"New York 23" ... Them's fightin' words.

These days, whether you're a conservative activist, or a Republican Party official, saying "New York 23" out loud leads to a shortening of breath, a quickening of the pulse, and a tightening of the muscles. Heads whip around to see who said it, and in what context -- friend, or foe?

With less than a week to go before the special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District, tempers are flaring on the campaign trail -- and fingers are being pointed in, and at, a big white building at 320 First Street SE.

"Dear Birthers,

"Stop!

"Sincerely,

"Serious Conservatives."

I've held fire for the last several months as I've watched the so-called "Birther" movement gain steam.

At first it was amusing, like playing a drinking game -- you know, like taking a shot every time Chris Matthews explains why he insists on pronouncing the former Vice President's name "CHEE-knee."

Mike Allen's piece in Friday's Politico -- "Conservative group offers support for $2M" -- roiled conservative waters in Washington and led some to wonder if American Conservative Union Chairman David A. Keene would leave the post he's held for a quarter-century.

Don't hold your breath.

Despite the fact that major conservative blogs and media outlets like National Review's The Corner, Erick Erickson at RedState, Michelle Malkin, Outside the Beltway, Right Wing News, and Hot Air went crazy over the story on Friday -- many of them calling for Keene's ouster -- that outcome is highly unlikely.

By the way, arguing against my last post, there actually was a president who had less experience in major public office before winning the presidency than would Sarah Palin, were she to win the White House after only two and a half years as governor -- Woodrow Wilson, who was elected president in 1912 after having been elected governor of New Jersey for the first time in 1910.

Of course, Wilson benefited from the split in the Republican Party -- former President Teddy Roosevelt chose to challenge incumbent president/Roosevelt successor William Howard Taft for the GOP nomination at the 1912 GOP national convention, and, failing to win, had left the GOP to form the Bull Moose Party to contest for the presidency in the general election.

A dozen years ago, the Christian Coalition was one of the most powerful and successful political organizations in the nation.

Founded by Pat Robertson in the wake of his more-successful-than-expected 1988 bid for the GOP presidential nomination, and midwifed to success by Ralph Reed, the Christian Coalition was a critical element of the movement that helped Republicans recapture the House of Representatives in the 1994 mid-term elections, garnering the cover of TIME magazine in the process.

But in 1997, Reed left to open a consulting firm; his departure was followed in 2001 by that of Robertson himself.

Thank your lucky stars you're not Tory Mazzola this week.

Mazzola is the communications director for Nevada Republican Sen. John Ensign.

That means it's been his job to advise Ensign on how best to acknowledge to the world that Ensign has broken the most important vow he ever made.

In political communications, there are few circumstances more demanding or more threatening.

Having been close to the center of one or two of those kinds of white-hot media frenzies, I can safely say it's not a thing you'd want even your worst enemy to go through.

Contrary to what some of the early conclusion-jumpers on the Right seem to think, yesterday's coup in the New York Senate had nothing to do with same-sex marriage, and everything to do with broken commitments and one very rich man's determination to enforce an agreement.

If you want to understand what really happened, begin by reading this piece by Steve Kornacki of PolitickerNY.com.

Then read this essay by B. Thomas Golisano, the billionaire philanthropist, three-time Independent Party nominee for governor, and recent New York tax exile.

Golisano, you see, is the man who hatched the coup.

With former Governor Tom Ridge's announcement that he will not be a candidate for the Republican nomination for the U. S. Senate in Pennsylvania next year, the Keystone State's playing field has shifted again.

About which, some thoughts:

First, props, please, to Pat Toomey's nascent Senate campaign.

Beginning earlier this week, opposition research began to show up in various conservative media outlets, all of which was aimed at making Ridge and his allies understand that a race against Toomey for the GOP nomination wouldn't be the cakewalk some recruiters and/or supporters were no doubt telling him it would be.

Earlier today, New Jersey's gubernatorial campaigns revealed how much money they've got left to spend in the 28 days remaining before the June 2nd primary.

Front-running Republican Chris Christie reported a whopping $3 million cash on hand.

His main conservative challenger, former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, reported having about $500,000 left for the stretch run.

That's likely to be the only good news of the day for Christie, and even that will be trumped by a larger story -- complete with made-for-TV visuals -- offered up by Lonegan's campaign, about which, more below.

"The federal government is too big, takes too much of our money, and makes too many of our decisions. If Republicans can't agree on that, elections are the least of our problems."

So says South Carolina's junior senator, Jim DeMint, in this Saturday op-ed for the Wall Street Journal.

In the wake of last week's defection by Sen. Arlen Specter and the passing of Jack Kemp, DeMint's piece is a good way for conservatives to start the week.