Posted on 05/21/2010 6:03:18 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Out in Idaho, one tea party Republican has had enough of Sarah Palin.
Lucas Baumbach, who's running for the state senate, is angry that Palin is butting in to the Republican race to unseat U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick (D). What's worse, she's endorsing the other guy.
"I think she should let Idahoans pick for themselves instead of shoving a candidate down our throats," he told TPMDC in an interview today.
Baumbach supports Raul Labrador, a conservative state representative who openly supports repealing the 17th Amendment. But Palin is stumping for Vaughn Ward, who was the Nevada state director for John McCain's presidential campaign, by headlining a fund-raiser tomorrow night.
So, as the Idaho Reporter originally reported, Baumbach is organizing an anti-Palin protest outside the rally He said he expects about 200 people, many of them from the local tea party.
"I'm a big fan of Palin's in the past, but I have to question whether the money's going to her head," Baumbach said, or whether she's just doing "what McCain tells her."
Baumbach takes issue with Palin for endorsing candidates like Carly Fiorina in California, accusing her of following McCain's line instead of listening to what tea parties have to say.
And it's even worse, he says, for her to impose herself on Idaho.
"She has a lot more star power here" than in California, he said. "I think it's just abusive."
A spokesman for Ward said it's nothing but "sour grapes."
"I just find it interesting that people who have been extremely supportive of Sarah and would have been very excited had she come here for Raul would have done exactly the opposite," said the spokesman, Mike Tracy.
Ward's name recently graced TPMDC's pages when he said he'd favor repealing the 17th Amendment and had to immediately backtrack. It may have been a move by Ward, the NRCC's pick for the seat, to scoop up some ultra-conservative votes from Labrador -- who openly supports repealing the amendment. (Repealing the amendment would take electing senators out of the hands of the public and give it to the state legislatures.)
Additional reporting by Evan McMorris-Santoro
Late update: Don't expect to see Labrador, the guy Baumbach supports and Ward's opponent, at the anti-Palin rally. Labrador released a statement calling for conservatives to stop attacking Palin.
"Sarah Palin's visit to Idaho on behalf of the beleaguered Vaughn Ward Congressional Campaign has prompted many comments by conservatives," wrote his campaign. "We are disappointed with her coming into this Primary Race - as Ward clearly is the damaged candidate - but we urge conservatives to STOP the attacks on Gov. Palin."
Bite Me! He can bitch and moan, but I will doubt his sincerity to the end.
Honestly I’m happy she’s stayed out of my district race.
I’m not beating up on her in particular, I just feel that any help given should be run by the people in the district to make sure she or anyone else endorses the candidate the locals actually want.
Go Sarah!
Why in the world should Palin listen to what Tea Party folks say?
She isn't running for anything. Why should she care?
She's after the dollars. Who can blame her?
Really, I think common sense would dictate that such effort would be better applied towards a real issue.
A quick check and it seems that Mr. Lucas Baumbach is a Paultard who supports Adam Kokesh. No wonder Palin supports his opponent.
All this endorsement stuff is ridiculous. Politics is local.
For citizens who believe in self governing, they shouldn’t need someone to tell them who to vote for. (I’m just old school Alice Cooper -if you need me to tell you who to vote for, you shouldn’t vote!! It’s your duty to be informed.)
- - - - - - - - -
"Sarah Palin's visit to Idaho on behalf of the beleaguered Vaughn Ward Congressional Campaign has prompted many comments by conservatives," wrote his campaign. "We are disappointed with her coming into this Primary Race - as Ward clearly is the damaged candidate - but we urge conservatives to STOP the attacks on Gov. Palin."
So you have to go to leftist websites like TPM to find your Palin-bashing propaganda?
- JP
maybe MaCain asked her to help
Well, I don’t know this guy, but surely at least one or two of the guys working for McCain may have been OK. After all, he was running against Obama.
FWIW, I binged his name, and he has a pro-life endorsement, stands for cutting spending, and wants to build nuclear power. Sounds OK on the face of it.
He’s not a political operative, he’s an Idaho state politician who evidently helped the Republican campaign in 2008. Can’t really blame him for that, since there was no choice but McCain.
http://www.bing.com/search?q=raul+labrador+idaho&form=DLCDF8&pc=MDDC&src=IE-SearchBox
Isn’t Raul Labrador a Hispanic immigration lawyer? That’s just what Idaho needs when the country is virtually at war with Mexico...
"Sarah Palin's visit to Idaho on behalf of the beleaguered Vaughn Ward Congressional Campaign has prompted many comments by conservatives," wrote his campaign. "We are disappointed with her coming into this Primary Race - as Ward clearly is the damaged candidate - but we urge conservatives to STOP the attacks on Gov. Palin."
I’m tired of ANY national figure coming to a local republican primary and endorsing. Best left to those in the state.
BTW, Palin was born in Idaho...
How is Palin's endorsement different than some official at the local or state level?
Palin's a private citizen. If people are upset about her endorsements, then what does that say about the intelligence of those outraged and the quality of the candidate they support?
JD Hayworth is a confident candidate who can win because he didn't bitch about Palin's support of McCain and urged his supporters not to worry about it either. It's time other Republican candidates who didn't get endorsed by Palin do the same *cough DeVore cough*
Yea let’s ask Labrador his opinion on the AZ law and then get back to me.
Duncan Hunter is also supporting Vaughn Ward.
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