Tea Party Loses Again; Blame Game Begins

[Purveyor]

On Thursday night, the tea party lost its last chance of 2014 to oust an incumbent senator. But the recriminations have only begun.

In a dozen interviews with POLITICO this week, tea party leaders, failed candidates and small government activists dissected a primary season that saw their best candidates vanquished by establishment Republicans who were once considered vulnerable. The story repeated itself six times: in Texas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Mississippi, Kansas and Tennessee, where Sen. Lamar Alexander dispatched state lawmaker Joe Carr on Thursday. Alexander’s win virtually ensures that for the first election cycle since 2008, not a single Republican senator will lose his seat in a primary.

Explanations and excuses abound: One tea party activist blamed Rand Paul. A conservative candidate fingered outside groups, saying they talked a good game but didn’t follow through. Another failed contender said voters were too timid to defy incumbents. And grass-roots figures lamented flawed candidates.

Bill Connor, who challenged South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham in a seven-way Republican primary, said he was baited into the race with promises of financial support from tea party groups, only to be abandoned. Graham crushed a half-dozen competitors, including Connor, and avoided a runoff.

“It felt a bit like sticking the neck out and being left in the cold,” Connor, an attorney and Army Ranger, said, adding that he was prepared to pump $300,000 of his own money into the race if he felt like he had more support. “I do think it was winnable.”

Although he didn’t name names, Connor was endorsed during his run by prominent tea party leaders in South Carolina and activists affiliated with major groups like Tea Party Patriots and FreedomWorks.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/2014-elections-republican-tea-party-109834.html#ixzz39yLAU6Xk

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

1. I notice that none of the failed candidates seem to consider

That it might have been their policies that the voters rejected.

[Sunlei]

2. The big R$$ sure know how to u$e/bait their little rs.

The losers will vote R anyway.

[Gothmog]

3. The Tea Party has to decide if they will stay with the GOP

I really hope that the tea party/teabaggers form their own party

[BlueDemKev]

6. They won't.

At least not enough of them will break off to make any meaningful difference. The Republican Party has moved substantially to the right over the past five years largely because of the pressure from the tea party. Our only hope is that every single left-leaning voter in America votes in EVERY election--both midterms and presidential election years. It's the only way to defeat the righties.

When we vote, we WIN; when we stay home, we LOSE. It's that simple.

[jmowreader]

7. I think they'd move to the Constitution Party or the Libertarians rather than starting a new one

[kairos12]

4. Have they considered tea party voters can only

read the back of a Cheeto's package, hence ballots remain a mystery.

[HooptieWagon]

5. Perhaps the ballots were correctly spelled...

... and thus were unintelligible to teabagger voters.