Combs Spouts Off

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Posts Tagged ‘tea party’

Tea Party candidate wins PA state senate race

Posted by Richard on March 20, 2014

In a Pennsylvania special election for a state senate seat, the Tea Party candidate trounced his Democratic and Republican opponents — as a write-in (!):

Republican businessman Scott Wagner dealt a stunning blow to both Democrats and Republicans in Pennsylvania by becoming the first person ever to win a state Senate seat as a write-in candidate. Many are now wondering if the election has some national implications for the 2014 midterm elections.

The tea party candidate defeated both of his party-endorsed opponents, Republican Ron Miller and Democrat Linda Small. He received 48 percent of the vote to Small’s 26 percent and Miller’s 27 percent. In other words, it wasn’t even close.

“The times they are a-cha-a-a-ngin’!”

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Must-see video: Mark Levin’s keynote speech at Tea Party 5th birthday

Posted by Richard on February 27, 2014

Jeffrey Lord described Mark Levin as “a national treasure.” This twelve minutes of video from the Tea Party Patriots’ 5th anniversary event prove he’s right. I implore you to watch it. Then watch it again. Then get your family and friends to watch it.

UPDATE: I’ve removed the embedded video because I’m tired of it starting to play an ad every time I load the page, and I can’t figure out how to disable that. Hit the link below to watch it.

 The video is from the Breitbart – Big Government story Levin Calls on Tea Party to Fight Tyranny in USA.

Note: For me, it wouldn’t play in IE 11, but worked fine in Chrome.

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Happy birthday, Tea Party!

Posted by Richard on February 27, 2014

The Tea Party movement’s fifth birthday celebration is taking place today in Washington. You can watch here (note: in addition to the live feed, recordings of the earlier segments are available for “DVR mode” viewing).

The actual birthday of the Tea Party movement is unquestionably February 19, 2009. That’s when CNBC’s Rick Santelli, during what was dubbed the “rant of the year,” called for a “Chicago tea party” to protest bailouts, stimulus spending, and the metastatic growth of government for the benefit of those at the top and bottom at the expense of the middle class. But the 27th is when the first tea party protests took place, organized by grass-roots people energized by the Santelli rant.


[YouTube link]

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Exploiting a tragedy

Posted by Richard on July 20, 2012

It’s hard to say which was more contemptible this morning, before the corpses had even been carried to the morgue: New York Mayor Bloomberg waving the bloody shirt and beating the drum for gun control, or Brian Ross and ABC News scouring Tea Party web pages looking for someone with the same name as the Dark Knight shooter so they could attempt to tie that group to the killings.

I guess I’d give the nod to Ross and ABC’s Good Morning America. Although it was crass and exploitative, Bloomberg was openly advocating for an agenda he’s never made any secret of. Ross and ABC, on the other hand, pretended to be reporting news while actually attempting to harm the Tea Party movement, which they see (rightly) as the enemy of their secret leftist agenda (not that they’ve done a very good job of keeping it secret lately).

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Electoral signs of the times — or something

Posted by Richard on May 9, 2012

I’m not sure what these things mean, but I suspect they mean something.

In the West Virginia Democratic presidential primary, Keith Judd, a convicted felon imprisoned in Texas, got 41% of the vote in his run against President Obama, who got 59%.

In the Indiana Republican senatorial primary, incumbent Sen. Dick Lugar got 39% of the vote against challenger Richard Mourdock, endorsed by Tea Party groups and the Club for Growth, who got 61%.

So a convicted felon in West Virginia managed a better showing against the sitting president than an incumbent senator in Indiana managed against a Tea Party challenger.

Meanwhile in Wisconsin’s run-up to the June 5 gubernatorial recall election, Democratic voters by a wide margin chose Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett over Kathleen Falk to challenge Gov. Scott Walker, even though Falk had the backing of the labor unions who bankrolled the recall effort and made it possible (and who tried to pressure Barrett, who lost badly to Walker in 2010, into not running).

But here’s what’s interesting: The Democratic primary was hotly contested, while Walker faced no meaningful opposition on the Republican side. Nevertheless, 626,000 Republicans turned out to vote for Walker, despite no compelling reason to do so — almost as many as voted for the four Democratic candidates (665,000). That seems like a good sign for Walker.

Make of all that what you will. Being optimistic by nature, I’m inclined to see these as signs that the American people aren’t ready to emulate France or Greece.

