News Copy, New York

Tea Party Groups Rallying To Support Candidates: Battle With NY GOP Establishment To Get On Ballot?

The Wall Street Journal reported that tea party groups in New York State are out there getting their candidates on the ballot.

"Everybody is focused on the petitions," said Bill Bongiorno, co-founder of the Northern Westchester Tea Party Patriots and the campaign manager for Steve Katz, a tea-party candidate for state Assembly. "We see what the Democrats are but we hoped the Republicans were different....They want to shut people out," he said.

It's hard work.  Done in the hot weather in the already busy month of June, getting a candidate on the ballot is a difficult task for most challengers.

That means finding volunteers who can carry petitions, going door-to-door everyday, meeting with voters, getting signatures on those petitions -- and making certain those petitions survive multiple legal challenges ... from Republican Party leaders (depending on the county).

Yes ... The conservative tea party movement is civically engaged on campaigns -- with parts of New York's Republican establishment fighting them every step of the way.

One would thnk that the natural ally for tea party volunteers would have been the Republican Party -- but the State GOP rejected some of their favorite candidates and some county committees around the state rejected their Congressional and State Legislative candidates.

On a personal note, I found myself physically shook down by a county chair for speaking up for the Conservative Party and defending Congressional candidate Tony Mele (pictured to the right).  In New York, the political lesson seems to be that you can find yourself threatened with a "Bronx beating" by one of the State GOP leaders if you don't follow lockstep like a good Nazi.

And this is happening all over New York State, not as much the physical violence but the willful machinations to ignore the consensus of the people.

It seems like Republicans are allowing repeats of last year's 23rd Congressional race, where Doug Hoffman was rebuffed by county GOP leaders in upstate New York.

Like Mr. Hoffman, Carl Paladino, the Buffalo businessman and gubernatorial candidate whose support is primarily in the conservative grass-roots, was also denied the Republican ballot. He, too, is in the process of mounting a petition battle to fight it out with former U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio in the primary. Former Republican congressman Joe DioGuardi, who represented New York's 20th Congressional District, also failed to get GOP backing in his bid to topple Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. He's also trying to get on the Republican ballot through a petition.

Anthony Mele, a former Ramapo radio-show host and a leader of the Rockland County tea-party group, hoped to run against Rep. Eliot Engel (D., N.Y.) for the congressional district representing the Bronx, Westchester and Rockland counties, but was also rejected by the Republican leadership.

DioGuardi, Paladino, Mele and Katz are all pro-life conservative Republicans but what they have in common is an independent streak from the standard political establishment.

Though a former Congressman, DioGuardi was always regarded as a fiscal maverick in Congress 20 years ago -- first warning the nation about the escalating Federal debt before anyone was paying attention.

DoGuardi was disregarded at the State GOP convention but polls continue to show him overwhelmingly leading a three-way Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

Mele is a former U.S. Army veteran whose choice to run for Congress was counter to the designs of Rockland Republican County Chairman Vincent Reda, who is also the State GOP's First Vice Chair (and also the leader who threatened me with a "Bronx beating").

Mele is on track to raise as much money as the 11-term incumbent in the 17th Congressional District, Democrat Eliot Engel.  More important, Mele as a tea party leader in lower New York State is drawing grass-roots support to wage three primaries in September.

Steve Katz is a veterinarian, the true outsider and non-politician.

Running for the 99th Assembly District, the Yorktown resident found himself in the cross-hairs of a deal by State Senate Republicans that handed the nomination to his primary opponent.

He responded by wiping himself off and preparing for what he originally expected would be the outcome -- Republican and Conservative primaries.

Katz has teamed closely with Assemblyman Greg Ball -- who is primarying the State Senate Republican's pick for the 40th S.D.

Ball has won two Republican primaries over the past two election cycles, so he thrives on this stuff.

Katz with Ball will rely on a local grass-roots operation in the mid-Hudson Valley that draws tremendously from tea party groups.

The truth is that the Katz campaign welcomes the challenge and the primary.

It's a part of the tea party mission that political parties haven't entirely grasped yet.

They welcome a good ol' fashioned patriotic rebellion.

And Paladino?

The Buffalo millionaire is the bull in the china shop -- but people in New York State are craving a Chris Christie type candidate.

Paladino's no-nonsense "coach potato with an attitude" approach is the wild card in this election.

So far, the Paladino fervor hasn't translated in the polls -- but the petition teams coming together statewide indicate a larger movement is brewing.

Typical of the message being driven by these candidates has been Paladino's grass-roots approach to drawing the support of volunteers both for a Republican line and the creation of a tea party line.

