Does N.Y. Congressional race foreshadow Georgia’s 2010 elections?

A liberal Republican Congressional candidate in New York has dropped out of the race, with pundits saying this could be a warning from conservatives to party leaders.

A Conservative and a Democrat remain in the race.

“In recent days, polls have indicated that my chances of winning this election are not as strong as we would like them to be,” Dede Scozzafava said in a statement on her Web site. “The reality that I’ve come to accept is that in today’s political arena, you must be able to back up your message with money—and as I’ve been outspent on both sides, I’ve been unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made about my record.”

If nothing else, the Scozzafava campaign shows that conservatives are upset with the direction of Washington and they won’t vote for candidates simply because they have an “R” next to their name.

“In the beginning no one believed we could prevail, and nearly everyone accused us of being spoilers,” The Washington Times quoted New York Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long as saying. “But we were given the opportunity to help take back the country for the taxpayers, beginning with the 9/11 movement and the anti-spending ‘tea parties.’”

Does this mean Georgia is in for an interesting 2010 election? Perhaps not to this level, but let’s look back to two recent elections involving high-profile third-party candidates.

Leading up to the 2006 gubernatorial election, some polls suggested a Libertarian candidate might cause a runoff; it didn’t, as Gov. Sonny Perdue garnered more than the 50 percent of the vote he needed to win the race outright. During U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ 2008 re-election bid, a Libertarian candidate forced a runoff.

What does 2010 hold? Discuss below.