One Teabaggy Faction Announces Their Congress Picks-- And Pans

Yesterday the Tea Party Express announced their picks and pans for the upcoming November midterms. In the midst of all the debate over the extensive NY Times information on just who the teabaggers are-- pretty much a sample from the lower end of any gaggle of garden variety, angry, white Republicans with too many hours logged in in front of Fox News and/or Hate Talk Radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage, out came their childish targeting.

They hate Alan Grayson; what a surprise! He talks back to their idols. The ActBlue page Getting Grayson's Back has a goal of $50,000 and sits at $36,231. If you can show Alan some support, even if just a dollar or five, I'm sure he would very much appreciate it. He has a cluless teabagger, Peg Dunmire running against him-- and still has a crowd of GOP rejects, all the first, second, third and fourth tier candidates having run for the hills, who want to run against him. The other teabagger targets in the House are Besty Markey (Blue Dog-CO), Baron Hill (Blue Dog-IN), Barney Frank (D-MA)-- who famously likened talking with one of them to having a discussion with a diningroom table-- Dina Titus (D-NV), Tom Perriello (D-VA)-- whose home a teabagger tried to blow up, only they picked the wrong Perriello and failed anyway-- and Alan Mollohan (D-WV).

And who do they like? Well, of course, they love 7 of the most radical right members of the House-- Michele Bachmann (MN), Tom McClintock (CA), Mike Pence (IN), Joe Wilson (SC), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Todd Tihart (KS) and Tom Price (GA). The one in bold font voted for Bush's Wall Street bank bailout-- but don't tell the teabaggers; they gave him a pass on that one because they appreciate his manners. And they also included one putative Democrat who they love, reactionary Blue Dog Walt Minnick (ID).

Over on the Senate side, the teabaggers are pumping for 7 radical right kooks: Chuck DeVore (R-CA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Todd Tihart (R-KS), Sharron Angle (R-NV), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Rand (son of Ron) Paul (R-KY). The Kentucky GOP primary has taken on another life, in the form of a proxy battle between the $12 million/year "outsider," the Alaska half-term governor, and the Boss Hog of the Republican Party Machine, Mitch "Miss" McConnell. Like the teabaggers and the outgoing-- and vengeful-- Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning (who was very publicly pushed from the race by McConnell), Palin has endorsed son-of-Ron over McConnell's handpicked sock puppet and empty suit, Trey Grayson. Grayson, who never makes a peep without McConnell's approval, announced, rather awkwardly, that Palin isn't qualified to be president. The link is a video. If you don't live in Kentucky, you might not have seen it. Rand's campaign sent it to everyone in the state.

The simple truth is that behind closed doors most establishment Republicans and party poobahs don't believe that Palin is currently qualified to be president of the United States.

But, they also recognize that Palin is-- without question-- the symbolic leader of the Tea Party movement and speaking ill (or anywhere close to ill) of her creates the possibility that the most enthusiastic piece of the GOP base will turn on them and, in doing so, jeopardize their chances at winning.

And so, few-- if any-- leaders within the party will answer the question as directly as Grayson. Instead, they will say things like "that decision isn't up to me, it's up to the voters" and other sorts of rhetorical obfuscation that keeps them from getting crosswise with the former governor of Alaska.

Simultaneously Bunning not only endorsed Rand, he went out of his way to call him the only conservative in the race. Sure, everyone in Kentucky knows he's trying to get even with McConnell and that he's completely senile, but he's also popular with the fringy elements of the GOP base. "Bunning has cemented himself as a thorn in the establishment's side, and I think voters are looking to send a message to the establishment," said one top KY GOPer who backs Grayson. "So, from that perspective, the Bunning endorsement reinforces what Paul really wants this race to be about: 'If you want to send a message to the establishment, vote for me.'"

Bunning will keynote the state GOP's Lincoln Day Dinner on May 8, an event that has been set aside as a special tribute to the retiring senator. "This endorsement couldn't have come at a better time for Paul, because my guess is Bunning will not be shy about using that night to say exactly what is on his mind," the GOP source said.

Not only is the timing good for Paul, it's especially bad for Grayson. Grayson released internal polling last week showing him inching back... The Bunning nod, sources said, has stopped that momentum cold.

What's more, Bunning's endorsement has undercut a key argument Grayson has tried to make-- that Paul's out-of-state money shows he has little or no in-state support. With Bunning on Paul's side, that argument goes out the window.