The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Of Tea Parties and Leaders

Posted on | June 12, 2010 | 40 Comments

The Washington Post:

Frustrated and lacking agreement on what to do next, self-identified tea party leaders say the movement may be in danger of breaking apart before it ever really comes together.

Bill Dupray at Liberty Pundits calls this article by the Post‘s Amy Gardner an attempt to write a premature obituary on the movement.  Regardless of its intended purpose, however, there was some information of interest in the article:

“We don’t want a leader,” said Barbee Kinnison of Henderson, Nev., who supported one of Angle’s Republican opponents, businessman Danny Tarkanian. Kinnison’s testy e-mail exchange with organizers of Tea Party Express was published in the blogosphere last week. “We like it being a collective group of voices. This is the first time in a generation when we feel like our voices are being heard.”

Who is Barbee Kinnison? She was quoted by the New York Times at the Tea Party Convention in Nashville in February:

At a panel discussion titled “Defeating Liberalism via the Primary Process,” the room erupted in a standing ovation when Barbee Kinnison, a delegate from Nevada, stood up and declared her intention to unite Tea Party groups behind a candidate to defeat Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader.

Evidently, the candidate around whom she hoped to unite Tea Party groups was Danny Tarkanian, and as soon as the Tea Party Express endorsement of Angle was announced in April, Kinnison expressed her dissatisfaction:

The Tea Party Express endorsement provoked a backlash of sorts among some conservative activists, who accused the California-based group of carpetbagging in Nevada and inserting itself into a competitive Republican primary.
“They are drastically overstepping their boundaries,” said Barbee Kinnison, a retired Las Vegas businesswoman and activist who supports Tarkanian. “Anger is brewing. This is not how it is supposed to work.”
Kinnison said she and friends e-mailed the Tea Party Express on Thursday asking for a return of money they had donated.

Why did Kinnison support Tarkanian and not Angle? Why did the Tea Party Express support Angle and not Tarkanian? We don’t know. However, I’m intigued by Kinnison saying she wants to be part of “a collective group of voices” and to “feel like our voices are being heard.”

At the end of the day, making your voice heard in politics — in any really effective way — requires winning elections. Winning elections at the level of a U.S. Senate race isn’t easy, and depends on a lot of details that have nothing to do with national trends, so that the success or failure of any one campaign cannot automatically be taken as evidence of a trend.

Neverthless, if Kinnison and others cannot accept the nomination of Angle as legitimate, that’s a real problem. And if the Tea Party movement ends up encouraging people to be soreheads when they lose a primary, that’s a real problem, too.

When You Land on the Wrong Beach

The Democrats and their labor-goon buddies are going to pull out all the stops to re-elect Harry Reid in November. In fact, they’re already doing so. If Barbee Kinnison is still committed to uniting a movement to defeat Harry Reid — the sentiment that got her a standing ovation in February — she’ll have to get over her disappointment at Tarkanian’s defeat in the primary.

Let me explain it this way: Everybody knows about D-Day on Omaha Beach. Most people, however, don’t know the story of what happened on Utah Beach.

When the first-wave assault troops of the 4th Infantry Division hit the beach on June 6, 1944, the officers consulted their maps, trying to locate the places they were supposed to attack. It took a few minutes before they figured out the problem: They were on the wrong beach.

Because of an unanticipated cross-current in the English Channel, the first wave had been put ashore more than a mile south of their planned objective. The second wave was due to land in a few minutes, to be followed by more and more troops — and all of them were heading for the wrong beach, a mile away from where the division was supposed to be landing.

The officers were in a quandry. In all the planning for D-Day, nobody had planned for this. The success of the entire operation was at stake.

Fortunately for the troops, there was one man on that beach who knew what to do: Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Roosevelt conducted a quick reconnaissance of the area, then returned to the beach and told the battalion commanders, “We’ll start the war from right here!”

And so they did, attacking inland to outflank the positions they originally had been assigned to take by frontal assault.

Barbee Kinnison says people in the Tea Party movement “don’t want a leader.” Fine — be your own leader. And if you’re going to be a leader, you’d better be an effective leader, or you’ll never acc0mplish anything. 

