NY23: 'Dump Dede' PLUS: UPDATE on my New York trip

That's the name of Dana Loesch's new blog in the crucial Nov. 3 New York special congressional election:

Republicans in New York’s 23rd District have chosen to nominate and support an ACORN-backed, Working Families Party-endorsed liberal over conservative candidate Doug Hoffman. Newt Gingrich called this shift to the left the "new revolution." It's not the new revolution: it's political death. . . .

Read more at Dump Dede. You can e-mail tips to Dana Loesch, who's pretty sharp -- already linking my exclusive about the Hoffman campaign's concern about ACORN-connected vote fraud.

BTW, I want to thank my good friend Nathan for the big hit on the tip jar, and there are many more of you who are deserving of thanks. Once I find a reliable blog intern to help me, I promise to catch up on all my thank-you notes. In the meantime consider this little shout-out my acknowledgement for your support. When you pray for an angel, sometimes God gives you "angels unawares."

Right now, I'm on deadline for a Wednesday column about the NY-23 special election. Dick Armey's going to be campaigning for Hoffman on Thursday. So I plan to leave either late Wednesday or early Thursday to cover it in person. Your continued generosity to the Shoe Leather Fund is necessary to this effort.

It's 400 miles -- about a 6-hour drive -- from my house to Watertown, N.Y., near the western end of NY23. Figuring cost at 20 cents per mile:

• A donation of $10 will take me 50 miles.
• A donation of $40 will take me 200 miles.
• $80 will take me all the way to Watertown.

It's another 160 miles from Watertown to Plattsburgh, N.Y., near the Vermont border at the eastern end of the district. At 20 cents per mile:

• A donation of $16 will get me halfway there.
• $32 will take me all the way to Plattsburgh.
• For an extra $4.60, I can add a 23-mile detour to Ogdensburg, N.Y., walk to the Canadian border and urinate on the other side. Just sayin' . . .

So, if I also stop to relieve myself on Canadian soil on the return trip -- and doesn't Neil Young deserve it? -- that's a round trip of 1,166 miles x .20 = $233.20 all the way. If you figure I'll probably get lost a couple of times during the trip and meander around the countryside a bit, add another 84 miles x .20 = $16.80 -- $250 total for travel.

For reasons that I'm not at liberty to discuss -- protecting my sources and making sure I'm not scooped by rivals -- my plan is to depart at 11 a.m. Wednesday and make a trip to an undisclosed location near D.C. for an important meeting. That's a 70-mile detour, so give me $14 for that.

If you'll include your phone number on the tip-jar Pay Pal form, I'll try to give you a phone call and might let you talk to "one highly placed source" when I stop north of Syracuse, N.Y. -- near Exit 29 off I-81 -- for an important meeting Wednesday evening.

You see, dear readers, I've eliminated the middleman. It's me and you. I've made a phone call or two to those of y'all who gave me money for the Kentucky trip, And, as always, there are expenses in addition to travel:

• $145 gets me Wednesday night at a Hampton Inn near Syracuse, N.Y.
• $155 gets me Thursday night at a Hampton Inn near Plattsburgh, N.Y. (I always prefer Hampton Inn, but if you want me to stay in a sleazy cheapo motel, look up the rate, hit the tip jar for that amount, and add another $15 for lice shampoo.)
• Two packs of cigarettes ($5 each x 2 = $10) per day for three days = $30
• Six cups of coffee per day at $2 per cup for three days = $36
• Two fast-food cheesburger combos per day at $5 each for three days = $30
• $20 "accidentally" handed with my license to state trooper who clocks me at 92 mph on U.S. 11 east of Pottsdam, N.Y.
• $10 tip for waitress to seat me next to Scozzafava campaign staff in restaurant.
• $8 per vodka-and-cranberry cocktail (x 3 =$24) for naive Scozzafava press aide amused by drawling charm of funny guy at next table, inadvertantly revealing scandalous inside information . . .

You get the idea. A reporter must be prepared to take advantage of every opportunity and a ready supply of cash -- $5, $10, $20 -- is necessary to the job.

Memo to the Grassroots: Stop Asking What You Can Do and Start Doing What You Can

Tucker Carlson's had six months to launch a news Web site -- still MIA -- and I've had scoop after scoop after scoop doing it low-budget from the Shoe Leather Fund. Plus delightful fun with Meghan McCain and other ridiculous boobs. The daily entertainment value alone ought to be worth a buck or two, so hit the freaking tip jar. (What Would Jimmie Bise Do?)

Deadline looms, and I'm waiting on calls, so come back and stay tuned for more exclusive gonzo coverage of the NY23 special election. When the going gets weird, the weird . . . go to Cicero, N.Y.?