There are a few lesson’s we should take from NY-23. Bloggers, conservative activists and talk radio hosts made this race notable and forced the GOP establishment to open its eyes to what the base really wants. The mainstream media was too busy reporting the GOPs intra-party fighting to cover Dede Scozzafava’s position on the issues.

This race especially resonated with conservatives in Florida, where the same forces are in play. For months, the NRSC has been cramming Gov. Charlie Crist down voter’s throats proclaiming he’s the “only candidate who can win”.

In NY-23, I wondered if we really accomplished anything. What’s the point of trading one liberal vote for another. I posed that question to fellow blogger Erick Erickson at RedState. His reply “The GOP now knows it will either win with us or loose without us.”

Gov. Haley Barbour weighted in on NY-23 during the RGA victory conference call. “The state chairman in New York allowed a group of county chairman to decide who the nominee was. If that happened in Mississippi I would be mad too.”

And that’s exactly what the Florida GOP chairman, and the NRSC are trying to do -- pick the nominee and discourage a true conservative -- Marco Rubio from running.

But maybe the tide is changing. After the stinging defeat in NY-23 the GOP establishment seems eager to sooth the anger proliferating among conservatives.

Months after endorsing Crist, Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the NRSC made this statement today in an interview with ABC News about the Senate race in Florida.

"People shouldn't read too much into endorsements by the NRSC. We are encouraging people we think are the strongest candidates to run.", said Cornyn.

"We will not spend money in a contested primary. There's no incentive for us to weigh in," said Cornyn, R-Texas. Now that Crist’s poll numbers are in a free fall, I guess not.

Crist’s approval rating had consistently averaged around 68 percent for much of the year, but a St. Petersburg Times poll released Oct. 31^st finds that only 42 percent of likely Florida voters think Charlie Crist is doing a good or excellent job as governor -- a 26 percent drop.

“Let the voters decide who the nominees will be.” said Barbour. Barbour said the nominee should not be chosen in a “back room deal” and stated the New York Republican state chairman had recently been removed over Dede Scozzafava’s nomination.

Is there room in the Republican Party for moderates? The question is -- is there room for conservatives in the Republican Party?