Thompson Endorses Tedisco

On Friday, Fred Thompson, through his FredPAC organization, seconded Newt Gingrich and others and publicly endorsed upstate New York congressional candidate Jim Tedisco, “a solid conservative,” in his race against “wall street Democrat” Jim Murphy.

“America is waking up to the flawed thinking and outright dangerous schemes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid’s Congress and the Obama Administration,” Thompson said in his statement to supporters, “If Jim Tedisco wins this seat, it will be a very public repudiation.”

This is very true. The current race for NY-20’s House seat is the first federal election since the inauguration of Barack Obama and, more precisely, the initiation of the $787 billion stimulus package. As I mentioned last week, the district’s last congressional race just five months ago saw the Democrats win with 62% of the vote. It’s worth mentioning that both candidates in that election, however, opposed the October TARP bailout and focused on other issues instead.

Not this time. On the most titanic piece of legislation of the new year, Tedisco and Murphy are split, with Tedisco opposed to the stimulus and Murphy very much in favor of it. Since it was passed and implemented, discussion of the bill’s inherent madness and merits has been endless. The voters know the story. If Republicans can pull out a win in this election, they have every reason to be even just a little bit more hopeful for their party and their message’s future. If they lose, with a 7:5 Republican to Democrat voter advantage still intact, it’ll mean they are losing the all-important battle of ideas as well.