The Republican Party has now officially become the party of the stupid and the hateful

Those of you who are familiar with the Discordian significance of the number 23 have no doubt been chuckling about the situation in New York's 23rd Congressional district, where a moderate Republican, Dede Scozzafava, has been running against Conservative party frothing wingnut Doug Hoffman against a Democratic candidate in this traditionally Republican district that went for Obama in 2008. As that shameless GOP shill Chuck Todd points out:

Republicans had feared that Hoffman and Scozzafava would split the Republican vote in this somewhat competitive district and hand the seat to Democrat Bill Owens. Former Republican Congressman John McHugh resigned his seat earlier this year after he was named by Pres. Obama to be the Secretary of the Army.

Democrats haven't held this seat since the 19th century but Obama did carry the 23rd District during the 2008 campaign. Local GOP leaders had named the more moderate Scozzafava the nominee over Hoffman as the makeup of the district led plenty of GOP strategists to believe they needed a moderate to carry the district. Hoffman decided to run as a Conservative Party candidate, something allowed in New York State, and national groups, like Club for Growth, weighed in big time.

Hoffman's rise has been thanks to a combination of conservatives and independents who apparently have been attracted by Hoffman's anti-Washington and anti-party establishment message. It's still an open question among some Republicans about whether Hoffman could have been as successful as the actual Republican nominee; running as an outsider has been a BIG benefit to his bid.

Hoffmann is your typical 21st century mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging Republican wingnut neanderthal. His web site is a litany of wingnut talking points: gay marriage, ACORN, "Nancy Pelosi Democrats" -- and nothing else. No position papers. No agenda. Nothing but hate. His talk radio mouthpieces are filthy scumbag hatemongers like Mark Levin and Glenn Beck. And this is what Republican voters in NY-23 have as their standard-bearer on Tuesday.