For fans of Republican self-destruction, it doesn’t get better than this year’s Congressional race in New York’s 23rd District. Dierdre Scozzafava, the Republican nominee, would normally be a shoo-in in the heavily red upstate district. However, conservatives upset with her comparatively moderate voting record (She supports raising taxes to pay for government services and balance the budget. Outrageous!) have rallied against her, running an insurgent campaign to elect Doug Hoffman, a local accountant, on the Conservative Party line.

The normally insignificant district in the Adirondack mountains has attracted the likes of Sarah Palin (she heard you can see Canada from up there) and Michelle Malkin, both of whom have endorsed Hoffman.

These national players must know what they’re doing, right? How else would they be so influential? Palin, whose last display of deep strategic thinking involved showing her readiness to be President by leaving public service altogether, could only have the best interests of the conservative movement in mind.

Or not. As a result of the hissy fit conservatives are throwing, Democratic candidate Bill Owens, a local attorney, stands ready to win in a district that has not elected a Democrat since Fresh Prince was on.

The race has become a proxy skirmish in the national battle for the soul of the Republican Party. Grassroots conservatives have been increasingly upset with they see as a Republican party dominated by elites in New York and Washington. It’s clear what side Palin is coming down on.

There is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican,” she said. “Doug Hoffman has not been anointed by any political machine.” Yeah, it sure would have objectionable if he been a nobody mediocre politician picked out of obscurity by party elites. Someone like that would have no future.

When originally published, this article got the gender pronouns for Scozzafava mixed up. –ed.