QUOTE OF THE DAY…. The Washington Post ran a terrific piece today on Dede Scozzafava and the events that led her to drop out of the congressional race in New York’s 23rd, and soon after, endorse her Democratic opponent. Of particular interest was the disappointment she feels about high-profile members of her own party endorsing Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman.

“How can Sarah Palin come out and endorse someone who can’t answer some basic questions,” Scozzafava asked. “Do these people even know who they are endorsing?”

Well, on the first question, since Sarah Palin can’t answer some basic questions either, I suspect Hoffman’s ignorance didn’t bother her much. On the second question, it’s likely that Palin, Pawlenty, and others had no idea who they were endorsing, but figured, “If Glenn Beck and the GOP base are excited about him, that’s good enough for us.”

Scozzafava also noted the larger effort to purge the GOP of moderates.

“There is a lot of us who consider ourselves Republicans, of the Party of Lincoln,” she said. “If they don’t want us with them, we’re going to work against them.”

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Follow Steve on Twitter @stevebenen. Steve Benen is a producer at MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show. He was the principal contributor to the Washington Monthly's Political Animal blog from August 2008 until January 2012.