Doug Hoffman, who took the North Country by storm in the NY-23 special election last fall and became a cause celebre for the Tea Party movement, has had trouble catching fire in his re-match attempt against Democratic Rep. Bill Owens.

Hoffman’s GOP opponent, Matt Doheny, has sewn up the support of most local party leaders, a number of whom have grumbled to me about Hoffman’s lack of fire in the belly – even though he has managed to maintain the support of state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long.

(Doheny has the Indy line, while Owens has the Democratic and WFP lines, so this could end up another spoiler situation – much like the last time when Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava couldn’t get off Row B even after she dropped out of the race).

Now Hoffman is fighting back, releasing a poll conducted for him by McLaughlin & Associates that shows him leading Doheny, 52-20, among likely voters – even after Doheny has been on the air with a sizable media buy.

In a generic ballot, more than half the voters – 55 percent – say they would vote for the conservative Republican over the moderate Republican, and 54 percent identified Hoffman as conservative.

The caveat here: Consider the source, and there’s no crosstabs or anything. Still, it’s an interesting snapshot to consider.

Hoffman poll, ny-23

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