Head of centrist Republican PAC: Let’s go beat the snot out of tea partiers in the primaries

Hotair ^ | 10/24/2013 | AllahPundit

[SeekAndFind]

Dude, they’re feeling it. The RINOs are ready to charge.

Assuming they’re successful and a bunch of tea-party incumbents get bounced from the House, it’s pretty much third-party time for grassroots conservatives, right?

From Alabama to Alaska, the center-right, business-oriented wing of the Republican Party is gearing up for a series of skirmishes that it hopes can prevent the 2014 midterm election from turning into another missed opportunity. This will not be a coordinated operation. It will be messy, ugly, and prone to backfiring. And if the comeback succeeds, it will be in fits and starts, most likely culminating in the selection of a presidential nominee in 2016.

“Hopefully we’ll go into eight to 10 races and beat the snot out of them,” said former Rep. Steve LaTourette of Ohio, whose new political group, Defending Main Street, aims to raise $8 million to fend off tea-party challenges against more mainstream Republican incumbents. “We’re going to be very aggressive and we’re going to get in their faces.”…

Tactics being discussed among Republican strategists, donors, and party leaders include running attack ads against tea-party candidates for Congress; overthrowing Ron Paul’s libertarian acolytes dominating the Iowa and Minnesota state parties; promoting open primaries over nominating conventions, which can produce Republican hard-liners such as Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli and shutdown-instigator Mike Lee of Utah; and countering political juggernauts Heritage Action, the Club for Growth, and FreedomWorks that target Republican incumbents who have consorted with Democrats…

“This conflict could be the new normal,” warned Rob Jesmer, former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “Until we have a nominee people can rally around in 2016, I think we’re going to be the wilderness for a while.”

Political media has been filled with stories like this post-shutdown, but the establishment plan to counter-primary tea partiers is months old. News about it first started bubbling up around New Year’s, when GOPers were still licking their wounds from the Democratic rout in November. LaTourette, a longtime Boehner ally in the House who’d taken to calling his tea-party colleagues “chuckleheads” as the fiscal cliff battle raged, had just retired and taken the helm of the Republican Main Street Partnership. Among his first acts: Dropping “Republican” from the name and vowing to reach out to Blue Dog Democrats. A month later, Karl Rove’s American Crossroads Super PAC announced that it was creating the Conservative Victory Fund, which was supposedly designed to make sure that only quality candidates were nominated in GOP primaries (i.e. fewer Angles and O’Donnells) but which many righties saw as part of an establishment effort to torpedo tea-party insurgents en masse, regardless of their caliber. Now, with RINOs and TPers at each others’ throats over Ted Cruz and the merits of a shutdown driven by the “defund” effort, it’s all come flooding back, replete with LaTourette scrapping for a punch-up with the right.

So here’s the question: What’s the real goal of all this? As much as these guys undoubtedly hate tea partiers, a broad-based indiscriminate assault on conservative candidates in the primaries would be poisonous for party unity ahead of 2016 — and maybe even self-defeating, as it would render a potential nominee whom they favor like Christie even more toxic to righties than he already is. Is the goal to bloody a few noses in order to teach the conservatives in Boehner’s caucus that it’s not just RINOs who can be primaried if they step too far out of line? Is it, as Rove’s group claims, an effort only to weed out the more Akin-esque right-wing candidates before they claim the nomination and end up as sitting ducks in the general? If so, why is Mike Lee suddenly hearing primary thunderclaps in Utah? I think his “defund” strategy was goofy but he’s solidly conservative, a serious legislator, and not prone to the sort of rhetorical bombthrowing that normally turns RINOs off to tea partiers. It’d be a genuine shame to lose him, no matter how ill advised “defund” was. Or is the big Rove/LaTourette/Chamber of Commerce centrist initiative here really just about muscle-flexing, to prove to grassroots righties that moderates and business interests are still very much in the driver’s seat of this coalition? If that’s the case, there’s no need to jump into eight to 10 races to prove the point. They could pick one big-name guy, on the order of Lee, and then go all out to take him down. Although maybe that gets us back to the problem of party unity in 2016: The bigger the scalp taken by centrists, the more righties will bristle and consider walking away.

One semi-silver lining here, though. Because the tea party didn’t elect its first members of Congress until 2010, no one in the Senate is at risk of an establishment primary challenge until 2016 — a presidential election year, when it would be exceedingly dangerous for either wing of the GOP to do something to fatally alienate the other. This may be why you’re seeing the centrists scramble now to take out some people in the House next year. If they defeat a few tea partiers, the wounds might heal in time for everyone to come together against Hillary two years later. If, on the other hand, they wage war against someone like Lee in 2016, the rift could be too deep to repair in time.

[stevio]

I guess we should have cleansed years ago. No more “centrist” republicans for me.

[skinkinthegrass]

Head of centrist Republican PAC: Let’s go beat
the snot out of tea partiers in the primariesMOLON LABE! Y'ALL!
"come and take it"

Retire theseGutless Old Party B@$@$D$; don't show
them any respect for their previous actions / deeds.
BOOT ' EM ALL OUT!

