Certain factions of the Republican party think Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava is too liberal to run for the congressional seat being vacated by John McHugh.
But what about running as a member of the other party? As one well-connected Democrat argued to me, It's an obvious way to go. She's a moderate, well-liked and known person. It will be interesting to see what the Republicans do with her."
She has not, in the past, been approved by the Republican Party. In 2008, she sought to run for the State Senate seat vacated by Jim Wright, but party elders backed her more conservative colleague Will Barclay, who eventually lost to then-assemblyman Darrell Aubertine.
Now, all three are once again mentioned as replacements for McHugh. Barely an hour had passed before Jim Kelly, a conservative campaign consultant who lives on the edge of the district, sent along an email with "the liberal crap" about Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava. It made reference to her vote to legalize same-sex marriage and a 2005 pledge to "insure the rights of all women in New York State to control their own reproductive lives, including the right to safe, legal abortion."
All of which would be fine, presumably, with the Democratic Party. Someone has gone to the trouble of setting up a a web site encouraging party leaders to "draft Dede." Given some of her positions and strong ties to labor–her husband, Ron McDougall, is the president of the local Central Labor Council–it's not so far-fetched that she would run as a Democrat, particularly if Aubertine opts not to. (He's officially still weighing his options.)
Scozzafava did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