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RINO Lugar given the boot

Posted by Richard on May 8, 2012

The French may have embraced socialism, and the Greeks may have embraced default, but Indiana Republicans have embraced Senate challenger Richard Mourdock, who was endorsed by various Tea Party groups and the Club for Growth. Mourdock crushed incumbent Sen. Dick Lugar (dubbed “Obama’s favorite Republican” by Tea Party critics):

With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Lugar had just under 40 percent of the vote to Mourdock’s just over 60 percent.

Playing out in a conservative state, the race illustrated the electorate’s animosity toward many incumbents and anyone with deep ties to Washington. That was clear when Lugar, who hasn’t faced questions about his residency in decades, found himself on the defensive over whether he lived in Indiana or northern Virginia. Lugar also was cast as too moderate for the conservative GOP in Indiana, and he took heat for his work with Democrats on issues such as nuclear nonproliferation, underscoring deep polarization in the country as well as a split in the GOP between the establishment wing and the insurgent tea party.

In a statement, Obama praised his former Senate colleague as someone “who was often willing to reach across the aisle and get things done.”

Yet another sign that the Republican electorate is fed up with the ruling party Republican establishment. And that the Tea Party movement is alive and well.

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Four big lies about the debt ceiling

Posted by Richard on June 7, 2011

Tea Party Patriots, the wonderful umbrella organization of Tea Party groups across the country, is challenging head-on both Republicans and Democrats with regard to the so-called debt ceiling crisis:

At this very moment members of congress are trying to decide what pieces of America's future they will trade away as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling. We've had the chance to talk with many of them. And even most of those who claim to be on the side of fiscal responsibility are giddy with excitement that they can trade their vote on this debt ceiling "crisis" in exchange for a handful of magic beans offered by the liberals.

Our answer is simple.

It is not acceptable to use the future of America as a bargaining chip.
Do not raise the debt ceiling.
PERIOD.

They've identified four big lies that, in countless variations, we're going to be told over and over again in the coming weeks: 

Big Lie 1 "The current financial crisis was inherited."

Bush created all of these problems.  We are trying to solve them but it's much worse than we thought and it will take years for our solutions to have an impact."

Big Lie 2 "There's no way to cut enough spending. So we must raise the debt ceiling."

"There's no way to cut enough spending. So we must raise the debt ceiling. If we don't raise it America will not be able to pay back its creditors and the rest of the world will never trust us with money again. It will be a disaster!!!"

Big Lie 3 "We can haggle for some really great deals now that we have them over a barrel."

Members of the republican "leadership" will tell you this lie.

"Raising the debt ceiling is inevitable; and the democrats want it so badly they're willing to give us some really great deals in order to get it. We can take advantage of it and get some cool stuff in exchange for our votes. It'll be great!"

Big Lie 4 "You just don't understand all of the complicated details. Let us handle it. We're smart."

Their responses to the first three lies are excellent (I haven't see the fourth part yet). 

Check out Part 1 and Part 2 (I'll update with links to 3 and 4 when I have them, but I suspect they'll appear on the home page at some point). And please donate what you can to help them counter these lies. If you care about your future, your children's future, your grandchildren's future — this battle is very, very important.

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Stand up against union thuggery in Denver on Tuesday

Posted by Richard on February 21, 2011

From Jeff Crank, Director of AFP-Colorado (via email):

We’ve all seen the outrageous attempts to intimidate Governor Scott Walker and members of the Wisconsin legislature by the SEIU, Organizing for America and other left-wing groups which are trying to disrupt the government of Wisconsin from doing its business.

Now the union bosses have decided to export their unrest to other states – including right here in Colorado.  As the SEIU is standing firm with the turmoil taking place in Wisconsin, they have planned nationwide "Union Solidarity Action Rallies" – including one in Denver tomorrow, Tuesday, February 22, 2011.

Freedom groups from all over Colorado are going to stand firm with Governor Scott Walker, free enterprise and balancing our budget for the sake of our children and grandchildren.  I hope you will join me and other freedom fighters on the west sidewalk surrounding the Colorado State Capitol tomorrow at noon to show our support for fiscal sanity.

Please be aware, the SEIU will have a permit for the actual grounds and we will be respectful of this. If you are on the grounds, do not be disruptive or they can have you removed. We will be meeting on the sidewalk on the west side of the Capitol – where we will express our First Amendment rights and cannot be asked to leave.

Bring your signs, your flags, your friends, and your right to free expression.  Let’s show Colorado that we won’t stand for a future burdened by debt and out-of-control spending.

