TPM:Tea Party Group Backs Brown, Pressures Third Party Candidate To Drop Out Of Mass. Senate Race

[cali]

Brian Beutler | January 18, 2010, 1:10AM


The Massachusetts Tea Party is working behind the scenes to make sure Scott Brown doesn't lose votes to...a libertarian candidate, beloved by many in the Tea Party movement.

A mostly overlooked factor in the special election to fill Ted Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts is that there's a third party candidate in the race--libertarian Joe Kennedy (no relation to Ted)--who, though far behind in the polls, conservatives fear could be the Republicans' Ralph Nader on Tuesday. So in the past several days, tea party protesters, and others on the far right have organized a letter writing campaign to pressure Kennedy to drop out of the race and endorse GOP hopeful Scott Brown.

"The Massachusetts Tea Party movement is banding together to contact Joe Kennedy and ask him to step out of next Tuesday's Senate race," reads a Tea Party email obtained by TPMDC.

We are going to ask him to endorse Scott Brown.

The several percentage points that Joe might earn in the election could make a critical difference in Scott Brown's election.

snip

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/mt-preview-fd7ea3933e3a43bc7741ba86481a8ad197f2efcf.php?084317?ref=mp

[Cirque du So-What]

1. I smell a RW rat

Ideologically, the teabaggers are more closely identified as libertarians (big-L variety included). One would expect teabaggers to gravitate naturally toward the Libertarian candidate, seeing that they regularly rail against both the Democratic & Republican parties. I see a RW rat behind the scenes (Dick Armey?) pulling the strings to get teabagger spokespersons to plead with the 3rd-party candidate to withdraw. So much for their rhetoric, huh? 'It's not a Democratic thing or a Republican thing; it's not a black thing or a white thing, etc....' I hope the discontent runs deep through the teabagger movement, splitting them along lines of astroturf Republican party flacks & zero-government libertarian types.

[cali]

4. there are undoubtedly many right wing rats involved in this race

[Cirque du So-What]

6. Yes, but I was referring specifically to the teabagger contingent

I always take the opportunity to point this out to all & sundry who will listen. Even if they won't acknowledge having been co-opted, it will still register with some segment of their numbers, contributing to discontent & disillusionment within their 'movement' (scatological emphasis intentional).

[KingFlorez]

2. If they want him out, he must be playing some sort of factor here

The polls haven't shown him taking much of the vote, but with so many independents out here, he could siphon off votes from Brown. If that wasn't possible, they would be threatening him, the tea party seems too defensive here.

[Jennicut]

3. Kennedy could pull in up to 2% points. My guess is Brown wants those 2 points because

it will be a very close election.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. And the rest of the teabaggers?

You know they aren't going to go along with this.

I smell a teabagger fight.