GOP leader 'disappointed' by opposition

The state Republican Party's upstate chairman has blasted a Conservative counterpart for disparaging remarks about Gouverneur's Dierdre K. Scozzafava.

Henry F. Wojtaszek told Michael Long, state Conservative chairman, in a letter released Thursday that Mr. Long's "rhetoric had lurched from abusive to absurd" since the GOP picked Ms. Scozzafava. The upstate chairman added that he was "disappointed" in Mr. Long's "continued efforts to interfere in our party's process to select a candidate."

Mr. Long has asked Republicans to drop Ms. Scozzafava, their candidate for the 23rd Congressional District, because of her "liberal" voting record. He has compared the state assemblywoman to convicted felon Bernard Madoff, saying she was running "the biggest, biggest scam on the Republican Party that I've seen in years."

Mr. Wojtaszek did not mince words about Douglas L. Hoffman, the Conservative Party's nominee. The Lake Placid accountant was passed over by the Republican Party for Ms. Scozzafava.

"Your efforts have exploited the naiveté of an inexperienced candidate, who doesn't currently live in the district and who broke his own pledge of support in the unrealistic hope that the Republican Party would abandon our chosen candidate," the upstate chairman said. "Let me assure you — we won't."

Mr. Hoffman has denied saying he would support Ms. Scozzafava during the GOP selection process. While Essex County is partially in the 23rd district, the town of North Elba, which includes the village of Lake Placid, is in the 20th.

Mr. Long said he took exception to Mr. Wojtaszek's suggestion that he was interfering.

"I wasn't at the meeting. I wasn't consulted," he said. "I've just been outspoken about the choice that they made."

The Conservative chairman said if the two parties "could join forces together, we'd be better off." But leaders of the third party have vowed not to support Ms. Scozzafava because, among other reasons, she supports abortion and gay marriage rights.

Mr. Wojtaszek said Conservatives' efforts "to purge our politics of candidates, ideas and personalities that are at variance with some national social conservative agenda is misguided."

He added: "I believe that people with a broad variety of viewpoints can unite within a single party to advance shared issues we agreed on, even if we disagree on other issues."

Mr. Long said the GOP "should stand for something."

"One of the reasons Republicans came to be out of power in Congress is because they all ran like Democrats," the Conservative chairman said. "And if they want to stay out of Congress, they'll continue like that."

HOFFMAN CLARIFIES POSITION

Mr. Hoffman said Friday that he stands "firmly opposed" to the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," despite his press secretary saying otherwise Thursday.

The Conservative candidate was asked by the Watertown Daily Times for his position on the federal policy, which prohibits homosexuals from openly serving in the military. The policy also prohibits superior officers from asking a service member if he or she is gay, but allows the military to prosecute and discharge a service member who publicly discloses his or her sexual orientation.

"No one should be persecuted or prosecuted based on their beliefs," Mr. Hoffman said in an e-mail exchange Thursday. "As an Army veteran, I served honorably with many different people."

The Times asked if that statement meant he would support repealing the policy. Sandy Caligiore, Mr. Hoffman's press liaison, replied: "Doug would vote for its repeal."

Mr. Hoffman said Friday that Mr. Caligiore "was not authorized to speak on this issue" and that the press secretary "had not cleared the quote with either me or my senior advisers."