New York’s 23rd district will vote its House Representative today without a Republican vying for the seat. Dede Scozzafava, the GOP candidate, bowed to pressure from conservatives and suspended her campaign. Scozzafava had been in a tough situation, facing opposition from an insurgent Conservative party candidate, Doug Hoffman, in a very conservative district. Conservatives who endorsed Hoffman over the GOP nominee, like Sarah Palin and Fred Thompson, celebrated their strong-arming. Palin thanked Scozzafava for “acting so selflessly,” adding, “Now it’s time to cross the finish line with Doug Hoffman.” (Translation: Thank god we can forget about you now.)

Scozzafava (my new favorite person, by the way) struck back Sunday, reminding everyone she was not to be forgotten about, by endorsing the Democratic candidate, Bill Owens. Among her several reasons for endorsing Owens probably was the virulent hatred displayed by conservative pundits, like this gem from Michelle Malkin calling her (a Republican, remember) a “radical leftist.” Hmmm, I wonder why the party that vilifies its moderate members lost control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency?

However it remains unclear where the race will go from here. Last night’s polls show Democrat Owens five percentage points behind Conservative Hoffman, but 18 percent of voters remained undecided. Maybe Scozzafava’s endorsement will push her voters toward Owens, or will Republicans pick a Conservative over a Democrat? As Ezra Klein points out though, an Owens win will likely either split the Republican party, with Conservatives on one end and Wall Street elites on the other (think Joe the Plumber vs. Jack Donaghy), or lead Republicans to nominate extremely conservative candidates. Neither seems helpful for Republicans in the future.

Photo from Flickr user Harry Pujols under the Creative Commons License.