Posted on 05/23/2010 1:35:21 PM PDT by grace522
After higher ups in the Bucks County GOP prevented tea party members by court order from handing out campaign literature during last week's primary election, what will their commitment be to Mike Fitzpatrick's run for Congress?
Tea party leaders spoke out in no uncertain terms about their distaste for the treatment they received from the party establishment and are calling on Fitzpatrick to mend fences.
If not, they say, come the Nov. 2 General Election, those enthusiastic supporters who helped elect the likes of Rand Paul in Kentucky, Chris Christie in New Jersey and Scott Brown in Massachusetts, might elect to stay home.
Anastasia Przybylski, head of the Kitchen Table Patriots, said as much last week.
"The grassroots people are disenfranchised right now, they're disgruntled," she said. "If this is left alone they're not going to get the turnout that they need. People are really steamed."
Jennifer Stefano, vice president of the Thomas Jefferson Club, said Fitzpatrick, whom she called the de facto face of the party, "has a grassroots problem."
(Excerpt) Read more at phillyburbs.com ...
The Tea Party fliers failed to adhere to state election laws. If you’re going to be part of the political process, you need to be aware of the rules for that process.
My district and I’m very discouraged. First I heart Fitzpatrick say he wouldn’t repeal the healthcare bill (though I understand he may have changed his stand on that since) now this. He seems like the status quo and there’s nothing I hate more right now than status quo.
Judge Robert Baldi issued an order Tuesday morning, the day of the primary, barring distribution of the leaflets because they did not include a disclaimer identifying the group or individual that authorized and paid for them. For that reason, Baldi wrote, the fliers were in violation of the state election code.
Although Judge Gary Gilman modified the order later in the day to allow their distribution if references to the Republican Party were removed and a disclaimer was added, tea party members said the Bucks County GOP succeeded in its goal of silencing their call for a change in the Republican Party's direction.
I see this as being akin to Pia Varma getting tossed off the ballot after a petition challenge - some of her petitions failed the most basic of reviews. If you are going to try to run with the big dogs, you'd better understand exactly what it takes each step of the way.
Wrong - The people running for office were theratened and told they’d be removed from office if they didn’t push for the “endorsed” slate. The fact that the flyers didn’t have a “paid for” notice on them is irrelevant. They were paid for by a private citizen who has the constitutional right to free speech. The only reason these judges issued the order was because they are political hacks as well; dependent on the GOP machine to get elected.
Don’t leave your vote at home. If you don’t vote, that is a vote for the democrats. I don’t care who you vote for, just vote...
Uh, that's state law, according to the links provided. You see it on all campaign materials.
What you know about the Pia Varma ballots you could fit on the head of a pin. Meehan and Canuso did Bob Brady’s bidding for him. If you don’t know that, you’re in on it Dirtboy.
We won’t be ‘disenfranchised’ for long.
I’d say a huge proportion of working America is a ‘disenfranchised, disgruntled’ group.
Well, I guess we’ll see when they bring a Federal Civil Rights lawsuit against the Bucks County GOP. That should help Poprick and her crew.
Problem with liberals who are a tiny minority are that they all went into teaching and reporting the news, which has basically caused a lot of brainwashing and forgetting of history.
Once again, Pia Varma didn't make sure her own petitions met basic requirements - a couple were circulated by someone outside the district. First rule of politics is that you don't give your opponents the hammer to hit you with. And no, I am not in on it. I am a volunteer on Dee Adock's campaign, and he got nearly 2,400 signatures to make sure he couldn't be challenged because of a couple hundred having problems. Even so, he met with a lawyer when the Schwartz campaign used a proxy to challenge all three candidate's petitions.
Pia only had 1,100 or so, so it was easy to get her tossed.
Using federal courts to intervene against state campaign laws? Pia tried that as well to salvage her petitions, and it fell flat. The feds largely leave states to themselves as to how their campaign laws are conducted.
Look, I am a Tea Party member and was a conservative activist on the streets long before the Tea Party came into being. But if the Tea Party wants to be a player, they need to learn the game and how it is played. It's that basic.
Oh, I'll vote, there's way too much at stake. And I'll vote for Fitzpatrick because Patrick Murphy is even worse. I'll probably even work for Fitzpatrick and Toomey because I want the Dems out!
In droves come November.
I advocated for the GOP candidates in the 13th and was personally responsible for the considerable pressure put on Schwartz (and her proxies)to drop the challenges. I also confronted Dee when he was considering a challenge of Haughton and Quinter. I personally called Kerns and told him we would reign a shit storm down on him if he didn’t withdraw the challenge. As it turned out, he withdrew because Schwartz had already done his bidding. Pia Varma was sabotaged by Meehan who purposely “spiked” her petitions at the behest of Bob Brady. She should have done a better job getting petitions signed but with an extremelt tight budget and a lethargic Philly GOP, itwas a difficult task. (Not like the relatively easy task in the 13th). As for having people outside the district circulate; it is NOT a violation of electoral law and the State provision has been overruled numerous times.
The state law refers to a “candidate” which is defined as a candidate for State or Federal office; not Republican State Committee. There is a legal difference. The judge got it wrong. See section 3241 of the PA election code.
The challenge, it was done by the Montco GOP. I was not aware of any challenge initiated by the Adcock campaign, nor did it support the Montco challenge.
Considering Pia never showed up in court for the hearing, I guess that went unchallenged.
Not me, I'm very gruntled.
If the GOP doesn't want the vote of tea partiers then it's the GOP who is selecting the democrat as their candidate.
You are correct. It was done by the MONTCO GOP but Dee was aware of it, no?
It did get challenged. Her mistake was not showing up. She is a novice and has learned much. Fact remains, Meehan and Canuso did Bob Brady’s bidding to protect their PPA and General Asphalt deals with the city. Disgraceful. They should be investigated and sent to jail.
If the Tea Partiers in Bucks County let anything “disgruntle” them enough to stay home, they weren’t worth anything anyway. This has to be an article that’s meant to shape the opinion of Tea Party members and influence them to give up or to split the Republicans and keep the conservatives away from the polls.
They must be proud of themselves to be so gruntled.
DING DING DING... no more calls folks, we have a winner.
Mistake? Please, if you get served for court, YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO SHOW UP.
After it was initiated - and Dee did not approve of it.
OK. That’s not the impression I got when I spoke to Dee but if he says so, I believe he is an honorable man and I’ll take his word on it. He has my full support.
It was a kangaroo court orchestrated by Bob Brady. They purposely disregarded the facts to reach a pre-ordained conclusion. Brady gets those judges elected. It is a total sham.
Actually, that’s not it at all. The law only applies to “candidates” defined as those running for state and federal office. The court order was bogus and written by judges who rely upon the local GOP machine to get elected. It was a disgrace and there will be repercussions.
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