Free Republic

Spencer Bachus is trying to dig out out of the hole he dug when he slammed Sarah Palin this weekend. Bachus is in line to chair the powerful Financial Services Committee, but is facing a challenge from Ed Royce of California, and now from pro-Palin Tea Partiers who will watch this decision by John Boehner for signs of old boy networks trumping the new politics of grass roots activism. Most of the focus of the Tea Party activists had been on the competition between Fred Upton and John Shimkus for chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, but with...

WASHINGTON — A leading House Republican says Sarah Palin cost the GOP control of the Senate. Questioned about those comments on Tuesday, a spokesman for Rep. Spencer Bachus of Alabama said the remarks had been taken out of context but didn't retract them. Bachus, in line to become chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, initially blamed Palin last week at a local Chamber of Commerce luncheon. According to the Shelby County Reporter, he said the Senate would be in Republican hands if not for losses by tea party candidates endorsed by the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential...

COLUMBIANA — Shelby County’s congressman, U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., said former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin likely cost the Republican Party control of the U.S. Senate. Bachus made his remarks on Nov. 4 at the monthly luncheon meeting of the South Shelby Chamber of Commerce, held at the Columbiana United Methodist Church. “The Senate would be Republican today except for states (in which Palin endorsed candidates) like Christine O’Donnell in Delaware,” Bachus said. “Sarah Palin cost us control of the Senate.” He said Tea Party candidates did well in U.S. House races, but in the U.S....

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) cost the GOP control of the Senate, a powerful House Republican said. Rep. Spencer Bachus (Ala.) said that Tea Party-backed candidates whom Palin endorsed underperformed against their Democratic rivals, costing the GOP key pickup opportunities. "The Senate would be Republican today except for states [in which Palin endorsed candidates] like Christine O’Donnell in Delaware," Bachus said at a local Chamber of Commerce event last week, the Shelby County Reporter wrote Sunday. "Sarah Palin cost us control of the Senate." Bachus' is one of the most visible Republicans to criticize Palin for her political activity...