Sarah Flushed

In an oddly triumphant-sounding election postmortem, Michelle Malkin, a conservative columnist and blogger, tags Dede Scozzafava for her liberal views without explaining the meaning for Republicans of Democrat Bill Owens' stunning win. About party bosses' decision to back the GOP's nominee for the New York 23rd congressional district, Malkin writes:

The Republican National Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee threw upward of $900,000 down the toilet for a candidate whose core views and political alliances undermined conservatism's fundamental beliefs in limited government from Day One. It was a reckless expenditure of the GOP base's hard-earned money and a bitter tuition bill for a teachable moment on the perils of political expediency.

Undermining the GOP's core beliefs even more will be the presence of a Democrat in a House seat that had been been safely Republican for years. For that, we have no one to thank but Sarah Palin and other national figures who first interfered in the race by second-guessing the decision of local party leaders to nominate Scozzafava.