Tea party activists from across the nation are rallying around the House special election in upstate New York, viewing it as the first electoral test of the nascent conservative movement’s political muscle.

Organizers up and down the East Coast report that activists are making their way into the campaign offices of Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman, with the volunteers focusing their efforts in Oswego, Madison and Jefferson counties. While tea party organizers say the election is a unique opportunity to hold the Democratic and Republican parties to account, much of their energy is being directed against Dede Scozzafava, the GOP establishment-backed nominee whom they view as a squishy moderate who represents all that is wrong with the Republican Party.

“I went here from Washington, D.C., saying, ‘Now what?’” said Jennifer Bernstone, an organizer for Central New York 912, a Syracuse-based tea party group that so far has about 300 members getting out the vote for Hoffman. “Well, here’s the ‘Now what.’”

Numerous anti-Scozzafava websites have emerged across the blogosphere. Dana Loesch, a St. Louis-based activist, has launched “Dump Dede,” a site that tracks nationwide conservative opposition to Scozzafava and urges viewers to “throw your support behind conservatism, ladies and gents; the clock starts now.”

Michael Patrick Leahy, a Nashville, Tenn.-area tea party activist, has turned his Drudge Report-like TCOT Report into a constantly updated bulletin board of news and rumors slamming Scozzafava.

“Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, Washington Times, National Review, RedState Join Growing Avalanche of Other Conservatives Calling for Scozzafava to Withdraw from Race in NY 23rd,” blared the site’s headline Thursday afternoon.

“They’re all making a concerted effort for Doug Hoffman, and they are making New York 23 a last stand,” said Erick Erickson, who has been urging tea party activists for months to ramp up electoral efforts against the Republican Party on his influential conservative blog RedState. “New York should be a hill to die on for conservative activists.”

Scozzafava faces Democrat Bill Owens and Hoffman in the Nov. 3 contest to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.).

In New York, tea party activists have emerged as the ground troops for the small, grass-roots-oriented Hoffman campaign. Bernstone, the CNY912 activist who in her day job works as an acting coach, said she now participates in nightly 9:30 p.m. conference calls with Hoffman campaign aides.

“We are helping his organization get out the vote for what we believe is the better of the two candidates,” said William Lamar Wells, who heads up CNY912. “This is rapidly elevating.”

“We’re seeing a lot of tea party people coming into the office,” said Rob Ryan, a Hoffman spokesman. “In a very competitive election, they’re providing a lot of manpower to put Doug Hoffman over the top.”

For the tea party activists, the special election represents the next big event for the loosely confederated movement, which began earlier this year with local Tax Day “tea parties,” followed by town hall protests and a Sept. 12 March on Washington.

“I think, nationally, the tea party movement to a person is supporting Hoffman,” said Leahy.

On Thursday, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), chairman of FreedomWorks, an organization that has played a role in coordinating tea party activities, personally endorsed Hoffman and implored his conservative followers to get on board.

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