Posted on 02/12/2013 10:44:09 AM PST by cotton1706
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) is ramping up his 2014 reelection bid with 2012 barely in the rearview mirror. The timing is no coincidence, with the past two election cycles illustrating that early action is the most effective way for vulnerable Republicans to deter primary threats.
To wit: Sens. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who charted starkly different paths in 2012. Hatch will return to Congress in 2013, while Lugar will not.
“It sends a message that Tennessee Republicans have their house in order,” said a Republican close to Alexander. “We’re not going to stand around slinging mud at each other the way Republicans in other states have.”
Alexander appears to be paving a road to reelection that looks more like Hatch’s effort than Lugar’s. He kicked off his campaign over the weekend with robust Republican support, announcing a team that includes the state’s Republican governor and every Republican member of the state’s congressional delegation, save for embattled Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R).
Alexander may not be as vulnerable as Hatch and Lugar were last cycle. But the second-term senator isn’t taking any chances, wagering that a strong early showing will scare away any potential threats on his right.
It’s a strategy that’s produced results for other Republicans. After witnessing his GOP colleague Robert Bennett fall at the hands of conservative activists in 2010, Hatch laid the groundwork early for his 2012 campaign, extending olive branches to conservative activists and building an army of supporters to become delegates at his party’s nominating convention.
It worked. Hatch scared Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R) away from challenging him and easily dispatched of lesser-known former state senator Dan Liljenquist (R).
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Moderator, please change to 2014’s
Karl Rove’s new “beat the TEA Party” strategy underway...
I’ll bet the 7 out of 10 people who voiced their approval for Alexander are not aware of his liberal voting record.
There was an article I read that said he votes 63% of the time in lockstep with Obama.He just recently voted to send military equipment to the Muslim Brotherhood/Morsi. Conservative he’s not.
Alexander is a political cross dresser—a Dim in Republican clothes.
I hope Tennesseans won’t be fooled again, but am concerned no strong challenger will emerge.
According to the Congressional Quarterly, Alexander votes with Obama 62% of the time. RINO!!!!!! Corker’s not much better.
lugar was barry bigears favorite republican. lamar was a ways to go fill those sandals.
Tennessee and its GOP owe soooooo much more to America than left trash like LAMAR!!!! and Corker. These jerks and all too many from other states like Illinois's Nancy Boy Kirk ARE the Democrat Margin of Victory. Take LAMAR's scalp in the 2014 primary as Swish Crist's scalp and Treasonweasel Lugar's and Big Dollar Dewhurst's and Old Fart Bennett's were taken in recent years.
The GOP-E have given Obozo two (TWO!!!) terms in the White House by issueless opposition and political pattycake. Drive each and every one of the bastards from public life. Make Tokyo Rove's issue free big Wall Street money campaigns the political equivalent of child molesting as the kiss of death to any candidacy.
He took over in January 1979, not Dec 1977.
Unfortunately, there is no on in the hopper at present that wants to run against Lamar!. He made sure to rack up all those endorsements to preclude any surprise challengers. We also have the serious problem of open primaries, so even if a credible challenger stepped up, the party establishment would try to recruit a 3rd opponent to take votes from said challenger and/or encourage Democrats to flood the primary to back Lamar! as the most liberal nominee.
Heh... I remember reading this back in December when it was first published.
Anyway, Lamar Alexander is an untrustworthy, pandering, jelly glob. I certainly hope somebody conservative steps up to challenge him.
Yeah that was great we flushed Lugar who had an 80% R voting record in favor of Donnelly a 97% Baraqqi.
Mourdock really let us down. Never again can we run guys who don’t have a clue that the MSM is a fundamental part of the progressive regime.
I’m a lifelong resident of Nashville. I was just a little kid at the time, though. It was rather amusing that these fellow Dems were scrambling to swear in Lamar! early for fear ole Ray would empty out the prisons en masse. A decade later as a teenager, I almost walked smack into Ray at our corner grocery. I had to bite my tongue when I started to blurt out, “Pardon me, Governor.”
Sounds familiar to this Illinoisan. Open primaries are as bad a threat as “jungle primaries.” Illinois does not even allow registration by political party. Ominously, here in Illinois where our ex-governors make our license plates, the current governor (prisoner in waiting, actually) Pat Quinn(occhio) has recently proposed that anyone be able to vote in both primaries. That would presumably empower Demonrats who REALLY care about their Marxist candidates du jour to vote for them without losing their ability to vote in GOP primaries simultaneously. The recruitment of multiple conservative candidates to cancel out each other’s chances at nomination is a high art for the alleged GOP leadership here. Quinnochio carried about 3 counties out of 105 last time out but one was the all important Cook County which gave him an overall statewide sliver sized margin of victory.
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