a good name, but ‘Express’ is stupid and the teabaggers aren’t keen on “Teabbagger” because of…you know.
But as the Tea Party Express busers are provided free by Dirck Amry, the teabaggers have an opportunity here to dump the “Teabagger” name and instead call themselves…..
drum roll…
The Dick Army!
Ta-Da!!
November 5th, 2009 at 11:55 amOk, let’s see here. Hoffman didn’t live in the district and 80% of his donations came from outside his district and outside the state. Of course he didn’t know about or care about the concerns of the people in that district.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:59 amLike missmolly, while Armey is a political hack without a doubt, I’m certain there’s many on both sides of our two party system just like him and none of them give a damn for what citizens want, need, care for, or even if we are alive – they only want to get our votes any way they can. Just like with the July through September money spent on lobbyists hitting $3.8 BILLION over the health care debate and crap being flung everywhere about how bad it would be for us all to get us believing we really don’t want to be able to see a doctor or get any drugs for illnesses, they will lie, cheat and steal whatever they can just for a vote.
Politics today is more like NFL football and nothing at all about governance. Makes me almost ashamed to be an American, and I spent twenty years of my life defending this place!
November 5th, 2009 at 12:00 pmDoes anyone know how many people are at Michelle’s Crazifest? I can’t bring myself to watch Faux news.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:01 pmVirtual Pebble says:
November 5th, 2009 at 12:01 pm@23.
He exerts influence to get Hoffman in there, and then shifts blame when the plan backfires, I think he’s just a nasty bastard period. This is one Dick who should definitely never be brought out to play.
Man oh man, Dick, you’ve reached a new height of dissembling and denial, even better that Steele laughing off O’Donnell yesterday about the painful truth up there in NY-23. Come on guys, admit it for once: you screwed up royally. And I for one couldn’t be happier.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:01 pm“he didn’t pay enough attention to local concerns”:
Maybe The Dick should have looked up the meaning of “parochial” before he shot off his big fat mouth–then he wouldn’t have looked like such a giant freakin’ blowhard.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:02 pmP.D. says:
By the time they got to Teabagstock, they were half a dozen strong.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:04 pmMmmmMMMmmmmMMmmm…nummy nummy Hoffman nom nom nom munch munch!
Oooooh, tasty!!
GO DONNER PARTY!!
November 5th, 2009 at 12:07 pmHoffman’s refusal to appear on the local public radio station didn’t help either. It made him look afraid to debate the opposition. Dickie’s credibility is tarnished, but after observing him in action for quite a few years, he won’t be deterred one bit as he continues on his path to making mo’ money.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:07 pmArmey is a Dick.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:09 pmI’m just gonna come out and say it:
Armey’s a piece of sh!t.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:10 pm“How could you be such a stunningly incompetent candidate after I picked you?!?!?”
Republican version of “responsibility”: “It’s not my fault….”
Cheers,
November 5th, 2009 at 12:12 pmWell, you know what the dick himself said (per the freedomworks web site):
Politics sooner or later makes a fool out of everyone
November 5th, 2009 at 12:15 pmDick Armey
Vagina Coastguard
November 5th, 2009 at 12:27 pmArmy’s been leading the gop into oblivion for a long time. I just find it odd that they actually listen to people like him.
I’m not that upset about it. I hope they continue.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:27 pmLet me get this straight…Armey is blaming the candidate because Armey the lobbyist and his phony “grassroots” revolution failed AGAIN?
Typical republican – are they genetically incapable of accepting responsibility for their actions?
November 5th, 2009 at 12:27 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
missmolly @ 18
And then there was Frothy Mix of Lube and Fecal Matter’s questionable PA residency with his house in VA.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:39 pmjdmh1982, the facts make you look a lot like someone who would rather lie than admit the truth.
It is a huge victory for democrats. Unlike when republicans win long held republican positions and pretend that they are a concensus against Obama. It’s just pitiful, really.