Support Matt Blevins, Defeat Sen. *itch "Mumbles" McConnell. *(D.C.-GOP / E)
Support JD Winteregg, Defeat (SotH) Rep. John *HIC! / HIC!* Boehmer. *(D.C.-GOP / E)

Support Linda Vega, Defeat John Cornyn *(D.C.-GOP / E)
Support Joe Carr, Defeat Lamar Alexander *(D.C.-GOP / E)
Support Lee Bright, Defeat Lindsey Graham *(D.C.-GOP / E)
Support Chris McDaniel, Defeat Thad Cochran *(D.C.-GOP / E)
Support Dr. Milton Wolf, Defeat Pat Roberts *(D.C.-GOP / E)

*District of Criminals-Gutless Old Party / E$tabli$hment

[JRandomFreeper]

There are some here on FR that insist that conservatives MUST vote for the R, no matter how liberal.

They can KMA.

/johnny

[musicman]

Help FR Continue the Conservative Fight!
Your Monthly and Quarterly Donations
Help To Keep FR In The Fight !!

Sponsoring FReepers are contributing
$10 Each time a New Monthly Donor signs up!
Get more bang for your FR buck!
Click Here To Sign Up Now!

[acapesket]

The Mittster was a Main Streeter!!
The reason for my non vote

[Cboldt]

Turnabout is fair play. Make promises, then don’t keep them. “Sure, I’ll send money.” “Sure, I’ll help with those lit drops.” “Sure, I’ll man a phone bank.” Then just don’t show up.

[RedMDer]

Obama Blasts Government-Shutdown Threat; GOP Wants Individual-Mandate Delay So the Rats shut down the Government. After the shutdown: Senate Dems Begin To Buckle...Push For Delay Of Obamacare Mandate The TEA Party was right again! Keep Fighting Back! We don't retreat. We reload. Support Free Republic, click the Link above. Support Free Republic by mail: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Obama Blasts Government-Shutdown Threat; GOP Wants Individual-Mandate Delay So the Rats shut down the Government. After the shutdown: Senate Dems Begin To Buckle...Push For Delay Of Obamacare Mandate The TEA Party was right again! Keep Fighting Back! We don't retreat. We reload. Support Free Republic, click the Link above. Support Free Republic by mail: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

[FreeReign]

“We’re going to be very aggressive and we’re going to get in their faces.”…

One only needs to ask one question about this.

Can anybody imagine one of these RINOs saying that they are "going to be very aggressive and in their faces" about Obama and the Democrats?

[Cyber Liberty]

I like it...but I wish there were a better way to depict the TEA Party. The liberals call us "teabaggers" because they know it's also the name for a particularly disgusting homosexual act.

BTW, have you seen this logo?

It cracks me up....

[vaudine]

Are they completely insane? Don't answer-it's obvious they are. They will never win another national election withut conservatives.

Mainstreet/mainstream=the T-party. There is nothing moderate about moderates. Look at the two Maine sisters--boith "moderate" and both about as helpful as 2 more Dems, Well, one has finally gone hoime, but her replacement is an unknown to me.

I have been telling the Repub orgns to quit calling me. Maybe George Soros will fund this new orgn of RINOs, as they will be helping Dems and if elected will help with immigration reform and other Obama wishes..

vaudine

[GeronL]

When they push amnesty it will become very clear that they will never win another national election, period.

[mom.mom]

Aggressive and in their faces about...?

[cripplecreek]

[Caipirabob]

May he end up fully enrolled in obamacare....

[sarasmom]

So these Socialist/RINOs want to beat the snot out of me?

(Body of post redacted,just to make the treasonous citizens of the NSA and IRS work at it reconstructing it, and perhaps understand why they are now viewed as domestic enemies by their fellow citizens)

I detest all physical violence.
I am proficient in inflicting lethal force.

[publius911]

“Hopefully we’ll go into eight to 10 races and beat the snot out of them,” said former Rep. Steve LaTourette of Ohio, whose new political group, Defending Main Street, aims to raise $8 million to fend off tea-party challenges against more mainstream Republican incumbents.

Didn't they name a mental defect after this guy?
What can a "former" Rep. possibly have to contribute to the defeat of the Obamarxists?

That he chooses to launch an intense war against the Tea Party tells me all I nee to know about this loser!

[publius911]

Open primaries. Yes the pubbie establishment wants dims voting in pubbie primaries. It is the only way they can win.

Psst!
That works both ways.I registered Dim when I was young and ignorant, but have voted (R) since 1964. But had fun in the primaries every 4 years.

[tumblindice]

I can’t wait to get a request for money from these jokers.

[Theodore R.]

There are some here on FR that insist that conservatives MUST vote for the R, no matter how liberal

Barry Goldwater, McPain's AZ predecessor, did that. He endorsed Jacob K. Javits in 1962, but Javits would not return the favor in 1964.

[listenhillary]

You should lead them on and take up their time. Then crush them like a bug. Metaphorically of course.