My latest Pajamas Media column is called, The GOP ‘Stalinists’ and Dede Scozzafava. Here's an excerpt from the column:

There has been a lot of talk about “purges” and whether “moderates” have a place in the Republican Party, but that certainly doesn’t capture the spirit of the drama that has just unfolded in New York’s 23rd congressional district.

Initially, the race featured Daily Kos-endorsed, liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava going toe-to-toe with Democrat Bill Owens and Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman in an odd duck of a race. Despite the fact that this was New York, Scozzafava — who was selected in a back room — was too liberal for the district. Hoffman was charisma-free, and Owens wasn’t setting the world on fire either.

This fairly obscure special election was transformed into a hot national race after the national GOP organizations, the NRCC and RNC, chose to use their resources and clout to sandbag a conservative candidate in an effort to help a liberal Republican.

At some point, you’d think the Republican establishment would learn their lesson about interfering in races like this. They jumped into the Arlen Specter vs. Pat Toomey race in 2004. Specter won, but he eventually changed parties. They interfered in the Lincoln Chafee vs. Stephen Laffey primary. Laffey lost the primary, but Chafee then lost the general election and changed parties. Then, there was this year’s NRSC endorsement of Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio. In all likelihood, the only drama left there is whether Crist will change parties and endorse the Democratic candidate after the grassroots powers Rubio to victory over the NRSC’s handpicked Arlen Specter clone.

You can read the whole column here.