Tea party antics could end up burning Republicans
By Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 28, 2010; 12:32 AM
The tea party's volatile influence on this election year
appears to be doing more harm than good for Republicans' chances in
some of the closest races in the nation, in which little-known
candidates who upset the establishment with primary wins are now
stumbling in the campaign's final days.
In Kentucky, a volunteer for tea-party-backed Senate candidate
Rand Paul was videotaped stepping on the head of a liberal protester.
In Delaware and Colorado, Senate hopefuls Christine O'Donnell and Ken
Buck, respectively, are under fire for denying that the First
Amendment's establishment clause dictates a separation of church and
state. In Nevada, GOP Senate nominee Sharron Angle is drawing rebuke
for running TV ads that portray Latino immigrants as criminals and
gang members.
Perhaps the most dramatic tea party problems are in Alaska,
where Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller is suffering another
round of unfavorable headlines after it was revealed late Tuesday that
he had admitted lying about his misconduct while working as a
government lawyer in Fairbanks.
Miller was conducting his own poll in 2008 in an effort to
oust a state GOP chairman, and he used his colleagues' computers to
vote in the survey, then erased their computers' caches to try to hide
what he had done.
"I was beyond stupid," he wrote in a letter of apology
included in documents ordered released by a judge Tuesday. He was
suspended for three days without pay, according to the documents.
Miller, who was considered a shoo-in just two months ago when
he defeated Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary, was already
falling quickly in GOP and Democratic internal polls before Tuesday's
revelations, strategists said. Last week, he was in the spotlight when
a campaign-paid security guard handcuffed a reporter who tried to ask
Miller a question.
Such moments are giving Democrats hope that the few undecided
voters who remain may become turned off and move away from Republicans
in the closer races nationwide, including those in Colorado, Nevada
and Kentucky.
"In state after state, Republicans nominated a less viable
general-election candidate, and that's more on display than ever in
these final days of the campaign," said Eric Schultz, a spokesman for
the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Miller's latest travails are more likely to give the advantage
to Murkowski, who began a write-in campaign shortly after her primary
loss, than to Democrat Scott McAdams, the little-known mayor of Sitka.
But even in Republican-leaning Alaska, no one is counting out McAdams:
Both Murkowski and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which
is backing Miller, are running ads targeting the Democrat.
The Miller campaign did not respond to inquiries Wednesday.
But the Murkowski team jumped on the latest disclosure. "The bottom
line is Joe cheated, he lied, tried to cover it up, lied again, then
finally got caught and had to admit it, just as he lied to Alaskans
when he initially denied any problems with his employment at the
[Fairbanks North Star] Borough, claiming his record was 'exceptional'
and 'second to none.' "
Miller's most ardent supporters say they are unfazed. Asked
whether her group plans to pull its support for Miller, Amy Kremer,
head of the national Tea Party Express group, said via e-mail:
"Absolutely not! As a matter of fact, we are going back up on the air
for Joe Miller because he is the only candidate addressing the
important economic issues facing America while Lisa Murkowski is
following the Democrat game plan around the country of only making
vicious attacks on her opponent."
In addition, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin will appear
with Miller on Thursday at a rally in Anchorage.
In Nevada, Angle's controversial advertisements about illegal
immigrants are airing at a time when questions remain about racism and
prejudice in the tea party. According to a canvass of 647 local tea
party groups conducted by The Washington Post, 11 percent of
organizers say President Obama's race, religion or ethnic background
is very important or somewhat important to their members'
participation in the movement.
Also on Wednesday, Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips
came under fire for an Internet column published over the weekend in
which he called for the defeat of Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) because
he is Muslim.
"Ellison is one of the most radical members of Congress,"
Phillips wrote. "He has a ZERO rating from the American Conservative
Union. He is the only Muslim member of Congress. He supports the
Council for American Islamic Relations, HAMAS and has helped Congress
send millions of tax dollars to terrorists in Gaza."
Ellison made the following statement late Wednesday: "I issue
a call to civility, and urge Americans to reject the divisive rhetoric
of Republican Tea Party leaders like Judson Phillips; including calls
for my defeat solely because of my religion."
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
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