Tea Party VS. GOP

I predicted last year that the GOP and Tea Party will endure a bitter primary season and it would end up costing the Republicans seats in House, Senate, and for state Governorships. To some extent I was right, but it was not as bitter as I anticipated. In most cases the GOP and Tea Party members are uniting to get their primary winners elected into office. With all that being said, the GOP – Tea Party rivalry will most definitely cost the Republicans any chance of maximizing their gains in this woeful climate for Democrat incumbents. In fact, it will in all likelihood cost the GOP any chance of winning back the Senate.

The rivalry started last year during the special election to fill the open New York house seat in their 23rd congressional district. The GOP nominated a left leaning moderate, Dede Scozzafava, for the open seat. The Tea Party was not happy with that selection and they pushed for Doug Hoffman and he ran as a third party candidate. After Hoffman surged in the polls, Scozzafava dropped out, but the damage was done. Hoffman lost to Democrat Bill Owens by a mere 3 points mainly because Scozzafava still garnered 6% of the vote. What’s worse is that the Republicans did not learn their lesson. Hoffman lost the 2010 GOP primary bid to Matt Doheny for the same congressional seat, but Hoffman insists he will run again as a third party candidate. The New York 23rd congressional district is very winnable seat in 2010 for the GOP, but not when Republicans split their vote.

Here is a list of other races that the GOP – Tea Party rivalry may end up costing them seats:

Florida Senate – When it became apparent that moderate Charlie Crist would not win the Republican nomination over Tea Party favorite Marco Rubio, Crist withdrew from the Republican Party and is running as an independent. The good news is that recent polls indicate Rubio is surging ahead.

Colorado Governor – Tea Party favorite Tom Tancredo has decided to run as a third party candidate all but giving the election to Democrat John Hickenlooper. The Republican nominee Dan Maes had a strong chance of winning the race until Tancredo threw his name into the ring. How can any American trust Tancredo to run a State when he cannot even run his personal finances? Tancredo was one of the victims of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scam.

Alaska Senate – The bitter rivalry between incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski and Tea Partier Sarah Palin may come back to haunt the GOP in November. Murkowski lost her primary to Sarah Palin favorite, Joe Miller. However, Murkowski will be a write in candidate on the November ballot meaning the seat could be lost to the Democrats.

Other Senate Races – Tea Party favorites won heated GOP primaries in Delaware (Christine O’Donnell), Nevada (Sharon Angle), and Colorado (Ken Buck). All three candidates have been painted as extremists and do not poll as favorably as their more moderate primary foes against their Democratic adversaries. To make matters worse in Delaware is that O’Donnell has a sketchy past of financial and legal woes. Democratic commercials paint these candidates as right wing extremists because they believe social security should be invested in the stock market or they disagree with the Constitutional amendment that let’s the people elect U.S. Senators instead of the state legislators. These are not radical ideas, but this type of far left fear mongering may work and it could cost the GOP from picking up seats in these battleground states.

This election season could have been an historic one for the GOP to win back the House and Senate despite currently holding a mere 40% of those seats. However, it is not going to happen and it can be to some extent blamed on the GOP – Tea Party power struggle.