Effective leaders don’t waste time worrying about what might have been. If conservatives in Nevada sit around moping and malcontented because their favorite candidate didn’t win the primary, the result will be the re-election of Harry Reid in November. Complaining to the Washington Post sure as hell isn’t going to make things any better.

“We’ll start the war from right here!”

That’s still good advice.

SHARRON ANGLE FOR U.S. SENATE

Category: Nevada, Tea Party

Comments

40 Responses to “Of Tea Parties and Leaders”

  1. TR Sterling
    June 12th, 2010 @ 5:48 pm

    Stacy,
    I wish you were writing editorially at the Post or another MSM outlet. This great article should go directly to the Am Spectator though. You are Pattonesque! (even if it was General Roosevelt who made the great quote).

    Thanks. Onwards!
    -TR

  2. TR Sterling
    June 12th, 2010 @ 1:48 pm

    Stacy,
    I wish you were writing editorially at the Post or another MSM outlet. This great article should go directly to the Am Spectator though. You are Pattonesque! (even if it was General Roosevelt who made the great quote).

    Thanks. Onwards!
    -TR

  3. Jack Okie
    June 12th, 2010 @ 2:30 pm

    What TR Sterling said (any relation?). I hope all the tea partiers read and grok the message.

  4. Jack Okie
    June 12th, 2010 @ 6:30 pm

    What TR Sterling said (any relation?). I hope all the tea partiers read and grok the message.

  5. Thrasymachus
    June 12th, 2010 @ 6:43 pm

    Here, I think, is the fear- eventually somebody is going to get elected. He or she is going to sit down in that office, in the big leather chair, behind the big desk, and say “this is pretty nice.” And they’ll start to focus on how to stay there and not making changes. How do we keep this from happening? I don’t think anybody knows yet.

  6. Thrasymachus
    June 12th, 2010 @ 2:43 pm

    Here, I think, is the fear- eventually somebody is going to get elected. He or she is going to sit down in that office, in the big leather chair, behind the big desk, and say “this is pretty nice.” And they’ll start to focus on how to stay there and not making changes. How do we keep this from happening? I don’t think anybody knows yet.

  7. Sissy Willis
    June 12th, 2010 @ 6:44 pm

    Good stuff, as always.

    Check out my related post, inspired by yours:

    Tea Partiers pour it on: We’ll start the war from right here!

    http://bit.ly/b3Q9I1

  8. Sissy Willis
    June 12th, 2010 @ 2:44 pm

    Good stuff, as always.

    Check out my related post, inspired by yours:

    Tea Partiers pour it on: We’ll start the war from right here!

    http://bit.ly/b3Q9I1

  9. proof
    June 12th, 2010 @ 7:05 pm

    Sounds like a few prima donnas need to be weeded from the tea party movement.

  10. proof
    June 12th, 2010 @ 3:05 pm

    Sounds like a few prima donnas need to be weeded from the tea party movement.

  11. T.L. Davis
    June 12th, 2010 @ 7:15 pm

    This is also an issue I dealt with in a post, the best part of sports is not that it teaches you to win, anyone can learn to do that, sports teaches one to LOSE. Good sportsmen/women learn how to lose, pick up their gear and move on, they don’t stop playing for the team, they just redirect their efforts to help the team any way they can. This is very disappointing, I thought the Tea Partyists understood that there would be some loses, some betrayals, some disagreements, but that the goal was more important than any one individual, or group, that it was a trend that needed to be established, not diverted over every little setback. Get behind Sharron and work hard to get her elected!

  12. Tea Partiers pour it on: We’ll start the war from right here! | Liberty Pundits Blog
    June 12th, 2010 @ 3:15 pm

    […] “We’ll start the war from right here!” Stacy McCain quotes Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. responding to conditions on the sand at Omaha Beach June 6, 1944, making the point that when you’re fighting for your life, you don’t start equivocating “when you land on the wrong beach.” Stacy’s talking about disarray amongst tea-party-affiliated losers in last week’s Republican primaries. You can catch the details at The Other McCain, but here’s the bottom line: At the end of the day, making your voice heard in politics — in any really effective way – requires winning elections. Winning elections at the level of a U.S. Senate race isn’t easy and depends on a lot of details that have nothing to do with national trends, so that the success or failure of any one campaign cannot automatically be taken as evidence of a trend. […]

