Attack Ads Miss their Mark in New York Special Election

Another special election is taking shape in upstate New York. In June the Obama administration nominated Republican John McHugh, congressional representative of New York's 23rd congressional district, to the position of Secretary of the Army. Republicans have nominated Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava for McHugh's seat, and she has now been endorsed by the New York Independence Party. The Independence Party had been prepared to support Democrat Darrel Aubertine, but the State Senator announced last week that he will not seek the office. The Independence Party was not the only group that was forced to reconsider its strategy following the announcement. A local paper, the Press Republican, reported yesterday:

Republicans have been running attack advertisements against Democrat Darrel Aubertine in the race for the 23rd Congressional District. Such tactics are common in politics these days except in this case there's one problem: Aubertine is not running. The St. Lawrence County state senator said Thursday that he will not seek the Democratic nod for the Congressional race. Yet, television ads placed by the national Republican Campaign Committee were seen on television Friday morning attacking Aubertine.

While the Democrats are seeking out a nominee, Scozzafava has already come under criticism from the right. Red State's Eric Erickson: "If Dede Scozzafava is the best the New York Republicans can come up with, let’s just hand the district over to the Democrats." The Conservative Party of New York is equally skeptical of Scozzafava's conservative credentials. The Watertown Daily Times reports:

Conservatives stepped up their attacks on state Assemblywoman Dierdre K. Scozzafava Thursday, vowing to find a more right-leaning candidate to run against her for Rep. John M. McHugh's congressional seat. "There's positively, absolutely no way the Conservative Party would be endorsing DeDe Scozzafava for this seat," said Jim Kelly, a potential candidate who was campaign manager for former Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's opponent in 2006. Mr. Kelly emerged Thursday as the main rival Ms. Scozzafava might face from the political right. State Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long said he could not rule out that others will come forward.