#NCSEN: Conservatives NOT touting Tillis. NRSC toadie PISSED OFF.
The Senate Conservatives Fund was founded by former US Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) to counter the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s passion for recruiting and backing spectacular RINOs. They began seriously siphoning away cash from donors who might normally be fooled into giving to the NRSC. THAT — coupled with SCF’s passion for lining up primary opponents for incumbent RINOs — earned the SCF some serious emnity from Inside-the-Beltway establishment Republicans.
A friend of mine passed on an email to me the other day from SCF touting “Six Conservatives Who Can Make A DIfference in Congress.” The email featured six conservative Republican candidates. Not one of them was named Tillis.
THAT fact has some establishment types seeing, um, red. Check out these comments on Twitter from former NRSC spokesman and current private PR flack Brian Walsh:
You may recall that Ken Cuccinelli was the most recent GOP gubernatorial nominee in Virginia. Cuccinelli, a staunch conservative, got sold out late in the election by the RNC. Operatives for now-former Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) were even caught working for Democrat — and eventual victor — Terry McAuliffe. Cuccinelli now heads up SCF while DeMint presides over The Heritage Foundation. Interesting logic. The establishment pulled the rug out from under Cuccinelli, but demands that he fall into line for them. Wow. Talk about cojones. 
This is not Walsh’s first fight with conservatives. Let’s harken back to 2009, when – as communications guru for the NRSC — Walsh was bickering with the folks at RedState because they were backing someone in a US Senate primary who was not blessed by the Republican gods in DC.
Most thinking people don’t simply fall in line behind a candidate because of an R or a D behind their last name. They want their votes to be earned.
The Tillis team has not even tried to woo conservatives. They are relying on the argument that their man’s victory is key to “firing” Harry Reid. Actually, we’ve seen a number of forecasts showing that it is quite possible for the GOP to take a majority in the US Senate without winning North Carolina.
Byron York, a columnist for the conservative Washington Examiner, looked at the North Carolina Senate race and came away with this take:
[…] As a key race, North Carolina has of course attracted millions in spending by outside groups on both sides. Even though it seems to have a generic quality, some Republican strategists put the race in the top tier of those likely to give victory to the GOP. “We think Arkansas, Iowa, and North Carolina are in a little cluster that is just a little more likely to turn over than Louisiana, Alaska, and Colorado,” said a GOP strategist keeping close tabs on the Senate race. Why? “Hagan has not been able to establish herself the way that Mary Landrieu and Mark Pryor and Mark Udall have been able to do,” the strategist continued. “They’re just stronger entities, even though Pryor is in a much more difficult state. Hagan is kind of nondescript. She doesn’t make huge mistakes, but she doesn’t really have a niche. She’s one of these bland politicians who sticks to talking points and doesn’t seem to cut through.”
The problem for Republicans, the strategist continued, is that Tillis has a bit of the same problem. Yes, he is dragged down by his association with the legislature. And yes, some of the most conservative Republicans in the state view him as too moderate. But perhaps his biggest challenge is this, according to the strategist: “There’s nothing special about him as a candidate. He’s just kind of a nondescript state legislator. I would argue that this race is probably the two most bland, lacking-in-any-special-skill candidates of any top tier Senate race in the country.[…]
Hmmm. Makes you want to whip out your checkbook RIGHT NOW, doesn’t it?
Give us a reason to hop on the Tillis bandwagon.
The NRSC often viciously opposes conservatives. They were involved in the despicable race-baiting attack on conservative Chris McDaniel in the recent Mississippi primary:
http://www.senateconservatives.com/site/post/2713/the-shameful-seven
Another good example this cycle was Nebraska, which SCF’s endorsed candidate won the primary while NRSC’s endorsed candidate ran third. When it became clear that NRSC’s choice was sinking and doomed and could not win, they instigated some scorched earth attack ads on Ben Sasse, who then had the nomination locked up, At that point, they could not have pulled it out for their candidate, All they could do was hurt Sasse for the general election, and they still launched the attack. It looked like NRSC would rather have the Democrat than the conservative.
That is very similar to Colorado in 2010 when the NRSC was pushing Jane Norton, a former AARP lobbyist during the Hillarycare fight.for the GOP Senate nomination. When Norton had sunk in the polls low enough, any chance of her pulling it out was gone, the NRSC got involved in instigating some really vicious scorched earth attack ads on conservative front runner Ken Buck, who was endorsed by SCF. The conservative still handily won the primary, but those NRSC engineered attack ads drove up his negatives substantially and he very narrowly lost the general election as a result. NRSC’s vicious attacks on a conservative cost Republicans the Colorado Senate seat. Apparently they would rather have a Democrat than a conservative.