  13. T.L. Davis
    June 12th, 2010 @ 3:15 pm

    This is also an issue I dealt with in a post, the best part of sports is not that it teaches you to win, anyone can learn to do that, sports teaches one to LOSE. Good sportsmen/women learn how to lose, pick up their gear and move on, they don’t stop playing for the team, they just redirect their efforts to help the team any way they can. This is very disappointing, I thought the Tea Partyists understood that there would be some loses, some betrayals, some disagreements, but that the goal was more important than any one individual, or group, that it was a trend that needed to be established, not diverted over every little setback. Get behind Sharron and work hard to get her elected!

  14. O'Bomber
    June 12th, 2010 @ 7:41 pm

    I’m not sure of the cohesiveness of the Tea Party movement, due to the circumstances of its creation.

    What I do know is that all conservatives and moderates who still love this country better band together in time for the November elections. Failure to do so may just result in the beginning of the end of the two party system in America.

  15. O'Bomber
    June 12th, 2010 @ 3:41 pm

    I’m not sure of the cohesiveness of the Tea Party movement, due to the circumstances of its creation.

    What I do know is that all conservatives and moderates who still love this country better band together in time for the November elections. Failure to do so may just result in the beginning of the end of the two party system in America.

  16. Estragon
    June 12th, 2010 @ 8:02 pm

    When certain groups begin forming and using the “Tea Party” label without being all-inclusive, no wonder other TP people are upset. Do you want to be identified with what some outside group decides when you have no input at all?

    Then again, the vast majority of TP attendees are normal people who have to wonder when the TP imprimatur is offered to crooked big-time earmarkers like Hayworth or fringe nuts like Paul. Fools rush in, and the wise don’t want to be seen with them.

  17. Estragon
    June 12th, 2010 @ 4:02 pm

    When certain groups begin forming and using the “Tea Party” label without being all-inclusive, no wonder other TP people are upset. Do you want to be identified with what some outside group decides when you have no input at all?

    Then again, the vast majority of TP attendees are normal people who have to wonder when the TP imprimatur is offered to crooked big-time earmarkers like Hayworth or fringe nuts like Paul. Fools rush in, and the wise don’t want to be seen with them.

  18. Adobe Walls
    June 12th, 2010 @ 8:07 pm

    Thrasymachus: The way we stop that from happening is by paying attention and keeping the heat under those politicians butts.
    While it may take a few days for some to get over the loss of “their guy” if they actually believed in the message they espoused they will come around. If they don’t, then they didn’t and we haven’t lost much anyway. The strength of lose knit groups without defined leaders or rigid structures is that those who speak for them at the moment can’t really take them out of the game this is truly power of the people. The Tea Party movement must pass many tests before freedom is restored, if we deserve then we shall.

  19. Adobe Walls
    June 12th, 2010 @ 4:07 pm

    Thrasymachus: The way we stop that from happening is by paying attention and keeping the heat under those politicians butts.
    While it may take a few days for some to get over the loss of “their guy” if they actually believed in the message they espoused they will come around. If they don’t, then they didn’t and we haven’t lost much anyway. The strength of lose knit groups without defined leaders or rigid structures is that those who speak for them at the moment can’t really take them out of the game this is truly power of the people. The Tea Party movement must pass many tests before freedom is restored, if we deserve then we shall.

  20. Joe
    June 12th, 2010 @ 8:14 pm

    Good Advice Stacy. Of course the Tea Party is not really a party (not yet anyway), it is more of a group of people who agree in certain principals. But the war is on and you better start outflanking Harry Reid.

  21. Joe
    June 12th, 2010 @ 4:14 pm

    Good Advice Stacy. Of course the Tea Party is not really a party (not yet anyway), it is more of a group of people who agree in certain principals. But the war is on and you better start outflanking Harry Reid.

  22. Adobe Walls
    June 12th, 2010 @ 10:06 pm

    @ O’Bomber:
    To save this country the cowardly muddled moderates will have to pick a side.

  23. Adobe Walls
    June 12th, 2010 @ 6:06 pm

    @ O’Bomber:
    To save this country the cowardly muddled moderates will have to pick a side.

