Teabagger leader & founder: Defeat Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) because he's Muslim

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Congressman Keith Ellison

Via TPM via the Maddow blog: The leader of one of the three biggest Tea Party groups has called for Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) to be defeated this election explicitly because he is Muslim.

The call came in a weekend Web posting not by a fringe member of a Tea Party group, but by Tea Party Nation leader and founder Judson Phillips, a Tennessee attorney. (Tea Party Nation, with over 30,000 online members, is now the third largest Tea Party network, according to an NAACP report.) Phillips asked Tea Party Nation members to support an opponent of Ellison, with this reasoning:

There are a lot of liberals who need to be retired this year, but there are few I can think of more deserving than Keith Ellison. Ellison is one of the most radical members of congress. He has a ZERO rating from the American Conservative Union. He is the only Muslim member of congress. He supports the Counsel for American Islamic Relations, HAMAS and has helped congress send millions of tax dollars to terrorists in Gaza.

(Note: This is actually not accurate. Rep. Andre Carson is also Muslim.)

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/2010_elections/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2010/10/26/tea_party_nation_phillips_ellison_muslim

[MineralMan]

1. Well, that trick's not going to work.

[Brickbat]

2. He's going to have to come up with something better than that. This is too little, too late.

Now, pouring millions of dollars into shameful ads starting three weeks ago...then he might have had something.

[geardaddy]

3. Not likely, Mr. Phillips

I live in Keith's district. He's got strong support here.

He's the best rep in the DFL delegation.

[MNBrewer]

4. I'm one of his constituents.

And I was pleased as punch to be able to to poke the tea-bag types in the eye with his election (tea party didn't exist then, but the types sure did)

There is absolutely 0% chance of his not being reelected.

The Republican party could pour every single penny they have into this district and still would lose to any Democrat.