After suffering some pretty embarrassing loses in 2012, you'd think the Tea Party would get it's shit together and fully get behind the GOP establishment. Well they've been proving us wrong yet again and now they have another Republican Senator they want to see go away:
http://www.nooga.com/...
Sen. Lamar Alexander would be better-suited to retire "with dignity" than seek a third Senate term, 20 tea party and conservative groups in Tennessee said Wednesday.
In an open letter circulated by the groups, writer Matt Collins called on the senator to end his decadeslong career in Tennessee politics instead of face a potential primary foe who would lambaste his voting record. The letter, which received coverage from The Wall Street Journal, says a trend of bipartisanship on key issues from Alexander is out of place with desires of Republicans in Tennessee.
"Unfortunately, our great nation can no longer afford compromise and bipartisanship, two traits for which you have become famous," the letter reads. "America faces serious challenges and needs policymakers who will defend conservative values, not work with those who are actively undermining those values. Quite honestly, your voting record shows that you do not represent the conservative values that we hold dear, and the votes you have cast as senator are intolerable to us."
The letter makes no mention of votes by the senator on specific items of legislation, but groups seeking to draft a primary opponent against Alexander have been critical of his recent backing of the Senate immigration bill, as well as his support for the Marketplace Fairness Act—a bill that would allow for online purchases to be taxed. - Nooga, 8/15/13
So it's not votes that Lamar made that pissed off the Tea Party, it's votes he didn't make that angered them. The Nashville Scene was able to get their hands on the Tea Party campaign e-mail and they conclude that the reason they hate Lamar so much is because he isn't as hateful towards gay people as they are:
http://www.nashvillescene.com/...
On July 10, Senator Lamar Alexander sat silently by as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (S. 815) — better known as the Gay Bill of Special Rights — was voted out of Committee and before the full Senate.
As the Ranking Member for the Republicans, it was Sen. Alexander's job to speak against the bill.
But now he has pledged to vote it into law!
The Gay Bill of Special Rights (S. 815) will create a federal labrynth [sic] of employment regulations that will force employers — even if they have religious objections — to give homosexuals and transgenders special hiring preferences.
Anyone who refuses to make their business, school, or church very "gay-friendly" will face crippling fines and maybe even jail time.
Stories are surfacing right now in Tennessee of Lamar Alexander's connection to a radical pro-homosexual and anti-business group: Citizens for Responsible Energy (CRE). [sic]
CRE is spending a fortune to push Alexander's "green" energy — liberal code for "bad for business" — agenda.
Yep, that's right. Alexander just isn't as hateful and bigoted as the Tea Party would prefer in a Republican Senator. Now before you brush this letter off as an empty threat, Jim DeMint's group is pretty serious about forcing Alexander to retire:
http://www.nooga.com/...
The Senate Conservatives Fund, a group once headed by former Sen. Jim DeMint, exists to elect "strong conservatives" to the U.S. Senate. After Nashville news station WTVF reported last week that a traveling exhibit chronicling Alexander's two terms as Tennessee governor would be postponed after questions arose regarding its timing, the Virginia-based group is claiming the museum's plans and the senator's earmark were connected.
Matt Hoskins, executive director for the fund, pointed to an earmark secured by Alexander as part of a 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, which was designated for "rehousing the museum's collection into more stable storage conditions." Because of added federal cash, Hoskins said the museum was prepared to return the favor to Alexander by sponsoring a traveling exhibit of his days as governor later this year—which coincides with the ramp-up for campaign season.
"It shows an example of why earmarks are bad policy and why they lead to waste and abuse," Hoskins said in an interview with Nooga.com. "We want to back conservative candidates for the U.S. Senate, and Sen. Alexander is definitely on our list of who our members in Tennessee and across the nation would like to see replaced with a stronger conservative. And it's not just because of this issue." - Nooga, 8/13/13
What's really crazy is the Tea Party doesn't even have a candidate to run and they're trying to make Alexander retire. They want to move on from Step 1 without even having a Step 2 ready. Crazy. Who knows if anyone will step up to the plate to challenge Alexander but right now he's not in the same spot as Mitch McConnell or Lindsey Graham. The Democrats however do have two candidates running for Senate. The first is Jacob Maurer, the 2012 write-in candidate, and you can check out his website here:
http://www.jacobmaurertn.com/
The other is 2012 Senate candidate Larry Crim and you can check out his website here:
http://www.larrycrimussenate.com/