Debates still exist within tea party groups about endorsing candidates, so the jury is still out on the outsider movement.

Bil Bongiorno spoke optimistically for Katz campaign a few days ago

"We are close to having the minimum number in just five days of gathering signatures.  The Westchester Independence Party has endorsed Katz.  Our yard signs are out and money is flowing into the campaign.  We are in great shape."

So perhaps the lesson to political parties would be to tap the tea party's enthusiasm.

Sadly, such lessons are not easily learned by political establishments.

As for these challenger's opponents, News Copy has chosen for just this post to omit their names -- as did the Wall Street Journal article for the most part.

The challengers deserve their day in the sun too, especially in a state where the political establishment frowns on the "status quo" being taken to task.

It appears that this year's petition season is going to change all that in New York.

Tea Party Groups Fighting "Teabagger" Insult: Cavere Defends Tea Party Movement

When Republican Kristia Cavere told a journalist that she was not a "teabagger" over three weeks ago, she was not disavowing the tea party movement.

Cavere was defending tea party groups.

Yet reporters continue to use the sexual term, as witnessed by this low-brow coverage by a Putnam blogger.

Randy & Sheryl Thomas, Organizers of the Orange/Sullivan 912 Tea Party, also spoke up.

"You are misinformed.  We are NOT “teabaggers”.  That is a sexual term and does not accurately reflect our mission of providing awareness and education about the election process and politics. Your inflammatory use of that word shows your lack of personal character."

Kristia Cavere received a warm welcome last night at a tea party candidates forum for Rockland and Orange, organized by Rally For America.

Also on hand was David McFadden, whose comments on Facebook the same day defended tea party organizations.

"The more they try to marginalize the Tea Party Groups the more active and motivated we become. We will work so hard to get out the vote for conservative candidates this November they won't know what hit them."

Millions of Americans are out there trying to make a difference, patriotically.

It's as if "the establishment" doesn't want people to be civically engaged.

Though they might be competitors in an election for the 19th Congressional District, David McFadden and Kristia Cavere are clearly not afraid to speak up for the rights of tea party groups.

Cavere Continues Campaign

In Cavere's case, she has endured national scrutiny by far-left blogs and broadcast media potato heads like Keith Olbermann for daring to defend the tea party movement.

If she was a liberal Democrat or a Republican-In-Name-Only supporting abortion and playing to the global warming crowd, Cavere wouldn't have been harassed by the media.

The media brutality Cavere endured the past month would have broken most candidates.

It happened to her because she is a pro-life conservative Republican who advocates more tea party activism.

Her message of Republican pride continues to resonate with people.

By way, her campaign expects to post a very early second quarter filing of over $400,000.

Contrary to what an individual misrepresenting himself as her "campaign adviser" told reporters, Cavere retained attorneys who painstakingly confirmed the amount raised and verified that her filing will be FEC compliant.

Misquoted and maligned, few will doubt Kristia's staying power after this week.

To her credit, the Republican from Orange County is still showing up for the fight -- and was described as "impressive" at last night's tea party forum

Much like the tea party groups she happily supports, the rumors of candidate Cavere's demise are greatly exaggerated.

White Plains Tea Party: Don't Tread On Me

The above is Gene Tulio delivering his "Don't tread on me" speech for the White Plains Tea Party on April 15th.

Remember in November!

Taxed Enough Already: Sleepy Suburbia's Media Finally Getting The Message?

Gannett newspapers finally turned the corner this week on covering tea parties and the problem of taxation in New York State.

The news media is still late to the party.

Featured were fellow tea party members and tax activists like Andy Rivera of Ossining (pictured above) who is organizing Overtaxed Citizens to ensure taxpayer voices are heard.

Tea party members like Rivera and Gary Murphy of the White Plains Tea Party (pictured below) have done more than just protest.  Murphy was one of many key volunteers who joined with the Republican Party to help to elect Bob Castelli to the State Assembly in the special election this February.

 
Murphy was one of many other extremely active residents throughout northern Westchester who are now looking to become even more active.  Such activism is happening throughout the communities of Lewisboro, Bedford, Pound Ridge in the eastern side of Westchester -- near the border of the distinctly less-taxed Connecticut (which got rid of county governmenty 50 years ago).

The civic engagement with tea parties is happening all over Westchester, all over the Hudson  Valley, all over New York State -- and it's not abating.

New York Republican Chairman Calls Tea Parties Allies: But Will GOP Back Tea Party Candidates?

