Another sign that the tea partiers are very conservative Republicans with a new name is that they will be out in force at polling places on Election Day, hassling likely Democratic voters and doing the final GOTV work for Republican candidates.
Some tea partiers will be doing that on their own, working hand-in-glove with local Republican committees.
Many thousands of others are being encouraged by the national Tea Party Patriots group to be "super-volunteers" to "turn out every single Tea-Party friendly voter and bring sunlight and accountability into the polling place on Election Day."
Disturbing details, below.
Republicans have been amping up their phony voter-fraud campaign, as they do every two years, to try to get the corporate media to report on their ACORN, New Black Panther Party, Chicago politics fables.
And to discourage Democratic turnout.
The nuts-and-bolts of that campaign are GOP poll-watchers who challenge likely Dem voters, creating in some places a voting ordeal that can take hours.
In previous elections, this dirty work has been done by GOP stalwarts (mostly people with patronage jobs), largely in polling places where minorities and college/university students vote.
Now the local hacks will be supplemented by angry Becktards, who will certainly cause even more trouble, and longer waits at polling paces in Democratic areas.
The Tea Party Patriots e-mail linked above states that "we need volunteers in all fifty states who can focus on voting integrity," which is GOP dog-whistle for hassling traditionally Democratic voters.
The TPP e-mail gets more specific, about where they really want "super-volunteers," and about how they will help the Republicans GOTV.
Here are the TPP's targets:
CA-11, DE-Sen, DE-AL, FL-2, 8, 22 and 24, IL-11 and 14, NV-3, NY-19, 20, 24 and 29, OH-1, 15, 16 and 18, and PA-3, 5, 8, 10 and 11
Here's how they say they will do GOTV in those contests:
With our GOTV test program we need super-volunteers with either a smart-phone or internet connected lap top to take a four hour shift at polls in one of 21 congressional districts in 8 key states.
You will be able to get trained on-line and use our one-of-a-kind Tea Party patented Poll Watching web program.
Come blaze a trail this year with us that will be talked about for decades to come. Come make history with us on Election Day.
In my limited experience, poll watchers were not Internet-connected for last-day GOTV -- they had a list of likely Dem voters, checked off those who had voted, and called in to the campaign at regular intervals those who hadn't voted, who then got a reminder call.
I'm not sure that Internet-connectivity improves on that much.
But my larger point is that the GOP is recruiting, via its tea party cat's paw, a bunch of angry wingnuts who have never done poll watching to harass Democratic voters in key districts.
There will be voter-access problems in these targeted districts.
Guaranteed.