I'm taking the day off on Tuesday, and I'll be there. If you're in the neighborhood and able to do so (maybe just a long lunch?), please join me.

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A turning point in Wisconsin?

Posted by Richard on February 19, 2011

To indulge in some metaphor-mixing, this nation is fiscally at the precipice and politically at a tipping point. Madison, Wisconsin is, as Herman Cain said, Ground Zero. Someday, we may look back on February 19 as the day that we began to tip away from the precipice.

With only 48 hours' notice, thousands of Wisconsin's hard-working private citizens gathered at the capitol to support Gov. Scott Walker and respond to the angry demands of Wisconsin's public employees (and their supporters bused in by unions, the DNC, and Obama's Organizing for America). They told them, "You work for us. And we can no longer afford the lavish salaries and benefits that you've pressured previous administrations into giving you. It's time to get real."

Watch the video of Herman Cain below. The crowd noise and limitations of the on-camera microphone make it difficult to hear everything that he said, but you can get the gist of it. I hope there's a better recording or that someone with the technical expertise can clean it up. Because I'm thinking that with clearer audio, this could become this year's equivalent of the 2009 Rick Santelli rant that gave birth to the Tea Parties.


[YouTube link]

Money quote: "We the people of the United States of America are not going to let the United States of America become the United States of Europe!"

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Not your father’s Republican Party

Posted by Richard on October 29, 2010

A month ago, Vice President Joe Biden, who always seems to know the wrong thing to say and then says it, uttered my favorite quote from this election season:

This is not your father’s Republican Party. This is the Republican Tea Party, no this is a different deal, guys. This is not Bob Dole. This is not Howard Baker.

No doubt the silver-tongued Biden intended that as a dire warning, a wake-up call to his troops. But I’ll bet that millions of Americans reacted with a grin and thought, “I sure hope he’s right!” I know I did.

Recently, Dick Morris affirmed Biden’s point and expanded on it (emphasis added):

A fundamental change is gripping the Republican grass roots as they animate the GOP surge to a major victory in the 2010 elections. No longer do evangelical or social issues dominate the Republican ground troops. Now economic and fiscal issues prevail. The Tea Party has made the Republican Party safe for libertarians.

There is still a litmus test for admission to the Republican Party. But no longer is it dominated by abortion, guns and gays. Now, keeping the economy free of government regulation, reducing taxation and curbing spending are the chemicals that turn the paper pink.

It is one of the fundamental planks in the Tea Party platform that the movement does not concern itself with social issues. At the Tea Parties, evangelical pro-lifers rub shoulders happily with gay libertarians. They are united by their anger at Obama’s economic policies, fear of his deficits and horror at his looming tax increases. Obama’s agenda has effectively removed the blocks that stopped tens of millions of social moderates from joining the GOP.

Read the whole thing. I sure hope he’s right!

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GOP’s beltway buffoons prepare to piss away victory

Posted by Richard on October 19, 2010

I've commented before that, on the eve of an anti-Democrat tsunami, the stupid leadership of the Stupid Party might just try to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Should victory come anyway, and the American people give the GOP another chance, they might just try to screw it up again. They're already signaling their willingness to do so

If they recapture the House, Republicans say they are wary of following the example of the class of 1994, which shut down the government in a standoff with President Bill Clinton. Top Republicans contend that passing legislation, or at least making a good faith effort to do so, will earn them more credibility with voters than refusing to waver from purist principles.

Three points: (1) This isn't 1994. (2) Shutting down the government wasn't the class of 1994's big mistake — failing to effectively communicate their reasons, values, and goals (and then abandoning them) was. (3) The last thing the fired-up electorate that's poised to hand them power is interested in is passing legislation — especially the kind of bipartisan BS these clowns seem to have in mind.

"It's pretty clear the American people expect us to use the existing gridlock to create compromise and advance their agenda," said Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.). "They want us to come together [with the administration] after we agree to disagree."

That's got to be one of the stupidest and most incoherent quotes ever uttered. And it makes it crystal clear that Issa and those like him have no understanding of the American people, have nothing in common with the American people, and must hold the American people in contempt.

As Angelo M. Codevilla noted in his critically important American Spectator article, inside the beltway there is little difference between the leaders of the two parties. Both are part of the ruling class and very different from what Codevilla called the "country class." (If you haven't read that article, I strongly urge you to do so.)