Chairman Cox "Newsday" Opinion Piece

If GOP treads carefully, tea parties will be natural allies

by EDWARD F. COX

Edward F. Cox is the chairman of the New York State Republican Party

Republicans have a huge wind at our backs this political season. We'll benefit from the Democrats' health care legislation and other federal big-government programs that are opposed by a majority of Americans. The scandals and culture of corruption that have enveloped Albany - which is now completely controlled by Democrats - will drive voters for a change in leadership.

My father-in-law, President Richard Nixon, maintained that the Republican Party would not grow unless it became "the party of the open door." The vision of a Republican Party open to all who share our principles and want to work with us for a better America is a worthy goal. We must be the party of inclusion, not exclusion, especially in states like New York where we are sorely outnumbered.

Absolute Democratic control in Washington and Albany has produced skyrocketing public spending and debt. It has increased government intervention in the economy and elsewhere, reaching into the personal lives of just about everyone. In November, forgotten and abused taxpayers will be inclined to give Republicans the opportunity to lead - but the stormy political waters must be navigated carefully.

The tea party movement has flourished in this unstable environment. The movement embodies the individual freedoms that are the natural birthright of every American and the core DNA of our party. The Republican Party is a natural political vehicle for the anti-tax, anti-spend, anti-big government sentiment behind this decentralized movement.

At the same time, Republicans should tread carefully as we work alongside tea party members to end the tyranny of one-party rule. Our relationship with them must be one of mutual respect and cooperation. Any inclination to co-opt the movement must be resisted.

Karl Rove recently marveled at "the dynamics of the highly decentralized galaxy of groups that make up the tea party movement." Potential excesses in this decentralization could cause collateral damage to an associated Republican Party, while a formal merger would stifle the driving energy of the movement. The merged whole would be less than the parts.

A recent Quinnipiac Poll examined the potential influence of the movement in November's elections. The basics look good for us: Voters indicate by 44 to 39 percent that they will vote for a Republican over a Democrat for Congress. But a stand-alone tea party candidate on the ballot pulls from the Republican and creates a path to victory for the Democrat, who will help assure the passage of the very government programs that are anathema to the tea parties.

Tea party members have become the public face of voter and taxpayer dissatisfaction. They are rightfully given credit for delivering a body blow to President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats with the stunning upset Senate victory of Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts.

Here on Long Island, Dean Murray, a 45-year-old East Patchogue businessman who organized tea party protests, won a special election to the Assembly. He's believed to be the first tea party organizer elected to public office. Murray's district had been in Democratic hands for more than a dozen years, and he is only the third Republican to hold the seat in nearly four decades.

As the tax revolt unfolds, New Yorkers are paying attention to issues and results more than ever. Tea party members are giving voice to what most people are feeling: We need to finally make the tough choices to save our state.

You need only look at the governor's race to see the impact of the movement. Political newcomer Carl Paladino is attempting to brand himself as a member of the movement to jump-start his nascent campaign. Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy is taking his record of eliminating Suffolk's $238 million budget deficit and his plan for tackling Albany's costly dysfunction directly to tea party groups across the state. Levy's experience cutting taxes, creating a better business environment and taking on public employee unions are in line with the core drivers of the movement and the public generally.

What has become increasingly clear is that the thin rhetoric of hope and change has given way to a desire for real results and specifics to set the state on the right path. It's not as much about party as it is about principle. That bodes well for Republicans and for a healthy relationship between the tea party and Republican candidates.

Whichever way tea partiers tilt the balance, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other national Democrats - who once dismissed the movement as "AstroTurf" (fake grassroots) - are now changing their tune. But no matter how much verbal camouflage they apply, they can't shed their political stripes.

The party of the open door must remain open and ready to work in parallel with these concerned citizens, who exercise their right as Americans to engage vigorously in the political process. The growing numbers of Republican candidates who are active tea party members and supporters demonstrate the benefits of an unforced and loose affiliation between our party and the movement.

And it is similarly natural that Republicans, as individuals, will participate with people of all political affiliations in tea party demonstrations. A year ago, I responded to calls from tea party organizers and participated in an early and successful rally on April 15, at City Hall in Manhattan, and I have continued to participate in tea party events. The Republican Party should involve tea party members in our activities and, of course, individual Republicans will be drawn, from time to time, to tea party events.

What tea party members share with New York Republicans are our core values and principles, and a deep concern for our country's future under the present one-party rule. Local party organizations will miss an opportunity to grow and succeed if they don't foster strong and constructive relationships with their area tea parties during these uncertain and pivotal times.

Tea Party Central: Tea Party Groups Prepare For Tax Day And Candidates Forums

This flag is growing on me.

The whole gosh darn tea party movement is growing on me.

