Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

October 27, 2009

The Epicenter of GOP Mutiny

The national media wakes up to the wild special election battle in NY-23 with the New York Times observing the race has become the place where "conservatives from around the country are fighting to preserve what they see as the integrity of the Republican Party."

The Los Angeles Times notes the conservative rebellion "has become a baffling political force that even Republicans are having a hard time harnessing.... leaving party leaders to ask whether they are better off emphasizing the GOP's small-government and socially conservative values, or trying to broaden their appeal to reach independent and moderate voters."

Meanwhile, Walter Shapiro makes an important point: "One reason why the Democrats control the House of Representatives, however, is that beginning with the 2006 election, they enthusiastically began embracing credible candidates who could win whatever their ideological history. If Hoffman finishes ahead of Scozzafava (or pulls off the nation's biggest election-day upset by winning the 23rd district), it will play a role in driving the Republican Party further to the right. That may be a comfortable position for most Republicans. But it is a strange way to win back power in the Northeast, where the GOP currently holds exactly two House seats in New York and New England combined."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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