  24. Barbee Kinnison
    June 12th, 2010 @ 10:26 pm

    I like to study all aspects of a candidate before I put my wholehearted efforts behind them. By the last week of the Nevada Senate race Danny Tarkanian was predicted as the only candidate who could beat Harry Reid by a substantial margin of 7 points minimum. Sharron Angle was predicted to lose by 1 point. My original research proved me correct in my choice of the right candidate to defeat Harry Reid. When out-of-state companies come in and alter the course of a campaign, tremendous disappointment mounts of course. However, I revert to mine and countless other Nevadan’s,feelings and objectives — Harry Reid must be defeated! It will take skill and intellect beyond money to win this race now as we have evolved into a different realm. I remain above all else, a Patriot of the Constitution and our beloved Country. We Nevadan’s will stand in unison to defeat Harry Reid even though Angle was not ‘my’ first choice, nonetheless, our state has spoken and we have no alternative plan or exit plan for that matter! To stay true to the course…Yes, Amy…we’ll start the battle from here. I just hope it’s not a “Pyrrhic Victory” in the end. This was a quantum leap calculated by the Tea Party Express and I say, Good Luck & God Bless to Sharron Angle!

  25. Barbee Kinnison
    June 12th, 2010 @ 6:26 pm

    I like to study all aspects of a candidate before I put my wholehearted efforts behind them. By the last week of the Nevada Senate race Danny Tarkanian was predicted as the only candidate who could beat Harry Reid by a substantial margin of 7 points minimum. Sharron Angle was predicted to lose by 1 point. My original research proved me correct in my choice of the right candidate to defeat Harry Reid. When out-of-state companies come in and alter the course of a campaign, tremendous disappointment mounts of course. However, I revert to mine and countless other Nevadan’s,feelings and objectives — Harry Reid must be defeated! It will take skill and intellect beyond money to win this race now as we have evolved into a different realm. I remain above all else, a Patriot of the Constitution and our beloved Country. We Nevadan’s will stand in unison to defeat Harry Reid even though Angle was not ‘my’ first choice, nonetheless, our state has spoken and we have no alternative plan or exit plan for that matter! To stay true to the course…Yes, Amy…we’ll start the battle from here. I just hope it’s not a “Pyrrhic Victory” in the end. This was a quantum leap calculated by the Tea Party Express and I say, Good Luck & God Bless to Sharron Angle!

  26. Brian
    June 12th, 2010 @ 11:22 pm

    Talk about missing the target! Ms. Kinnison may very well have supported Tarkanian as anyone with enough care for politics would have a chosen candidate! Yet the writer seems to slant this article to appear that Ms. Kennison was upset because her client did not win! She probably was but that does not mean that she tore into TPX for that reason. I agree with her! No organization that pretends to be of the Tea Party Movement should be endorsing candidates during a primary. These organizations can have their personal favorites as Ms. Kennison had but it is clearly wrong for said org to financially back one during primaries. The primary is for the PEOPLE to pick their candidate. Angle was clearly bought and paid for by TPExpress. Without half a million in tv ads bought by tpx Angle would probably finished in the same position she was in when she entered the race. Because of this meddling by TPX, the state of NV republicans are stuck with a media darling that 90% of her voters know nothing about other than what tv ads have shown them. Jon Ralston made a blithering idiot of Angle on his show and proved that when faced with tough questions and uncomfortable circumstances that she basically shuts down and mutters incoherently. Half a mil in tv ads and we now have the “perfect storm” for Reid and Bubba Clinton to tear apart. Tea Party Express would have been more accepted if they had of at least waited until the people voted in the primary before they jumped in. Now it just looks like republicans have another “business as usual” politician that “owes” someone for a financial favor! And owe them she certainly does! Now as for the article on all this: Wrong accusations of Ms. Kennison’s intentions and character – this article is pure misdirection. Steer everyone clear of a pac group out of CA buying a candidate in another state and instead attack from behind a patriot that wants to have a better country. Get the complete story and then report it instead of putting one together from piece meal emails you may have gathered from publicity seekers.