That's why I am launching the Eastchester Tea Party with my friend (and Republican district leader) Dan Ventarola.

We will be joined by a lot of Democrats and independents too.

Taxed Enough Already = TEA

Eastchester will be planning its Tea Party protest and forum in recognition of Tax Freedom Day (April 9).

Of course, Tax Freedom Day keeps coming sooner every year -- yet we're not getting any of that extra revenue back from lawmakers.

"Tax Freedom Day is the first day of the year in which a nation as a whole has theoretically earned enough income to fund its annual tax burden. It is annually calculated in the United States by the Tax Foundation—a Washington, D.C.-based tax research organization. Every dollar that is officially considered income by the government is counted, and every payment to the government that is officially considered a tax is counted. Taxes at all levels of government—local, state and federal—are included."

Tax Freedom Day for 2010 is April 9, for a total average effective tax rate of 26.9 percent of the nation's income:

"The latest that Tax Freedom Day has occurred was May 1 in 2000. In 1900, Tax Freedom Day arrived January 22, for an effective average total tax rate of 5.9 percent of the nation's income. According to the Tax Foundation, the most important factor driving changes in Tax Freedom Day from year to year is growth in incomes, as the progressive structure of the U.S. federal tax system causes taxes as a percentage of income to rise along with inflation."

One of the more stark examples of taxation that generates for more revenue than projected is the gas tax, usually meeting projections by July 4 or sooner.  State and Federal officials have debated in recent years the premise of curtailing or reducing the tax on gas and oil once projected revenues have been met.

Don't hold your breath.  Lawmakers spend it before the pennies are in their hands.

Ulster County

This particular image of The Gadsden Flag comes courtesy of Pamela O'Dell with the Gardiner's Right Tea Party group in Ulster County (http://www.GardinersRight.org).

Gardiner's Right wanted to remind everyone that they are having a Gardiner Tax Day Tea Party on Thursday April 15, 2010 from 5:00-7 pm at the Rail Trail crossing of Rt 44/55 in Gardiner, NY.

Orange County

The Orange County Patriots will be holding a candidates forum on April 17th with former Tuxedo Mayor David McFadden, who is running for Congress in the 19th Congressional District.  Orange County native Kristia Cavere has also been invited to either be at the same forum or a future gathering.  Nan Hayworth and Neil Di Carlo have already met with the Orange County Patriots.

Anna Noto Wells has organized the Orange County Patriots and reported on the activities of the groups As A Mom, Let Freedom Ring, Orange/Sullivan 912, White Plains Tea Party and the Kingston Tea Party.  They all gathered in Goshen for a protest of the healthcare bill on March 21st -- and were joined by David McFadden. 

(http://www.orangecountypatriots.com).

Westchester County

Speaking of the White Plains Tea Party and my own neck of the woods, Nicole Delalla Katz (wife of State Assembly candidate Stephen Katz) reminded all her friends that the White Plains/Westchester group will be in front of the Westchester County Center on April 15th at 4:00 pm (198 Central Ave, White Plains, NY 10606-1102).

The White Plains Tea Party is coordinated by Jon and Cheryl Coolong, who recently organized a candidates forum for the 18th Congressional District.  Also active with this group is Tom Borelli of The National Center For Public Policy Research and his wife Denee, who is a FOX News contributor.

Putnam/Northern Westchester

Nicole and Steve Katz have played an active role from the start in the Northern Westchester Tea Party Patriots.  That entire group had been an integral part of the vote poll operation for Bob Castelli's landslide upset in February's special election (http://www.nypatriots.com).

The conversation has begun among tea party members on both sides of the Hudson River that the groups need to get involved with political campaigns.  Many want to ensure that the tea party movement has validity within the democratic process.  Though some remain rightfully skeptically of endorsing candidates (especially after Scott Brown departed the reservation on the jobs bill), many want to become district leaders.

There are a lot of options:

They could become Republican and Conservative district leaders, to start.  Others want to form a new "tea party" on a statewide level.  They are certain to be active in elections throughout the Hudson Valley.  They are already holding as many candidates forums as the Republican Party.

Rockland County

Rockland County's tea party movement, Rally For America, is holding another candidates forum this Wednesday with gubernatorial candidates Steve Levy and Carl Paladino.  Will Rick Lazio be there?  Has he been invited?  Congressional candidates from the 17th, 18th and 19th Congressional Districts may also be there.

Rally For America out of Rockland County is organized by Irene Tiburcio, who also singlehandedly coordinated many of the buses down to the 9-12 and Code Red Washington, D.C. rallies last year for Rockland, Westchester and Orange counties.

