The tea party needs to learn there are consequences for their actions. In New Hapshire they are learning just that. A state where they were more popular than most, but having their elected candidate become mired in scandal after scandal showed most New Hamshirens just excactly who and what the tea party nreally is, more crooked American politics at its worst, filled with dupes who think they are making a change by waving placards and signs.
(Spathy, the tea party actions speak so much louder than your attempts to justify your support of them because they stand for smaller governement. Across the aisle of Democrat and Republican, conservative or liberal, except for politicians people share the theme of a limited government. It's not exclusive of the tea party. Our arguments are where to institute the limits and at what point to draw the line. I'm sure if I sat down with your nemesis, Patrap, that he and I would disagree more than agree on lines and limits, however I welcome his posts as they are subtle illustrations of his beliefs, not the do it my way or the highway as your posts are.)
Why New Hampshire Republicans have turned away from the tea party
By Felicia Sonmez
MANCHESTER, N.H. – What a difference a year makes.
An overflow crowd attends a town hall with former senator Rick Santorum in Hollis, N.H. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Fourteen months ago, the tea party swept the Granite State in the 2010 midterms, as more than four in 10 of those who went to the polls expressed support for the burgeoning movement. The sweep propelled new candidates, such as Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) and Rep. Frank Guinta, (R) on to big wins.
Two months later, the New Hampshire Republican State Committee elected as its party chairman Jack Kimball, a tea party-backed businessman with no political experience who bested establishment candidate Juliana Bergeron in an upset win.
Now, on the eve of this election year’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary, the tea party’s influence on the GOP is unmistakably on the wane. Kimball is out after a rocky seven months at the helm; Guinta likely faces a tough reelection bid; and – most ominous-- for the first time more than 50 percent of likely GOP voters in New Hampshire say that they do not support the smaller-government, anti-tax movement.
What happened?
As is often the case in politics, the answer is a mix of national and local.
Nationally, the public’s views of the tea party have been cooling for the better part of a year. A November Pew Research Center survey showed that during the 2010 midterms, 27 percent of Americans said they agreed with the tea party, while 22 percent disagreed. A year later, those numbers were nearly reversed: 27 percent said they disagreed with the movement, while 20 percent said they agreed. More than half of respondents said they had no opinion.
Those numbers are reflected in the most recent polls of likely New Hampshire GOP primary voters.
An NBC News/Marist poll released late Friday showed that for the first time, 53 percent of likely Republican primary voters said they are not supporters of the tea party, while 40 percent said they are supporters and seven percent were unsure.
That was an uptick in opposition to the movement from October, when 47 percent of likely voters said they did not support the tea party, 42 percent said they did support it and nine percent were undecided.
The latest Suffolk University/7 News tracking poll shows an even more drastic shift.
In mid-September, 48 percent of likely Republican primary voters polled by Suffolk University described themselves as supporters of the tea party, while 40 percent said they were not, and 12 percent were undecided.
Now, in the latest tracking poll, support for the movement has plummeted 11 points – from 48 percent to 37 percent of likely GOP primary voters. Opposition has risen four points, from 40 percent to 44 percent. Nineteen percent are undecided.
While the drop in support for the tea party in New Hampshire dovetails with national trends, not all early states are seeing a similar decline. In fact, in two states with a conservative-leaning GOP electorate – Iowa and South Carolina – support has held steady or been rising in recent months.
In Iowa, which held its caucuses last week, 64 percent of those who voted were tea-party supporters, according to exit polls. Twenty-four percent described themselves as neutral, and 10 percent said they opposed the tea party.
That’s on par with the 65 percent of likely Iowa GOP caucus-goers in a July Mason-Dixon poll who said the phrase “tea party supporter” described them “very well” or “somewhat well.”
And in South Carolina, an early December NBC News/Marist poll shows support for the tea party stands at 51 percent among likely GOP primary voters, while 40 percent say they do not back the movement, and nine percent are unsure.
That’s actually an increase in support from October, when 45 percent of likely GOP voters in South Carolina said they backed the tea party, 44 percent said they did not, and 10 percent were unsure.
