Posted on 12/01/2011 7:06:31 AM PST by Eagle of Liberty
In a few 2012 Senate races, tea- party challenges seemed almost inevitable. Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe (R), Virginia Senate candidate George Allen(R), Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar (R), and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) were all expected to face tough competition on the right. But so far, serious challenges in all three races have failed to materialize.
Maybe it’s a case of tea-party groups firing too early. Some of these incumbents have been targets since before last fall’s election. That’s given them plenty of time to react. They also know to take these challenges seriously, because they saw firsthand the damage wrought by similar primary challenges in 2010.
“ If there is one silver lining to the disastrous nominations of candidates like [Delaware Senate nominee] Christine O’Donnell (R) last cycle, it’s that no one, and particularly incumbents, are taking anything for granted,” said a senior Republican strategist.
In Maine, tea-partier Scott D’Amboise has gotten attention mostly for off-the-wall quotes and antics — for example, saying he doesn’t believe President Obama is a Christian and demanding Snowe resign.
But those kinds of headlines likely won’t play well in Maine, and like Radtke, D’Amboise has struggled to raise money: he collected $117,394 during the second quarter while Snowe gathered over $1 million.
Another Maine tea partier, Andrew Ian Dodge is even more of a long-shot as an all-black-wearing music columnist, novelist and self-described ”cyber-punk.”
Meanwhile, Snowe has been touting her fiscal discipline and co-authoring a constitutional amendment with Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a tea-party favorite.
Walker said that FreedomWorks doesn’t expect a serious challenger to emerge against Snowe, despite the fact that she has been a top target of some tea-party groups.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I want Orville to hit the highway.
Lugar hasn’t been affected so much because the Indianapolis Star (a liberal Gannett rag) has become Lugar’s defacto press agent. About once a month now they run a fawning Lugar puff piece masquerading as “news”.
It’s long past time for Senator Lugar to retire. The guy has been in the Senate since 1976. That’s long enough and then some for anyone.
We are focused on the Presidential too much, or I should say the media is. Lugar is targeted here in IN, he is NOT getting the same amount of local support he has been enjoying for years and his polls have to be telling him that.
Lugar is over the hill.
But Snowe has got to goe!
Utah and Indiana should be safe places to run a real conservative and tea party candidate. Why can’t it happen?
Maine ladies are RINOs, but Maine is blue state so I’m fine with that. Conservatives are extremely unlikely to win in Maine (or say, NY, CA) so some Snowe/Fred Thompson style RINO is acceptable in those blue states. But in red states no way. There we must run conservative candidate.
Utah and Indiana should be safe places to run a real conservative and tea party candidate. Why can’t it happen?
Maine ladies are RINOs, but Maine is blue state so I’m fine with that. Conservatives are extremely unlikely to win in Maine (or say, NY, CA) so some Snowe/Fred Thompson style RINO is acceptable in those blue states. But in red states no way. There we must run conservative candidate.
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