Try living in reality. You didn’t back up your assertion, why? I think we know.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:48 pmjdmh1982 says:
Hey, why aren’t you protesting in Washington today? Has the teabag movement really died after losing one election?
November 5th, 2009 at 12:51 pmjdmh1982, in fact, I’m just gonna come right out and call you a liar. Here’s what you said:
Here’s a few facts for your edification:
From a Syracuse Newspaper:
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/post_30.html
Now, I looked at 6 or 7 more that I can easily show you but I have a feeling that you already know that it is true. You just want to lie.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:55 pmCan someone pelase call the WAAAAHmbulance for our friend jdmh1982? He appears to have hurt his feelings.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:55 pmThis is the face of the Repug party.
Fat, privileged, lying, Viet Nam service evading, wife cheating piece of crap.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:57 pmAh, yes. the old saw – “Conservatism can never fail. It can only BE failed.”
Feh.
Also, to the clown who doesn’t understand redistricting, the numbers of the districts often change. The actual land area that now comprises NY-23 hasn’t been represented by a Democrat for a very long time. During the ‘83-’93 period that you seem to think is relevant, the 23rd district was Albany, Schenectady and environs, now the 21st, a somewhat more Democratic leaning area. Before that, the number belonged to areas of The Bronx, Westchester and Manhattan. None of this changes the fact that the people of the northern extremes of NY State haven’t elected a Democrat for quite a few generations. Until, of course, Dick Armey tried to shove a nutbag down their throats.
November 5th, 2009 at 1:11 pmtexasrick says:
This is the face of the Repug party.
Fat, privileged, lying, Viet Nam service evading, wife cheating piece of crap.
The profile of a typical POX “news” viewer!!
November 5th, 2009 at 1:24 pmDig the new math in 2009, Mr. GOP:
Republicans + Teabaggers = Democratic victories.
Compute that…
November 5th, 2009 at 1:51 pmHoffman was just the opening round against the moderates in the Republican party. Armey is going to continue to lead the teabaggers because he believes they can be manipulated. While that may be true, at some point, he may lose control over this cadre of right wingers. Dick Armey is taking sides with which ever side is paying the bills. Some day he will be on the wrong side of an issue or take money from the wrong group and then the teabaggers will turn on him.
November 5th, 2009 at 2:35 pmThat being the case, Mr. Armey, why did you support him ?
And isn’t it rather disingenuous that you actively planned and participated in the attack on the repub candidate, and now claim to be totally without culpability for the result ?
November 5th, 2009 at 3:00 pmWhat a disgusting creature Armey is. He cares for nothing except his own money, power and fame. He will say and do anything, and deny saying it the next minute if he thinks it benefits him. I don’t have enough words to express my contempt.
November 5th, 2009 at 3:12 pmFred says:
Now, I looked at 6 or 7 more that I can easily show you but I have a feeling that you already know that it is true. You just want to lie.
Yes, he does, Fred. He tried the same nonsense on another thread and I politely pointed out to him that where he was getting confused was in assuming that Upper NYS has always been in the 23rd Congressional District. It hasn’t.
Most people know and understand that every ten years, after the Census is done, the House reapportions its seats throughout the country. If your state lost enough people, you’ll lose at least one Representative. The part of NYS that Owens won has fallen within different Congressional District numbers througout the years.
At times, CD23 included parts of NYC, which tends to vote heavily Democratic. That is the reason that a history of NY-23 shows it to have been held by Democrats before. But that’s just the district number, not the same geographic region of the state all the time.
The part of NYS that Owens won has been represented by a Republican since about the time of the Civil War. And our friend here does know that, because he acknowledged me telling him this just a couple of days ago.
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/03/cali-special-election/#comment-5869675
November 5th, 2009 at 4:44 pmWhen are people going to wake up to what “users” these right wing maniacs are.
November 6th, 2009 at 10:02 amthanks very
November 6th, 2009 at 5:38 pm