There’s another possible explanation for why the tea party has been losing favor in New Hampshire: the state’s local politics, particularly when it comes to the New Hampshire Republican Party chairmanship.
In January 2010, Kimball l eked out a narrow 222-to-199 win among members of the state Republican Committee in the chairmanship race. But his tenure at the party helm was quickly beset by allegations of corruption and incompetence.
As pressure mounted from within his own party to resign – including from Ayotte, Guinta and others who rode the 2010 tea party wave -- Kimball defiantly declared that he would not step down. He then reversed course a few days later, and Wayne MacDonald, then the party’s vice chairman, stepped into the chairmanship.
The episode may have served as a cautionary tale of the challenges that come with elevating a tea party-backed newcomer to political office. MacDonald, has a resume that contrasts sharply with Kimball’s: His biography on the New Hampshire Republican Party Web site notes that he has “political experience spanning more than three decades” and has served “at every level” in the state committee.
What does it all mean for Tuesday’s primary?
It’s the latest explanation for why former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R) is going from strength to strength in the Granite State.
The Iowa exit polls show that tea party supporters were fractured in last week’s caucuses: 29 percent backed former senator Rick Santorum, while 19 percent backed Rep. Ron Paul (Texas); 19 percent backed Romney; 15 percent supported former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.); and 11 percent voted for former Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Tea party opponents, however, were far more unified: 43 percent of them voted for Romney. A plurality of those who said they were neutral about the tea party also voted for Romney -- he took 32 percent.
So, the fewer likely GOP primary voters in New Hampshire who say the support the tea party, the better the odds are for Romney.
In a sign that tea party supporters in the Granite State are also unlikely to rally behind a single candidate on primary day, Guinta has said that he is declining to endorse a particular candidate.
And, notably, Paul – who has been hailed as a congressman who was “tea party before there was a tea party” – has been buoyed more by young voters (he won 48 percent of 17- to-29-year-olds in Iowa) than by tea party backers. Some of his most ardent fans in the Granite State were chagrined about the slack in tea party support over the weekend.
“Ron Paul is the founding father of the tea party. Don’t call yourself a tea party and then spit on the guy that started it,” Glen Aldrich, a 54-year-old unemployed carpenter from Guilford, said as he stood outside of Paul’s Sunday event in Meredith rounding up support for the candidate.
Aldrich noted that last month, the Lakes Region Tea Party, which meets just down the street from where Paul’s event was held, backed Gingrich in an informal straw poll of its members. Seventeen members backed Gingrich; 12 members cast ballots for Romney; only three voted for Paul.
“Wow,” Aldrich said of his reaction to the poll results. “I said, ‘No reason for me to go there. Ain’t too many people think like I do.’ I considered myself a tea-partier until then.”
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Sessions' spokeswoman, Torrie Miller, confirmed that the congressman was told that records show he received the discounts through Countrywide's VIP program.
Sessions becomes the fourth House member – and third Republican – whose records were sent to the House Ethics Committee for further investigation. The ethics panel will likely investigate whether the lawmakers received improper gifts and whether they performed any favorable actions for the lender. The four were notified by the House Oversight Committee.
Its regressive at best, Suicidal if ever allowed to reign here again for 8 years.
We're just now digging out from that Nightmarish span.
Oh,, and Willard is being Willard.
Clueless as to the real concern's of America.
Wanna bet "10K" he loses in November?
I have a chance to make Millions I believe, easily.
Wu-mail me if ya interested.
Willard doesn't know his first name either!
WATCH: Mitt Romney Just Got His Own First Name Wrong
Look wiki is back up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney
You as a Human,are not Dumb, that is "wrong" thinking, you are the Universe, sentient.
Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.
But in the pristine prairies of the Great Plains states, ranchers on the frontlines have been equally engaged in the fight. At stake is the country’s most important groundwater resource—the Ogallala Aquifer—which provides drinking water to residents in eight states and is the sustaining force for much of America’s breadbasket.
From The WaPo: Rick Perry’s ‘oops’ campaign never ready for prime time
Alan Grayson "Newt Gingrich Is A Stupid Person's Idea Of What A Smart Person Looks Like"
(audio only - no video)
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