  27. Brian
    June 12th, 2010 @ 7:22 pm

    Talk about missing the target! Ms. Kinnison may very well have supported Tarkanian as anyone with enough care for politics would have a chosen candidate! Yet the writer seems to slant this article to appear that Ms. Kennison was upset because her client did not win! She probably was but that does not mean that she tore into TPX for that reason. I agree with her! No organization that pretends to be of the Tea Party Movement should be endorsing candidates during a primary. These organizations can have their personal favorites as Ms. Kennison had but it is clearly wrong for said org to financially back one during primaries. The primary is for the PEOPLE to pick their candidate. Angle was clearly bought and paid for by TPExpress. Without half a million in tv ads bought by tpx Angle would probably finished in the same position she was in when she entered the race. Because of this meddling by TPX, the state of NV republicans are stuck with a media darling that 90% of her voters know nothing about other than what tv ads have shown them. Jon Ralston made a blithering idiot of Angle on his show and proved that when faced with tough questions and uncomfortable circumstances that she basically shuts down and mutters incoherently. Half a mil in tv ads and we now have the “perfect storm” for Reid and Bubba Clinton to tear apart. Tea Party Express would have been more accepted if they had of at least waited until the people voted in the primary before they jumped in. Now it just looks like republicans have another “business as usual” politician that “owes” someone for a financial favor! And owe them she certainly does! Now as for the article on all this: Wrong accusations of Ms. Kennison’s intentions and character – this article is pure misdirection. Steer everyone clear of a pac group out of CA buying a candidate in another state and instead attack from behind a patriot that wants to have a better country. Get the complete story and then report it instead of putting one together from piece meal emails you may have gathered from publicity seekers.

  28. Adobe Walls
    June 13th, 2010 @ 2:12 am

    Estragon:
    In the past you have castigated those on the right who couldn’t hold their noses long enough to vote for McCain and even attempted to assign guilt for Obama’s election to them. While I voted for McCain, knowing he’d surely lose, I shed no tears for his failure to gain the presidency. But here‘s a newsflash for ya, when the economy goes in the crapper especially as thoroughly as ours did the incumbent party loses the White House no matter who the candidate is.
    On June 11th you wrote “Nobody’s going to call Castle a conservative with his 53% lifetime ACU rating, but he is a virtual lock to take the seat in the general.” Is that all that matters? Is being a member of the Republican Party the only quality required for your vote as well as your insistence that all with good judgment support? Can they also be a devil worshiper as long as they also pay homage to the RNC? In the aforementioned post you ask if ideological purity is more important than actual seats. To a point the answer is yes. Electing RINOs in place of Social Democrats only encourages compromises with Bolshevism, and even worse enables the Social Democrats to claim Bi-partisan support. This allows the Nit-Wits in the middle, their cherished delusion that keeping a mix of so called Democratic Liberals and traitorous Republicans who vote the same as liberals is somehow not destroying our country. The reality is if stimulus packages and laws like no child left behind are going to be passed by congress and signed into law it matters little that some of the dogs who voted for it were called Republicans, they might just as well all be members of CPUSA. In short if we can’t eventually retake the House and Senate without depending on unprincipled and unreliable RINOs then we’ve lost this fight and will be forced to wait for the left to complete their destruction of our country before we can begin to pick up the pieces.
    As for the Tea Party groups that are not all inclusive isn’t that why there are multiple political parties? Why exactly are the Tea Party supporters of Rand Paul abnormal? While I am not a Libertarian mainly because I have practical and ideological disagreement with their military and Foreign policies as well as practical disagreements with some Libertarian social policies. I welcome Rand Paul as an ally against the left. I believe that having Libertarians in congress and would hope that at least a couple of the most radically extreme Libertarians will be elected. If for no other reason we could use them to scare the moderates into understanding that eventually they will have to choose either the left or the right.
    It is understandable if Nevadans believe that who their Senator is should be the Nevada’s decision. There are however national issues at stake. Taking out Harry Reid will be a major blow for freedom. Having Angle running against Harry Reid elevates that race tremendously. Sharron Angle favors abolishing the Dept. of Education. This should only be one item at the top of a long list departments and agencies of the Federal Government that need to be abolished. The MFM and the Social Democrats will try to frame this as lunatic fringe. Abolishing the Department of Education should be a no brainer, given the utter failure of this Department to make any improvement in our education systems. If a conservative running for the Senate, with ending the Dept. of Edu. as part of their platform can’t win in this political environment we’ll never get back to smaller government. I submit that this one race might be a test case of whether or not conservative governance is possible in this Nation.

