Texas Teabaggers-- All Bark, No Bite As They Lose Every Single Race

Pete Sessions crushes teabaggers in Texas

Teabaggers lost every single congressional seat they contested in yesterday's Texas Republican primary. Of course, some teabaggers-- along with nearly every fringe kook group in the state from the KKK to the most dedicated secessionists and hatemongers-- supported the re-election of Rick Perry. But Perry's big victory over an insipid and uninspiring cookie cutter old line conservative and over an actual fully deranged teabagger activist, Debra Medina (who took 18% of the GOP vote), is not a victory for Texas teabaggery. Today's spin is all over the place, from a ridiculous Perry-for-President Politico boomlet to as absurd a prediction of a Democratic win in Texas. My favorite, though, came last night from a clueless teabagging blogger-- ewerickson:


Fact is, back in January teabaggers were bragging how they were fielding candidates-- often more than one-- in primary races against 11 of the 20 Republican congressmen in Texas from NRCC Chair Pete Sessions to poor, confused old Ralph Hall (who managed, if just barely, to beat back five teabaggers yesterday). All eleven incumbents won, especially interesting when you remember that the cardinal sin for any Republican, in the eyes of the teabaggers, is to have voted for Bush's Wall Street bailouts in 2008. Let's see... of the 91 GOP pr-bailout votes, Wall Street shills like Pete Sessions, Mike Conaway, Kevin Brady and Lamar Smith easily disposed of their teabaggy opponents and Mac Thornberry didn't even have one. This is probably making key teabagger boogiemen-- like Charlie Dent (R-PA), Bob Inglis (R-SC), Fred Upton (R-MI), Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH), Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), Gary Miller (R-CA), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Buck McKeon (R-CA), David Dreier (R-CA), and Dan Lungren (R-CA) a lot more relaxed today. And among the Wall Street shills who voted for the bailout and are now seeking higher office-- Gresham Barrett (running for governor of SC), Zach Wamp (running for governor of TN), Roy Blunt (running for senator from MO), Mike Castle (running for senator from DE), Pete Hoekstra (running for governor of MI) John Boozman (running for senator from AR), Mary Fallin (running for governor of OK) and Mark Kirk (running for senator from IL)-- there is a palpable sense of relief that the teabaggers can't seem to hurt anyone.

Teabaggers also fell flat on their faces in the Republican primary races for the state legislature. Every mainstream conservative beat every extremist teabagger.

The battle to represent West Plano’s House District 66 was advancing to an April 13 runoff after a bruising campaign.

Former Plano City Council member Mabrie Jackson was receiving the most votes despite withering criticism from Tea Party activists that she is not conservative enough. But she did not have a majority in early voting.

Her likely opponent: Van Taylor, a real estate businessman who spent at least $460,000 of his own money in the campaign.

Wayne Richard, who owns a small Web company, was in third despite being the top choice of many Tea Party activists.

And it was the same all over the state, teabaggers capable of making a lot of noise, getting the attention of an always moronic mainstream media and... little else.

When the Weatherford Tea Party conducted a noisy straw poll and rally last week, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger drew only 2.7 percent of the vote.

When Tuesday night was done and Republicans across three counties had voted, Granger was on her way back to Washington with close to 70 percent of the vote.

By all measures, the Tea Parties packed only watered-down punch. Even in two Texas House races where Tea Party and Project 912 groups helped spin the vile lies of well-financed special-interest groups, local incumbents rose like cream atop the cup.

Weatherford Tea Party co-founder Dawn Phillips King couldn't even believe that Granger, a Fort Worth Republican and seven-term incumbent, was drawing 69 percent of the early vote in Parker County and more than 70 percent overall.

"It's disappointing-- shocking," she said by phone. "Are you sure?"
Granger easily defeated Parker County anti-abortion candidate Mike Brasovan and north Fort Worth wholesale grocer Matthew Kelly.

State Reps. Todd Smith of Euless and Vicki Truitt of Keller, both Northeast Tarrant County natives, were on their way to defeating candidates backed by splinter Tea Parties, one of which openly promoted campaign attacks financed by Midland oil interests and Houston home builders.
Guess that tea wasn't so strong after all.

The Tea Parties' best chance for a victory was in Burleson, where candidate Darren Yancy was supposed to walk into the Texas Senate after incumbent state Sen. Kip Averitt came down sick and couldn't campaign. Yet Yancy self-destructed.

Voters learned he was suspended as an "untrustworthy" real estate agent by the Texas Real Estate Commission.

He had to explain suing Burleson and a local youth league for $500,000 over a baseball scrap.

He told radio listeners that ACORN wanted to defeat him and that he expects to get "national attention."

He called for shooting illegal immigrants at the border but said he's pro-life.

Oh, and he consistently misspelled Waco's McLennan County as McClennan. Voters were choosing Averitt in early returns.

Looks like the Tea Parties got iced.

And then there was the odd case of Ron Paul running for re-election against a gaggle of deranged teabaggers (who think calling themselves "we the people" substitutes for making reasonable political arguments):