[Maelstorm]

We let our eye get off the ball with Mark Kirk who is not moderate but radically liberal on everything from guns to gays and the environment but there are hundreds more only slightly less like him. Do we really want to return to the era of big government Republicanism? We have an opportunity for conservatism to win nearly every where in this country.

[ABQHispConservative]

We should also expect conservative candidates to motivate the base and the tea parties. Not just sit there and expect things to fall in place. The candidates must be hungry and must be willing to run around everywhere to get elected. That is the big lesson I take from Scott Brown in Massachusetts.

[SuziQ]

I believe this will be a regional thing. There are some states in which it’s almost impossible to elect a true conservative. Illinois is one, and Massachusetts is another. There will be states in which conservatives can be elected, so the Tea Party folks will work hard for them.

[pissant]

Perry is the most egregious example

[Prokopton]

We have an opportunity for conservatism to win nearly every where in this country.

Not if we have the Republican Party and people like Palin working against us e.g. Arizona and Texas.

[Will88]

The Tea Party movement will have to (and I think does) have a regional and even state flavor, finding the most conservative candidates with good chances to win. And then financial support for promising candidates can come from activists all over the US.

[wardaddy]

I was there Saturday night with my wife and Freedom’s Worth It and Seek The Truth and Recondad and I think a few others from this austere forum.

I did not see moderates in much force personally...at all.

maybe they did

seemed like everyone...conventioneers and mere banquet attendees like my wife and i were super enthusiatic about Palin.

[patriot preacher]

It’s not necessary that Conservatives/Tea Partiers agree with a candidate on EVERY issue — bt on core issues there is no compromise. If RINO’s win, then Republicans should expect to LOSE the general election. Period. There is no time to have to work around RINO’s. Conservative principles and ideals are necessary NOW. Anything less and not only does the nation go down, but they LIBS will have the ammunition to BLAME “conservatives” for it!

[molybdenum]

The TeaParty movement has been thrown into confusion deliberately IMO, Hannity on radio this aft was talking about a move to infiltrate and co-opt the TP and he's a little late to the part on this one. The convention in Nashville was for an entity separate from the movement, since the real thing is grassroots & has no actual org or leader. TPN (you probably know this by now) is owned by Judson Phillips, Nashville businessman with political interests, said to be conservative. Whether he self financed it or had backing I've not yet found.

600 people attended? Paid Sarah Palin 100K...which she placed in her PAC to be distributed to --whom? Maelstorm, do you have any answers to any of this worrisome stuff?

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

The main argument is silly. Everyone has known for months that Kirk had IL locked.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Warning! Tea Party movement beware.

The recall of the California governor was started and manned by thousands of ordinary citizens. Volunteers gathered the signatures. (I believe Congressman Darrell Issa contributed a substantial sum to help the signature effort, however.) Some conservative radio hosts ridiculed the effort and some backed the effort.

All the Democrat "newspapers" ridiculed and trashed the volunteers.

The California Republican Party pooh-poohed the movement. IOW the Republican Party backed the Democrat governor. Union goons harassed and even physically attacked volunteers.

Then a (not so) funny thing happened. Once it was clear that the effort was going to succeed and there would be a recall election the Republican Party elbowed the citizens aside and claimed the effort was theirs and Schwarzenegger was the man. The rest is history. Arguably we are worse off now than we were with the Democrat governor.

[Inyokern]

Kirk is running against Alexi Giannoulias whose only qualification for office is that he used to play basketball with Obama. We HAVE to beat this guy. Kirk may not be perfect but if he wins it will be a big slap in the face to 0.

I consider this the most important senate race in the entire country. Kirk has to win.

[Randy Larsen]

The only moderate republicans are Rinos!

True republicans are conservatives with true conservative values!

[Plutarch]

With Obama so far to the left, even the RINO's end up on our side. Just yesterday, Obama's Craig Becker nomination to the National Labor Relations Board was rebuffed by 41 united Republicans. Olympia Snowe was voted with the GOP, and we didn't even have to sweat it.

The only RINO infuriating us now is Grahamnesty on Cap & Tax, and even he was a veritable lion against Obamacare.

[upsdriver]

Agreed, conservative candidates aren’t going to be anointed. They still need to earn the nomination and likewise, we have to outwork the other campaigns.

[freekitty]

No we don’t.

[GonzoGOP]

Look at the two states they give us. Illinois and California. They are farther left than the USSR. That GOP of any flavor is competitive is amazing. And that we (I'm from Illinois) put up enough votes to keep Kirk honest is very important. He knows that even if he wins he has can't stray too far off the reservation or he will face a tea party candidate in the next primary.

That is why voting real conservatives in the primary is important even if you lose. It is a statement of intent, that you will cause trouble if the RINO starts to act to frequently on his RINO tendencies. To hear Kirk now giving his "I'm so Sorry" speech about Cap -n- Tax tells you that he is afraid of the tea party people staying home or voting third party. And a scared RINO is the only kind that can be trusted. But to keep them scared you need a credible threat.

[Altura Ct.]

moderate

What does that word even mean?

[Monterrosa-24]

“...moderate Republicans are surging from Illinois to California...”

Thats like saying conservative Republicans are surging from Alabama to Wyoming. Gee who would have thought lib Illinois and lib California may have more moderates in the GOP. But out in the sticks we’ll do well even there.

[MaxMax]

When the Tea Parties start handing out printed signs, it's over.
I'm sure the RATs are going all out to push their own agenda during
these events but many are missing the point and will revert back to
sitting on the couch sucking their thumb...

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

PING!

RINO alert!