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GOP worries about 'tea party' candidates' broad appeal
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Party
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| Contributor | Servo |
| Last Edited | Servo Jun 07, 2010 09:48am |
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| Category | News |
| Author | Kathleen Hennessey |
| News Date | Friday, June 4, 2010 03:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | The Republican Party is enjoying a burst of raw enthusiasm among rank-and-file conservatives that has shot some relatively little-known candidates straight into the national spotlight — stirring concern among party leaders about how well some of them will fare with the broader electorate in November.
In North Carolina, national party officials make no secret of their displeasure at the possibility of the GOP banner being carried by a "tea-party"-backed candidate with an apparent history of religious zealotry and drug use. In divorce records, the man's ex-wife said he planned to raise his stepfather from the dead in New Jersey.
In South Carolina, the tea party favorite for governor is trying to bat down accusations of infidelity.
In Nevada, a leading conservative contender is facing questions about her ties to the Church of Scientology.
And the newest hero of the tea party movement, Rand Paul, who won the GOP Senate primary in Kentucky, startled more-mainstream Republicans by questioning part of the historic 1964 Civil Rights Act that allowed the government to force lunch counters to desegregate.
Of these disparate candidates, some are truly outsiders; others are fairly experienced politicians getting their first real shot in the searing spotlight of national politics.
And though their potential problems are quite different, they have at least two things in common: They have not undergone the testing and vetting that candidates traditionally face. And they are making some Republicans nervous about whether they will be able to beat their Democratic opponents in the fall. |
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