RNC heading for cliff: Refuse to back Tea Party candidate that won Repub. Primary

The Patriot Room ^ | 03/07/2010 | Clyde Middleton

[Neil E. Wright]

A taste of the RNC logic:

National Republican Party fundraisers aren't putting much stock in Joe Walsh's campaign to unseat incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean in the suburban 8th District [Illinois], a spokesman said Thursday.

...

"We're really focused on the seats where we see the clearest paths to victory," [National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Tom] Erickson said. "It's no secret these are the most competitive (races)."

The RNC will find a reason at every turn to favor their candidate over a Tea-Party candidate. To whom should they be listening - their entrenched bureaucracy or the voters? We know what the intra-WDC folks say - and it is reproduced, in part, below. Let's look at the voters:

U.S. House - District 8 - GOP Primary

Illinois - 503 of 503 Precincts Reporting - 100%

Name

Party

Votes

Vote %

Walsh, Joe	GOP	16,109	34%
Beveridge, Dirk	GOP	11,638	25%
Rodriguez, Maria	GOP	9,763	21%
Geissler, Christopher	GOP	4,256	9%
Dawson, John	GOP	3,909	8%
Jacobs, Gregory	GOP	1,441	3%

And, now, let's read how the RNC will create their own demise:

National Republican Party fundraisers aren't putting much stock in Joe Walsh's campaign to unseat incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean in the suburban 8th District [Illinois], a spokesman said Thursday.

...

"We're really focused on the seats where we see the clearest paths to victory," [National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Tom] Erickson said. "It's no secret these are the most competitive (races)."

The Walsh-vs.-Bean matchup doesn't make the cut. Walsh wasn't the GOP group's choice to face the three-term incumbent, Erickson said.

"In the primary, we had really liked Dirk Beveridge or Maria Rodriguez," Erickson said, referring to two of the five candidates Walsh defeated Feb. 2. "Those are the two candidates who we thought really had the potential to make this a very competitive race."

The Walsh camp isn't concerned about Erickson's ranking of the state's races, campaign spokeswoman Whitney Schlosser said.

"Joe Walsh is not part of the establishment and, unfortunately, some elements of the GOP establishment are still a bit tone deaf when it comes to independent, conservative reform candidates," Schlosser said in an e-mail. "It helps explain why they didn't see Walsh's primary victory coming."

A nine-point thumping in a crowded field isn't good enough for the RNC.

The fallacy of their logic is that they are telling us - "Yes, this race, but, no, not this candidate." The dem incumbent in Illinois 8 either is or is not vulnerable. The opposition candidate rarely makes her vulnerable - she does it herself. The opposition candidate merely exposes those vulnerabilities, exacerbates them, and makes them winning issues. He or she then runs on their own merits to bring home the electoral victory.

So we are reminded by the RNC: Dede Scozafavva was good enough; Joe Walsh - who beat their favored candidate fair and square - is not.

We conservatives do not want a 3d party, but you all in the RNC are making it more and more difficult to try to work out our differences.

[Rockingham]

Republican US House campaigns are within the purview of the NRCC, the National Republican Congressional Committee, not the NRC.

[Paperdoll]

Wll, darling, I am nearly 80 years old, raised my three children with no help from their father, or anyone else; managed a very successful career in real estate for over thirty years; am independently comfortable due to wise investments and living within my means; and am the very happy owner of a six month old Boston Terrier who makes me laugh all the time. I have an unwaivering faith in an amazing triune God Who has greatly blessed me. I wouldn’t trade it all for anything. How about you?

[BunnySlippers]

In my 60s. Work in stock market for almost 40 years. Own 2 properties and have many financial investments. I have a passion for fast sports cars and indulge myself on them. An avid photographer who just bought two new SLRs. Very comfortable. I knew i could never trust the government for retirement so invested for the future.

Can’t ask for more.

I know when to be an ideologue and when to be pragmatic. Sometimes, politics requires pragmatism. If you refuse to compromise, you will lose and lose and lose.

Keep doing it. It only adds fuel to the jerk in the Whitehouse.

[fightinJAG]

So what? When are people going to stop waiting around for the RNC or anyone else to do their business for them. Those days are over.

If the people support this guy, he’ll win. If not, he won’t -— no matter what the RNC does. WE know how to raise money. WE know how to make ads and get them out there on the web. WE know how to use social media, blogging and commenting to get a candidate earned media.

With FREEDOM, comes responsibility.

[fightinJAG]

No Third party! That will be the end of this nation as we had known it. God help our Republic in what this administration is doing.

Agreed.

I just can't see all this hullabulloo over who the --- whoopee! --- RNC will and will not back. People who want to see a certain guy get elected can use the Republican/TEA party to do so without the RNC or anyone else's permission or backing.

It's just a question of getting to work.

[Paperdoll]

Sports cars, huh? Sounds like fun. My passion was golf when I could still play. Reading when I could still read, And my five grandchildren when they were young and still around. My talent has been turning lemons into lemonade But I apparently have failed miserably with........... BunnySlippers. Have a lovely evening BS. :)

[fightinJAG]

In a war, you do NOT target EVERY enemy position, you pick and choose where to spend your energy, your ammunition, your resources, and your blood.

Sure, the RNC makes mistakes, any large organization makes mistakes.

However, you have not shown, in your post, that the RNC is wrong, in this instance.

Wise words. And even if the RNC is not "backing" this candidate, so what? The mid-term elections are not a zero-sum game. There's enough work to go around for everyone who wants to see the Rats politically crushed in November.

[fightinJAG]

Here is a little secret, the candidate lost his home due to a foreclosure....

You bring up an excellent point. The more we get away from the old way of doing things, with the party doing at least some of the work of vetting candidates, the more that responsibility falls on us.

We can do it, especially when a candidate rises to the level where the new media does a real job of helping to vet them (such as a candidate going on Beck or Hannity). But people need to be cautious: just because someone stands up and says he's a member of the Tea Party doesn't mean he's a stand-up guy.

[fightinJAG]

That said — rely on the grassroots. If you want this guy to win, open your wallets, go volunteer, and help him with a grassroots effort. That’s how you win elections not expecting the national people to come in and save the day.

PREACH IT, PhiKapMom! GO.

[RushLake]

That’s exactly how I feel. They can either lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way.

[fightinJAG]

THANK YOU.

(And please excuse me for shouting.)

[fieldmarshaldj]

*IL Politics Ping*

[chicagolady]

SCUZZI YES

Walsh NO

RNC and my Money...NO

Illinois GOP Viable...NO

ILLINOIS GOP Screwed up? YES

[Impy]

What kind of crack are they on?

Bean beat an out of touch incumbent and then won reelection against vanilla opponents in 2 heavily democrat years.

This should be a priority race. We need to exterminate all 3 of our Illinois rats living in GOP seats.