memeorandum: David S. Broder on next week's elections as an opening act for 2010 (David S. Broder/Washington Post)

6:15 AM ET, November 1, 2009

Top Items:

The G.O.P. Stalinists Invade Upstate New York — BARACK OBAMA'S most devilish political move since the 2008 campaign was to appoint a Republican congressman from upstate New York as secretary of the Army. This week's election to fill that vacant seat has set off nothing less than a riotous and bloody national G.O.P. civil war.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, NewsBusters.org, NBC Bay Area, Taylor Marsh, MyDD, American Power, Weasel Zippers, Townhall.com and Pajamas Media

Dede for Congress:

A Message from Dede — Dear Friends and Supporters: — Throughout the course of my campaign for Congress, I have made the people of the 23rd District and the issues that affect them the focal point of my campaign. As a life long resident of this District, I care deeply and passionately about its people and our way of life.

Discussion: Swampland, Watertown Daily Times, Syracuse Post-Standard and Blogcritics

The Politico:

Base sends GOP warning shot in NY-23 — Republican Dede Scozzafava's decision Saturday to drop out of the New York special congressional election gave conservatives a big win, but may present a challenge for Republicans heading into next year's mid-term elections.

Discussion: CBS News, Riehl World View, Top of the Ticket, A Blog For All, Daily Pundit, Don Surber, The Moderate Voice and Townhall.com

Michelle Malkin:

NYT columnist Frank Rich has the heebie-jeebies — Aw, poor Frank Rich. The far Left columnist for the New York Times is spooked by mainstream conservatives asserting themselves in the NY-23 congressional race. — Limited government activists rising up against the GOP elite? — Horrors!

Discussion: The Other McCain

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Blood In The Water — Scozzafava's statement, as she attempted to remain a Republican candidate, while actually supporting abortion rights and marriage equality: … No one knows what might happen now. For the insurgents, it means a scalp they will surely use to purge the GOP of any further dissidence.

Discussion: The Other McCain, The Moderate Voice and Pajamas Media

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

NY-23 Polling Odyssey — So this morning around 10 AM I started up our NY-23 poll and after a few hundred interviews it appeared that Doug Hoffman was now running away with it-unweighted numbers showed him at 45% to 26% for Bill Owens and 17% for Dede Scozzafava.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Other McCain, Daily Pundit, Power Line and The Conservatives

Mark Preston / CNN:

Gingrich endorses Hoffman — WASHINGTON (CNN)- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who came under fire from some conservatives for endorsing Dede Scozzafava in next week's special Congressional election in New York, is now backing Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.

Discussion: The Fix, Townhall.com, The Washington Independent, Weekly Standard, American Power, Hot Air, Texas for Sarah Palin, The Politico and Caffeinated Thoughts

Alex Isenstadt / The Politico:

A profile in courage, it isn't — As conservative activists scored a political scalp, mainstream Republicans wasted no time in grasping at the coat tails of Conservative Doug Hoffman. — The much-watched off-year special election in upstate New York's 23rd Congressional District …

Jude Seymour / Watertown Daily Times:
SCOZZAFAVA SUSPENDS 23RD CAMPAIGN

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion: Doug Hoffman Is Scaaary!

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Scozzafava's Supporters Like Obama, Dislike Hoffman and Owens

Discussion: The Washington Independent, Hot Air, The New Republic, Hotline On Call, The Mahablog, Daily Kos, TPMDC, The Hill and The Daily Politics

Tony Romm / The Hill:
GOP begins to rally behind Hoffman

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air and CNN

New York Times:
G.O.P. Moderate, Pressed by Right, Abandons Race

Discussion: The Reaction, Ben Smith's Blog and The Caucus

Michelle Malkin:
Radical leftist GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava quits

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, GayPatriot, The Other McCain, Christian Science Monitor, Stop The ACLU, TPMDC, Left Coast Rebel, Syracuse Post-Standard, AmSpecBlog, PoliBlog, Little Green Footballs, The Hill, RedState, Campaign Trail, Jules Crittenden, The Daley Gator and And So it Goes in Shreveport

David S. Broder / Washington Post:
David S. Broder on next week's elections as an opening act for 2010

Discussion: Commentary and Don Surber

Valerie Bauman / Associated Press: Republican in NY House race suspends campaign

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
NRCC Officially Endorses Conservative Party's Hoffman In NY-23

Discussion: The Washington Independent and The Politico

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Dede Drops Out! — Just four days before the election …

Discussion: The Corner on National …, Christian Science Monitor, The Daily Dish and MyDD

Jimmie / The Other McCain:
NY-23: Gingrich Endorses Hoffman

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin.com, The Daley Gator, Dr. Melissa Clouthier and The Washington Independent

Karl Vick / Capitol Briefing:
New Poll Shows a Dead Heat in N.Y.'s 23rd District Between Democrat, Conservative

Discussion: Virginia Politics, Atlas Shrugs, American Power and The Fix

New York Times:

Democrats Push for Plan to Cut Deficit — WASHINGTON — Faced with anxiety in financial markets about the huge federal deficit and the potential for it to become an electoral liability for Democrats, the White House and Congressional leaders are weighing options for narrowing the gap …

Discussion: American Power

BBC:

Abdullah pulls out of Afghan vote — President Hamid Karzai's rival in the second round of the Afghan presidential election has announced in Kabul that he is withdrawing from the poll. — “I will not participate in the election,” Dr Abdullah told supporters, saying his demands for ensuring a fraud-free election had not been met.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Informed Comment and The Agonist

Los Angeles Times:

California to withhold a bigger chunk of paychecks — The amount goes up 10% on Sunday as Sacramento borrows from taxpayers. Technically, it's not an income tax increase: You'll get the money back eventually. — Reporting from Los Angeles and Sacramento - Starting Sunday …

Discussion: Hot Air, Don Surber and Moonbattery

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

Now, If Book Reviewers Read The Books... The NY Times runs a review of a new Ayn Rand biography, “Ayn Rand and the World She Made” by Anne C. Heller. — The review would be even more interesting if the reviewer, Adam Kirsch of The New Republic, showed a token familiarity with Ms. Rand's work, or even with life here in reality.

Discussion: Whiskey Fire and Pajamas Media

Chris Megerian / New Jersey Online:

Paramus man claiming to work for Corzine arrested on drug charges — EAST RUTHERFORD — A Paramus man claiming to work for Gov. Jon Corzine's reelection campaign was arrested Friday night on drug charges after police found Ecstasy tablets in his car, authorities said.

Discussion: Raw Story