Dede Scozzafava, a moderate Republican who supports abortion and gay rights, gained national attention when Sarah Palin endorsed her third-party conservative opponent instead in a three-way race for a congressional seat in a relatively liberal upstate New York district. But citing poll numbers that indicate she would lose on Tuesday, Scozzafava dropped out of the race yesterday. The RNC now says they will throw all their support behind the conservative candidate, even though he's not a member of the Republican party. Newt Gingrich is among those who thinks that candidates in local elections should reflect the values of their potential constituents and not necessarily the one-size-fits-all G.O.P party line, but Scozzafava's decision means Sarah Palin is much more likely to get her way on Tuesday.
G.O.P. Moderate, Pressed by Right, Abandons Race [NYT]