  29. Adobe Walls
    June 12th, 2010 @ 10:12 pm

    Estragon:
    In the past you have castigated those on the right who couldn’t hold their noses long enough to vote for McCain and even attempted to assign guilt for Obama’s election to them. While I voted for McCain, knowing he’d surely lose, I shed no tears for his failure to gain the presidency. But here‘s a newsflash for ya, when the economy goes in the crapper especially as thoroughly as ours did the incumbent party loses the White House no matter who the candidate is.
    On June 11th you wrote “Nobody’s going to call Castle a conservative with his 53% lifetime ACU rating, but he is a virtual lock to take the seat in the general.” Is that all that matters? Is being a member of the Republican Party the only quality required for your vote as well as your insistence that all with good judgment support? Can they also be a devil worshiper as long as they also pay homage to the RNC? In the aforementioned post you ask if ideological purity is more important than actual seats. To a point the answer is yes. Electing RINOs in place of Social Democrats only encourages compromises with Bolshevism, and even worse enables the Social Democrats to claim Bi-partisan support. This allows the Nit-Wits in the middle, their cherished delusion that keeping a mix of so called Democratic Liberals and traitorous Republicans who vote the same as liberals is somehow not destroying our country. The reality is if stimulus packages and laws like no child left behind are going to be passed by congress and signed into law it matters little that some of the dogs who voted for it were called Republicans, they might just as well all be members of CPUSA. In short if we can’t eventually retake the House and Senate without depending on unprincipled and unreliable RINOs then we’ve lost this fight and will be forced to wait for the left to complete their destruction of our country before we can begin to pick up the pieces.
    As for the Tea Party groups that are not all inclusive isn’t that why there are multiple political parties? Why exactly are the Tea Party supporters of Rand Paul abnormal? While I am not a Libertarian mainly because I have practical and ideological disagreement with their military and Foreign policies as well as practical disagreements with some Libertarian social policies. I welcome Rand Paul as an ally against the left. I believe that having Libertarians in congress and would hope that at least a couple of the most radically extreme Libertarians will be elected. If for no other reason we could use them to scare the moderates into understanding that eventually they will have to choose either the left or the right.
    It is understandable if Nevadans believe that who their Senator is should be the Nevada’s decision. There are however national issues at stake. Taking out Harry Reid will be a major blow for freedom. Having Angle running against Harry Reid elevates that race tremendously. Sharron Angle favors abolishing the Dept. of Education. This should only be one item at the top of a long list departments and agencies of the Federal Government that need to be abolished. The MFM and the Social Democrats will try to frame this as lunatic fringe. Abolishing the Department of Education should be a no brainer, given the utter failure of this Department to make any improvement in our education systems. If a conservative running for the Senate, with ending the Dept. of Edu. as part of their platform can’t win in this political environment we’ll never get back to smaller government. I submit that this one race might be a test case of whether or not conservative governance is possible in this Nation.

  30. Paul India Golf
    June 13th, 2010 @ 4:41 am

    I am a tark supporter and i was not happy when the TPE endorsed angle, but that is their right. However when they come over to nevada and demand tark drop out of the race and endorse their anointed, then 2 days before early voting begins start rumors that tark did drop out of the race, then bryan shoyer calls us pathetic???? The TP express can go to hell and die. I will never vote for angle now.

  31. Paul India Golf
    June 13th, 2010 @ 12:41 am

    I am a tark supporter and i was not happy when the TPE endorsed angle, but that is their right. However when they come over to nevada and demand tark drop out of the race and endorse their anointed, then 2 days before early voting begins start rumors that tark did drop out of the race, then bryan shoyer calls us pathetic???? The TP express can go to hell and die. I will never vote for angle now.

  32. Lisa Graas
    June 13th, 2010 @ 6:13 am

    “The Tea Party Express endorsement provoked a backlash of sorts among some conservative activists, who accused the California-based group of carpetbagging in Nevada and inserting itself into a competitive Republican primary.”