The stupid leadership of the Stupid Party is as contemptuous of and hostile to the grass-roots Tea Party movement as their friends in Evil Party are. The establishment GOP leadership may accept Tea Party votes (except when they're cast against the Murkowskis of the party), but they're not about to let unenlightened yahoos from the hinterlands actually control the reins of power or change The Way Things Work in Washington. 

After the election, if it goes as predicted, there's going to be an even bigger battle — a battle for the soul of the Republican Party. The outcome will depend on how many "upstarts" — principled people committed to the values that the stupid leadership merely mouths insincerely — we send to Washington.

The outcome of that battle will also determine whether the Republican Party survives as a major party. Because the "country class" has awakened. And the Tea Party movement isn't going away.  

UPDATE: Read this uncharacteristically long Instapundit post. And note especially this quote from reader Cam Edwards: 

All this talk of third parties has me wondering: why wouldn’t it be easier for Tea Partiers to take over the local party apparatus of the GOP (and to a lesser extent, the Dems as well) instead of creating a third party from scratch? If the same Tea Partiers that have been attending rallies, town hall meetings, candidate forums, etc. turned that same energy post-election to both taking over parties at the local level, as well as running candidates for things like city council, school board, county commission (the offices that won’t make you famous, but can make you effective)… I think it could be shocking how much the political landscape could change by 2012. 

Sounds like a plan to me.

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Breitbart makes fools of Astroturf protesters

Posted by Richard on September 22, 2010

The Other McCain is where I found this great 8-minute video of Andrew Breitbart outside of Right Nation 2010 challenging a group of protesters bused in by the SEIU. So I'll let Stacy introduce it. Enjoy.

My friend Andrew Marcus at Founding Bloggers produced this video, which I found via my friend Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit. To call Glenn Beck a “coward”? Easy. To claim that Tea Party activists are motivated by “hate”? Easy. But to call Andrew Breitbart a “faggot” while doing these things is to invite yourself to one of the greatest intellectual ass-kickings in history — as guest of honor:

 


[YouTube link]

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What a difference a day makes

Posted by Richard on September 17, 2010

When Christine O'Donnell stunned the pundits of both parties by winning the Republican primary for Senate in Delaware on Tuesday, she had $50,000 in the bank and trailed Democrat Chris Coons by 16-25 percentage points, depending on the poll. A day later, she had received over $1 million in donations, and Coons' lead was 11 points.

As Ed Morrissey pointed out, the "internals" of that poll were interesting. O'Donnell leads among independents. Her biggest problems right now are liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats — both groups would have been much more supportive of primary loser Mike Castle. Delaware is clearly more liberal than the nation — 54% approve of Obama's job performance, significantly higher than the national number of 45%.

But even Delaware voters favor repeal of Obamacare (53-43%), and 62% say the way to create jobs is to cut taxes, not increase government spending. So there's certainly room for a well-run, well-financed O'Donnell campaign to gain support on the issues. Especially if it can move the focus from her "extreme" views to Coons'. After all, this is a hard-core leftist who, some years ago, described himself (with tongue perhaps slightly in cheek) as a "bearded Marxist."

Yeah, O'Donnell has at least one truly flaky view: She urged young people not to masturbate because it necessarily involves "lusting in your heart" and thus violates the 10th Commandment. Oh, my … Well, that's patently incorrect, for one thing. But is this really an important issue? 

I went into work late today after a dental appointment, so I got to hear part of the Dennis Miller Show. Dennis is pretty libertarian — or what P.J. O'Rourke called a "Republican Party reptile." He's pro-choice and strongly supports gays in the military — as he puts it, anyone who's willing to put their life on the line defending us and killing jihadis deserves our thanks and support. He acknowledged that O'Donnell's anti-masturbation view is "pretty kooky." But he made a good point: What are the people who fret about this worried about — that she'll try to outlaw masturbation? Come on!

O'Donnell's other "baggage" appears to be entirely financial — she apparently went through a rough patch during which she failed to pay some taxes and mortgage payments, and she fell way behind in paying her student loans. Well, that sounds not all that different from about half of Obama's cabinet and countless members of Congress. If anything, her financial issues sound more innocent and less calculated.

No, she's not an ideal, perfect candidate. But her opponent's extreme leftist/quasi-Marxist views make him less than perfect, too, even to the average centrist. It's not at all obvious that she's unelectable — or should be. She's articulate, personable, and intelligent (judging from an interview I saw), and she is clearly and unequivocally focusing her campaign on fiscal/economic issues, and from my perspective she's 100% on those. 

