[UPDATE: An earlier version of this post mis-stated the title of Doug Hoffman's spokesman, Rob Ryan.]
The campaign of Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party’s candidate in New York’s 23rd Congressional District, is clearly enjoying the bar fight between The Weekly Standard and GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava. After seeing that Scozzafava’s campaign released private emailsbetween a spokesman and the Standard’s reporter John McCormick, a Hoffman spokesman called on the troubled Republican candidate to hang it up. “It’s obvious that with every passing day and with every drop in the polls, Dede Scozzafava is becoming more desperate,” said Hoffman’s senior communications adviser Rob Ryan. “The best thing she can do for her own career and for the Republican Party is to drop out of this race.”
Ryan was flabbergasted by the news that Scozzafava called police to question McCormack after the reporter followed her and asked her tough questions. “John was on the trail with Doug today,” said Ryan. “From everything I hear, he’s the most mild-mannered guy around. If any police investigation needs to take place, it should be of Dede Scozzafava, for impersonating a Republican.”