'No threat' posed to GOP by populists

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Grassroots conservative opposition to Republican-endorsed candidates doesn't pose any threat to the party, the U.S. Senate minority leader says.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, appearing on "Fox News Sunday," said moves by populist activists to organize opposition to GOP candidates deemed not conservative enough "poses no threat at all."

McConnell made the comments in response to questions about the fate of GOP-endorsed U.S. House candidate Dierdre "Dede" Scozzafava, who dropped out of a race in upstate New York this month when former Republican U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey and others instead backed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.

The Scozzafava incident indicates "no threat at all," McConnell said. "I mean, what you see here is enormous enthusiasm to run. People believe that getting the Republican nomination means you have a good chance of winning.

"And so we've got, for example, a four-way primary in Connecticut for our nomination, a state we haven't been competitive in in a very long time. So our view is this is an indication of the shifting political environment."

A Democrat took the upstate New York seat for the first time since the Civil War.