Lawrence O’Donnell was subbing for Countdown host Keith Olbermann last night, and dedicated part of the program to Alabama freshman congressman Parker Griffith, who announced on Tuesday that he was leaving the Democrats to join House Republicans. Not only did O’Donnell take shots at the GOP’s inclusion of a “that dwindling category of Republican, the moderate Republican,” he posited the real reason behind Griffith’s party switch: to get booked on Fox News. Video after the jump.

Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity really want Doug Hoffman to win that special congressional election in Upstate New York’s 23rd district. It’s not just because he’s a 3rd party “Conservative” candidate in a race that saw the shunned, moderate Republican candidate drop out. It’s because this race is a referendum on town halls, on tea partying, on the 9/12 Project.

The NY-23 special election continues to get stranger. Now that Republican Dede Scozzafava has dropped out of the race and endorsed her Democratic opponent, Bill Owens, this is one for the history books. But what will they record? Regardless of who wins, pundits on both sides of the aisle are already writing the rough drafts.

Former Barack Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, appearing on Meet the Press this morning, set the table for what will likely be the conversation of the week: The meaning of the “Palin Effect” in the NY-23 congressional race. Plouffe managed to crystallize the Democratic Party’s hopes going forward, saying “Sarah Palin is playing Pied Piper to the Republicans,” referencing Palin’s endorsement of 3rd party candidate Doug Hoffman. Is Palin leading Republicans off an electoral cliff, or into a glorious era of ideological purity?

We’ve written about the hotly contested Congressional race in New York’s 23rd district, in which many high-profile Republicans are endorsing the third party candidate over the Republican choice.

The most high-profile Republican endorsing the GOP choice, Dede Scozzafava, is Newt Gingrich, and he defended his decision last night.

When Sarah Palin endorsed Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman over GOP moderate Dede Scozzafava, it was a fair question to ask: “why?” Mainstream media accounts that only touch on Scozzafava’s political beliefs are just telling part of the story.