Another good example of NRSC’s meddling was in Florida, where they endorsed progressive GOP governor Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio and tried to push Rubio out of the race. After Rubio opened a significant lead in the polls over Crist, Crist got in a snit and switched to independent, challenging Rubio and the Democrat in a three way race. That left NRSC with egg on its face, trying to get its money back from Crist.
No conservative should ever give a nickle to the maliciously anti-conservative NRSC. Give your money to dependable conservative groups like SCF or the Club for Growth instead.
ROFLMAO and the establishment says support us, send us checks for this? Woooo, almost spilt ma beer.
On Thom Tillis: But perhaps his biggest challenge is this, according to the strategist: “There’s nothing special about him as a candidate. He’s just kind of a nondescript state legislator. I would argue that this race is probably the two most bland, lacking-in-any-special-skill candidates of any top tier Senate race in the country.[…]
The GOP’s got them a real hum-dinger there I tell ya. A real hum-dinger. What a hoot! I will not vote for this hum-dinger but I will show up to vote. Where can I send a check to those folks at the SCF?
The website for the Senate Conservatives Fund is:
http://www.senateconservatives.com
An open letter to the TPFK (Tea Partiers For Kay):
I think Kay would be more successful if she would do something with her hair. Seriously. It seems to me that she has too much hair and it always looks to me like it is disheveled. Please encourage her to do something a little more “conservative” with her hair. A cut like Barbara Boxes would even be better. Kay looks to me like she is trying out a Sarah Palin style but she cannot pull that off. If conservatives must support Kay then she should meet us halfway on hairstyle. I never supported John Edwards but the man knows something about hair. I know the TPFK do not like Senator Burr but face facts, the man always has a neat haircut! The TPFK could make a big difference getting out the conservative vote for Kay by pulling off a hairstyle upgrade.
Thanks
This is why I give to candidates, not the NRSC, NRCC, etc.
Also, regarding the quest for a Senate majority: NC may or may not play a role in getting to “51,” but it may play a role in getting a majority. Here’s what I mean:
In W’s first term, the Senate was dead even, 50-50, with Cheney casting the tie-breaking vote. The Dems convinced a RINO to switch by giving him a committee chairmanship. Thus, the Dems controlled the Senate with a 51-49 majority for the 1st two years of Bush’s term.
It is possible the GOP could get 51 Senators without winning NC. But…don’t you think the Dems could (and would) pull the same shenanigans with any number of the Senate RINOs in 2015? If they even picked off 1 R, that would give them control, since Biden would break the tie in a 50-50 Senate.
Just some food for thought. Those who do not learn history are condemned to repeat it.
In the NC House, Richard Morgan pulled the exact same stunt by going over to Jim Black and the Democrats for a personal payoff in terms of a position, and we have to remember that Thom Tillis ran in the 2006 House primary as a Morgan ally against a loyalist Republican.
If a GOP majority of 51-49 included Tillis, he might very well follow the pattern of his mentor Richard Morgan and do a deal with the Democrats. That would make it 50-50 with Biden’s tie-breaking vote tipping control back to the Democrats.
That is one big reason why it was stupid stupid stupid for the NRSC and Rove to push this fair-weather Republican on us as our Senate nominee.
I don’t think Tillis would switch to a Dem as a US Senator. I don’t think, in the South, we’ve had a Senator make a switch in that direction. It would be political suicide. He may not be the most conservative person we could’ve nominated, but he sure ain’t Mark Kirk, Susan Collins, etc. I can see those senators switching. As I’ve said before, I’m voting for Tillis. Not enthusiastically, but I’m voting for him. He ain’t Ted Cruz, but he ain’t Ted Kennedy. Do I want more out of my elected officials? YES. Am I going to get it in this election cycle in this race? Probably not. Do I agree with everything Tillis has said or done? No. Is any of that enough to keep me from voting for someone who would be part of the effort to fire Harry Reid? No. Other people may disagree, but so be it.
I don’t mind Rove getting involved in these primaries – in theory. If FreedomWorks, C4G, SCF, can get involved, why not Rove? (Granted, I don’t WANT him involved, but it makes no sense to tell him to stay out when the other groups can play ball.) Now, the NRSC, they should stay the heck out of the primaries.