I think I'll help her get to the $2 million mark. I suspect she'll get there pretty quickly, with Rush Limbaugh encouraging contributions to her campaign. 

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RINO routs continue

Posted by Richard on September 15, 2010

It's not just shaping up to be a bad year for Democrats. It's also a bad year for Republicans who are indistinguishable from Democrats. In a stunning upset in Delaware, an unknown and somewhat flawed Tea Party candidate, Christine O'Donnell, came out of nowhere to defeat establishment-backed Rep. Mike Castle 53-47% for the Republican Senate nomination.

Castle is arguably the most liberal Republican in the House. He backed "cap-and-tax," supports gun control, flip-flopped about four times on Obamacare, and in 2008, voted for Dennis Kucinich's H.R. 1258 to impeach George W. Bush. Nevertheless, he had the full support of the GOP establishment because "he can win." They didn't care how he'd vote on taxes, spending, regulation, gun control, and energy, as long as he helped them regain their committee chairmanships. Asshats.

In New York, Tea Party candidate Carl Paladino crushed establishment-backed former Rep. Rick Lazio 63-37% in the GOP gubernatorial primary. And in New Hampshire, Tea Party candidate Ovide Lamontagne has a slim lead over the establishment-backed favorite, Kelly Ayotte, for the GOP senate nomination. 

So, after the victories of Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Pat Toomey, Sharon Angle, Mike Lee, Joe Miller, and others, is the GOP leadership feeling chastened and getting the message? Not exactly. The Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee has already decided not to support Christine O'Donnell in the general election. Because "she can't win." Mind you, these are the same people who poured vast resources into the Castle campaign and claimed that O'Donnell had no chance in the primary. The grass roots have changed, but at the top, it's still the Stupid Party. 

Never mind what the NRSC does. As a Libertarian, I've never donated to the GOP or its campaign committees, but I've supported plenty of specific Republican candidates via the Club for Growth and groups like the Tea Party Express. From what I've read, lots of former GOP donors must be doing likewise, because donations to the GOP campaign committees are lagging even as support for GOP candidates is surging. 

One of the most significant stats coming out of this year's primaries is this (emphasis added): 

Of the 30 million ballots cast in 2010 for statewide offices before Sept. 1, more than 17 million were in Republican races, while fewer than 13 million were for Democrats—the first time since 1930 that GOP voters outnumbered Democrats in midterm, statewide primaries, according to an analysis from American University's Center for the Study of the American Electorate. 

The Republican base is energized, as many pundits have noted. But it's not because of the Republican leadership, that's for sure. If that energy level translates into a transformational election this November, hopefully there will be some major changes in that leadership. 

UPDATE: It didn't take long for the pragmatists in the Republican leadership to read the tea leaves, check their email, and realize they'd better "adjust" their positions. NRSC chair John Cornyn has pledged that they'll fully support Christine O'Donnell and backed it up with a check. RNC chair Michael Steele has weighed in even more forcefully in support of O'Donnell. (I still like Steele. I think his heart is in the right place, even if his head isn't always screwed on tight and his management skills are somewhat suspect.)

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Another wake-up call for the Republican establishment

Posted by Richard on August 26, 2010

I awake from my recent hibernation to shout "whoohoo!" at the stupendous Alaska Senate primary result. It's not official yet, due to absentee ballots, but it looks like unknown challenger Joe Miller has defeated incumbent Republican (in name only) Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski, of course, had the entire GOP establishment firmly behind her, despite her atrocious record (she supported cap-and-tax and all the bailout and porkulus packages, for starters).

In June, Murkowski had an "insurmountable" 35-point lead in the polls. Then Sarah Palin endorsed Joe Miller and the Tea Party Express began running ads for him (I helped fund those ads). Murkowski's lead began shrinking precipitously, but it was still 10 points a week or so before the election. Final tally (minus absentee ballots): Miller 50.9%, Murkowski 49.1%. I repeat, "whoohoo!"

Jim Treacher took delight in pointing out that Slate's Alexandra Gutierrez (among others) ended up embarrassing herself with her election eve story predicting an "embarrassing defeat" for Palin and the Tea Party Express when Murkowski "trounced" Miller. That turned out not to be reporting or analysis, but wishful thinking.

Whoohoo! 

UPDATE (8/27): Another RINO who doesn't want to accept a "No" from the voters. Check out the latest in the comments. 

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