Fright Night Political Post-Mortems From NY-23

It's been a big day, so I'm leaving the paranoid Frank Rich until tomorrow.



Check this cool post from GOP12, "Halloween Post-Mortems on NY-23":

Here are some quickie reactions around the web.



From Matt Lewis.



Winners: Sarah Palin, Club for Growth, Erick Erickson & Red State, Concerned Women for America, David Keene, John McCormack, conservative bloggers, conservative talk show hosts, T-Paw, Armey and others who endorsed Hoffman.



Losers: The Establishment, Newt, Boehner, NRCC, Romney and Huckabee.

Check the whole thing.



And don't miss this one, via Allahpundit, "In Key New York Race, Barracuda Chews Up Mitt":

Sarah Palin, using her unique sense of timing, one week ago became the biggest name of in-prime party leaders to endorse Hoffman. Had she stayed on the sidelines, this contest could have played out in predictable fashion: Republicans stayed split and Democrat Bill Owens would have cruised to victory. Instead, by all appearances, the conservative revolt has succeeded. Even the national GOP -- which had endorsed Scozzafava and was slamming outsider Hoffman as much as Democrat Owens -- is now recognizing that district voters seem to flocking to Hoffman.

Outside observers who want to dismiss Palin do so at their peril. But, there appears to be a reason that her basketball-playing nickname was "Barracuda." Recall she was the one who coined (or at least made viral) the phrase "death panel" during the health care fight during the summer -- forcing Democrats and the White House onto the defensive. Whether Palin is doing all this for PR purposes (her book comes out in three weeks) or being reckless in her political rhetoric, the fact is she is having an impact on the broader debate -- and continuing to resonate with her party's base.

And in a similar fashion, see my earlier post as well, "Coming Up Aces: Palin on 'Hoffman in NY-23 - 'A Time to Unite'."