    My, but doesn’t that sound familiar? I’m on board with Tea Party Nation on this issue. I find it ironic that Tea Party Nation has been so often accused of co-opting in light of what Tea Party Express has done. TPN really does have it right in foregoing endorsements. I have no opinion on who should have won in Nevada. I don’t live there. I do relate to Ms. Kinnison, though.

    Our Senate race was a total wash for me thanks to the push from the top down to elect a RINO. I will vote in November……….but not in the U.S. Senate race because there isn’t a Republican candidate running in that race. I only vote Republican……so I will focus on the other races and on our upcoming gubernatorial race.

  33. Lisa Graas
    June 13th, 2010 @ 2:13 am

    “The Tea Party Express endorsement provoked a backlash of sorts among some conservative activists, who accused the California-based group of carpetbagging in Nevada and inserting itself into a competitive Republican primary.”

    My, but doesn’t that sound familiar? I’m on board with Tea Party Nation on this issue. I find it ironic that Tea Party Nation has been so often accused of co-opting in light of what Tea Party Express has done. TPN really does have it right in foregoing endorsements. I have no opinion on who should have won in Nevada. I don’t live there. I do relate to Ms. Kinnison, though.

    Our Senate race was a total wash for me thanks to the push from the top down to elect a RINO. I will vote in November……….but not in the U.S. Senate race because there isn’t a Republican candidate running in that race. I only vote Republican……so I will focus on the other races and on our upcoming gubernatorial race.

  34. SDN
    June 13th, 2010 @ 12:05 pm

    “We must all hang together, or we will surely all hang separately.” – Benjamin Franklin

    Good advice.

    You think the Left cares who we vote for, if it isn’t them?

    Oh, and Lisa, you might want to vote for the Republican anyway. Conservative Minority leaders don’t have much clout.

  35. SDN
    June 13th, 2010 @ 8:05 am

    “We must all hang together, or we will surely all hang separately.” – Benjamin Franklin

    Good advice.

    You think the Left cares who we vote for, if it isn’t them?

    Oh, and Lisa, you might want to vote for the Republican anyway. Conservative Minority leaders don’t have much clout.

  36. Is There a Tea Party in Our Future? « Red Dog Report
    June 13th, 2010 @ 2:33 pm

    […] Tea Party 2.0, putting down the signs and getting involved in the day to day world of politics.  Stacy McCain inspires (“We’ll start the war from right here!”) while putting Tea Party on the … “At the end of the day, making your voice heard in politics — in any really effective way […]

  37. Roxeanne de Luca
    June 14th, 2010 @ 3:15 am

    I spend a fair amount of my life leading a segment of my local Tea Party. At every single meeting I lead, someone asks us why we aren’t a part of a “national” goup, or haven’t banded together with every other Tea Party in the state, etc.

    I tell people that they are free to join TPN, donate to TPX, and hang out with other groups; no one is playing a game of mutual exclusivity. Nevertheless, it irks me that we are expected to give up our highly educational, highly effective local groups because, heavens, this is a national movement and don’t we want to be part of the national group and, heavens, we can’t actually try to think for ourselves and escape central planning, right?

  38. Roxeanne de Luca
    June 13th, 2010 @ 11:15 pm

    I spend a fair amount of my life leading a segment of my local Tea Party. At every single meeting I lead, someone asks us why we aren’t a part of a “national” goup, or haven’t banded together with every other Tea Party in the state, etc.

    I tell people that they are free to join TPN, donate to TPX, and hang out with other groups; no one is playing a game of mutual exclusivity. Nevertheless, it irks me that we are expected to give up our highly educational, highly effective local groups because, heavens, this is a national movement and don’t we want to be part of the national group and, heavens, we can’t actually try to think for ourselves and escape central planning, right?

  39. Edward V. Kamin
    July 15th, 2010 @ 9:34 pm

    The left will start the second american civil war ,But the right will WIN !!! , I’m ready !

  40. Edward V. Kamin
    July 15th, 2010 @ 5:34 pm

    The left will start the second american civil war ,But the right will WIN !!! , I’m ready !