Tea party abandons presidential race to focus on senate

[jaxx]

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) – With their favored candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination lagging or out of the race, many U.S. Tea Party activists are shifting focus to the struggle for control of the U.S. Senate.

The fizz has gone out of the presidential contest for some supporters of the fiscally conservative movement now that former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is not running and Texas Governor Rick Perry and congresswoman Michele Bachmann are slipping in polls.

“No one is going to get perfect in a general election candidate. That is why we think the Senate is a better place to focus,” said Matt Kibbe, president and chief executive of the libertarian FreedomWorks, a Tea Party group.

<..> With 23 of the 33 Senate seats up for grabs next year now held by Democrats, and a wave of public hostility to incumbents, Tea Party activists said they looked forward to more Republican gains in 2012.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/09/te...on-senate/

Interesting that they have in essence conceded the White House. GOTV is going to be prime for us in 2012.

[Treestar]

Now it will be interesting to see which seats they focus on. And will they try to primary Republicans who they think are not radically right enough? That will be interesting to see.

[Willinois]

Given the same situation, the cynical third party left would back a hopeless Presidential campaign that would do nothing but "raise the issues." Focusing on the Senate is a productive, useful strategy.
It's very embarrassing to the American left that the Tea Party consistently shows more political savvy than Greens and Socialists. The singular fixation on the Presidency is bizarre.

[DFW]

Oh, sure.

Just wait until the Republican nominee is selected. The colonial hats and appearances on Fox and National Hate Radio will start up and we'll all be hearing from them about how God wants Obama sent on a one way trip to Malawi.

Obama will not be getting a free ride, and the teabaggers will be called out in force to campaign against him, even if they don't get one more vote against him than they can already count on. SOMEONE has to figure out a justification for all those manipulated results from the Diebold machines, now don't they?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

Maintaining control of the Senate is just as important as getting President Obama re-elected. We need to re-take the House as well if we are to be able to accomplish anything meaningful during a second term. My hope is that we are able to deliver a TKO to the Republicans (again) in 2012. If we get people motivated to vote to re-elect President Obama, it will help tremendously with down-ticket voting. We need to make a case against "divided" (aka dysfunctional) government if our country is to make any progress forward.

[cannae1]

The HoR and Senate are critical. I think that Obama will be able to handle himself quite well.
It is Congress that is number one. The Democratic party, nationally and in the states, have to be fully prepared and make the maximum effort.

As for the 'left', they are, basically, 'all hat, no cattle'. Always have been, always will be.

[Ikonoklast]

The public hostility to incumbents is a misleading poll....most people like THEIR reps and senators, it's YOURS they want out of office.

It is a relatively meaningless number, for instance, besides donating to his opponent, there is not a lot I can do to see Cantor defeated, no matter how much I despise him.

[Dimwitted Fool]

Well, ain't that just peachy.

Last year we saw what the teabaggers could do around here , with Tim Bishop up for reelection and what should have been a cakewalk turned into a month long nailbiter of recounts. We'll have another teabagger out for blood next year, and if Democrats stay home like they threaten to, we'll lose this seat for sure.

Gillibrand is also up for reelection, and she did very well last time out, but with upstate NY being a fount of teabaggery, I'm sure they'll be out for her blood, too. So far, Peter King the Crusader is the only potentially dangerous candidate, and she should be able to wipe the floor with him. But who knows...

We've got our work cut out for us.

[janedrake]

Check out how the story carries the teabaggers' water for them by helpfully describing them as a "fiscally conservative movement," even though their minions have done nothing but cost the nation billions in unnecessary debt since they arrived into Washington.

[Willinois]

(10-09-2011 09:32 PM)janedrake Wrote:  Check out how the story carries the teabaggers' water for them by helpfully describing them as a "fiscally conservative movement," even though their minions have done nothing but cost the nation billions in unnecessary debt since they arrived into Washington.

Good point. There's nothing "fiscally conservative" about cutting taxes while you wage war like a teenager with a stolen credit card.

[nofurylike]

thank you for that heads up, jaxx!