The pattern in the South has not been squishy Republicans switching parties. It has been a rump group of squishy Republicans who remain nominally Republican but form a governing alliance with the Democrats to thwart the loyalist / conservative Republicans. In has happened in the legislatures of Texas, Tennessee, and, yes, North Carolina with Tillis’ buddy and role model, Richard Morgan. This is more along the lines of what I think one has to watch out for with Tillis. Tillis has always been a rent boy for the special interests, for sale to the highest bidder. It is just a bit more of a jump to do that with parties. And Tillis’ chief consultant just happens to be the same guy who negotiated Richard Morgan’s sellout to Jim Black.
Do I trust a Richard Morgan Republican in a closely divided governing body? Absolutely not.
I don’t really trust a “Richard Morgan Republican” in a closely divided governing body…but I’d trust him more than I’d trust a Chuck Schumer Democrat.
We all have choices in this election. The following choices will result in the reelection of a candidate with pretty much zero conservative credentials who will vote for Harry Reid as majority leader, Obama’s Supreme Court and other judicial nominees, international law treaties, and who will not reform the VA, Obamacare, etc.: (1) voting for Hagan; (2) not voting; (3) writing in someone; (4) voting Libertarian.
The following choices will result in the opposite of those things: (1) voting for Tillis. Not that TT won’t have some Lindsey Graham/John McCain moments. He will. And we’ll call him on them. But I’d rather have a senator with a few of those moments than a senator with a whole lotta Barbara Boxer moments. Yes, I want better. But “better” is not an option on the ballot. I will not let perfect be the enemy of the good in a general election. In a primary, we pick who we want. In a general election, we pick the best of what’s left. It may be the “Giant D0uche v. Turd Sandwich” choice from South Park, but so be it. One of those gives a very unpleasant feeling, but the other one will make you sick to your stomach. I’m taking the unpleasant feeling versus being violently ill.
And by the way, I know Richard Morgan. I volunteered for Richard Morgan (20-some years ago; yes, I have repented many times since then). TT ain’t no Richard Morgan.
I have held my nose and voted for the lesser of two evils many times, like the last two presidential races and several Senate races. I have not yet had to consider a GOP candidate who is so out to lunch on such a wide range of issues as Thom Tillis.
Issues matter, and it is issues that will ultimately decide whether Tillis is worth holding my nose for. At this point he is not. From his record, I simply do not trust him on most issues.
Mississippi has changed everything. The establishment blew up party unity with the frauds they committed there. The establishment also showed they hated conservatives withinn their own party more than they hated Democrats. Under those circumstances, voting for an establishment candidate as the lesser of two evils is no longer a viable proposition. My decision on Tillis will be made strickly on issues. Hagan has already flunked on issues, but I will keep watching Tillis up through election day.
Ms. K was in Wilmington the other day, when they showed her on the news I thought “holy hell that woman is so dumb it makes me want to punch my tv.” Then I thought, “oh yeah, I’m voting for that scrunt.” Sorry Karl Rove.
I will have to shower after I leave the booth though.
Actually, if voting for any of the three printed on the ballot, a shower afterwards would be in order. Tillis had an opportunity to give conservatives some reason to consider voting for him during this legislative session, but he blew it big time by actually giving more reasons to not vote for him. Time is getting short for him, but we will see if he still has anything planned that might make a difference in how conservatives view him. I am afraid that he will be following the Rove playbook of moving left, which has a lot to do with Rove losing 10 of the 12 US Senate races he has been involved in.
As much as I like and respect Jim Demint when I received a phone call from Heritage Foundation and I asked a simple question of what could they really do when AIPAC owns our elected officials the gentleman politely hung up on me. Wake up America.
Party unity is a concept whose days have past!
Tillis needs to win on his own without support from the Tea Party. And future Tea Party candidates needs to win on his own.
End the bickering and let each segment of the party make it on their own. Let’s agree to disagree and get on with it.
And you know what? I suspect he will. Unaffiliateds are livid at Hagan about their health care hijacking, Democrat support for her is suspiciously soft IMHO, and there are plenty of low-info Republican voters like the ones who gave Tillis the nod and from this coalition, Tillis will pull it out, which explains why he doesn’t think he has fence mending to do.
Lucky for him, because my nose holding days are over. I’ll go to the polls to write in Rhodes and support the down ballot races.