Growing Rift in G.O.P. is about to get ugly (for them)

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Sat Nov-13-10 07:03 PM
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Growing Rift in G.O.P. is about to get ugly (for them)

Growing Rift in G.O.P. is about to get ugly (for them)

by Lefty Coaster

Prominent conservative activists Viguerie and Allen issued this call for the Tea Party to take over the GOP.

It's time for the Tea Party to take over the GOP

It's time to begin the hard work that will ensure that future Republican nominees, at all levels from constable to president, are supporters of Tea Party principles. It's time to flood GOP meetings, to seek party offices ranging from precinct committee member to national convention delegate, and to gently (or not) push aside the party's moribund, incompetent leadership.

How incompetent? Polls show that conservatives outnumber liberals by more than 2 to 1 nationally, and that conservatives outnumber liberals in 49 or 50 of the 50 states, yet the Left dominates our country's politics, media, academia, and, increasingly, big business.

Such is possible only because members of the Republican establishment are more concerned with the needs of K Street and Wall Street than the needs of Main Street. They worry more about their popularity down at the country club than about the concerns of working-class and small-business-class Americans.

They followed that up by threatening Republicans who complain that the Senator Jim DeMint by acting as the Pied Piper of the Tea Party and leading them into the Republican fold, DeMint pushed the Party to the Hard Right and squandered their opportunity for a GOP majority in the Senate as a result.

Conservative Leaders Threaten Critics Of Sen. Jim DeMint

"Conservatives will not only challenge and beat more Republican senators in Republican primaries, but conservatives will stop funding and volunteering for the NRSC and the RNC," Viguerie wrote in a letter addressed to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. "Instead, conservatives will send their money to, and volunteer for, Senator DeMint�s Senate Conservative Fund and the candidates Senator DeMint supports."

And Viguerie and his counterparts didn�t stop there:

"It would be our goal for the Senate Conservatives Fund to raise more money than the NRSC," the letter continues. "Conservatives will also work to defeat in Republican primaries those Republicans who retain consultants who criticize or try to undermine Senator DeMint."

These far right leaders are trying to bully Republican Moderates into not making the case for nominating more moderate candidates who have broader appeal.

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UPDATE: The Tea Party Patriots are in damage control mode after the overwhelmingly critical reaction to their e-mail featured in the diary above.

Tea Party Group Asks: Please Stop Calling Congress

Hundreds of calls were made to Reps, as well as to Brian Kennedy, president of the Claremont Institute. He told Roll Call in an e-mail that he's been getting harassing calls: "I have received many nasty and threatening calls saying we should 'stand down' and that 'they have my number,'" he wrote.

"We have had reports from Congressmen-Elect's staff that they have received 500+ phone calls in less than 24 hours. When the Tea Party decides to make its collective voice heard all at once it's a bit like dropping a nuclear bomb. The government fears us, which is good for freedom," they wrote.

"For the moment, we are asking you to stop making calls."

The group acknowledged that some of the contact numbers they had included personal cell phone numbers or fax numbers. "This list was the best information we had at the time. We also understand that sometimes members of Congress find it annoying to receive numerous calls from voters. But we encourage them to remember it is part of the job and they asked to be hired. This will not be the last time."