An integral part of Rally For America has been Anthony Mele. Tony's mounting an aggressive and public campaign against Eliot Engel in the 17th that is drawing increased interest everyday.  Much like the Westchester tea party groups, many in Rally For America are looking to become district leaders.  More important, their candidates forums are drawing countywide and regional interest.

Putnam County

In Putnam County, the Hudson Valley Patriots are led by Lisa Douglas -- and her daily newsletter/blog is just one example of how well these patriots tap social networking tools like Facebook or even basic email.

The Hudson Valley Patriots held a well-intended candidates forum for the 19th Congressional District candidates last weekend.  They are joining with the White Plains Tea Party for a tax day protest on April 15th in White Plains from 4-7 pm.

For weekend warriors, the Hudson Valley Patriots will hold a rally on Saturday, April 17th from 3-7 pm in Middletown with the Orange County tea party groups, Citizens 4 Freedom and Orange/Sullivan County 912 at the corner of Route 211 and Galleria Mall Road.

---

Finally, regional tea party groups are also expected to gather with the Northern Westchester Tea Party Patriots on Tax Day, April 15th at 6 pm in front of the Historic Putnam County Courthouse in in Carmel (20 County Center, Carmel, NY 10512).

... And there's more.

There will be tea party rallies throughout New York State, though some of the links are a year old (check out this link for a list).

Check out CNY912 (Central New York 9.12 Association).

It's all part of a national day of rallies in so many places that one wonder when anyone will get any work done that day!

Protest early and often.

Rockland County Tea Party Hosting Gubernatorial Forum: Cuomo Challengers Line Up

Rockland County's Rally For America is hosting a forum with at least Steve Levy and Carl Paladino next week.  Tentatively scheduled for Wednesday night in Nanuet, News Copy has learned that the tea party group will also extend an invitiation to Rick Lazio.

The event had initially been put together as equal time for Steve Levy -- since Carl Paladino had met with Rally for America last Friday -- but it is building as a gubernatorial "three amigos" that should draw the attention of a lot more than tea party members.

Apparently, Republican and Conservative leaders from the region will be invited.

Why not also invite Andrew Cuomo and really have some fun?

Healthcare Hangover: New York Times Declares Republicans And Tea Party The Bad Guys

Now that President Barack Obama's poll numbers are flushing farther downward following the procedural passage of the health care bill and him signing it into law, the media elite has again declared Republicans the bad guys.

Republicans, Conservatives and Tea Party members alike have been branded the prodigals.

The worst missive comes from New York Times columnist Bob Herbert, who characterized the Tea Party and GOP as having An Absence of Class.

"We can’t allow ourselves to remain silent as foaming-at-the-mouth protesters scream the vilest of epithets at members of Congress — epithets that The Times will not allow me to repeat here.

It is 2010, which means it is way past time for decent Americans to rise up against this kind of garbage, to fight it aggressively wherever it appears. And it is time for every American of good will to hold the Republican Party accountable for its role in tolerating, shielding and encouraging foul, mean-spirited and bigoted behavior in its ranks and among its strongest supporters."

Hardly the reality, this is coming from The Times -- and so it is liberal gospel this week.

Politics Daily had the reverse image of the tea party movement.

"Tea Party candidates -- if they were to jump into congressional races -- would draw enough support from Republicans to tip the balance to Democrats, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted March 16-21."

So The New York Times continues to be out of touch with America.  The poll numbers on Congress, President Obama and tea party enthusiasm prove it.

But the pulpit of the likes of Adam Nagourney continues to ravage Republicans.

"... There are elements of the bill, particularly in regulating insurers, that could well prove broadly popular, and it could be years before anyone knows whether the legislation will have big effects on health care quality and the nation’s fiscal condition. Indeed, most Americans with insurance are unlikely to see any immediate change in their coverage, and several Republicans warned that the party could pay a price for that."

It won't be 2014 before anyone notices what the control-freak legislation has done to insurance.

In the meantime, our taxes are going up.

The head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, offered a similar argument. “When this bill goes into effect, and none of the things Republicans warned about begin to happen — none of the death panels, none of the government takeover, none of the socialism — Republicans will have no credibility,” Mr. Menendez said.

The New York Times onslaught this week had a series of articles and editorials bathing themselves in a liberal flourish.

They even used the word in a headline:  Obama Signs Healthcare Overhaul Bill, With a Flourish

Overhaul ... rhetorical spin by reporters designed to make Democrats look like reformers.

Flourish ... As if the experience should be associated with some joyous jump to the finish line.

How about, The Democrats Cheated.

New York Tea Parties Discussing Petition Efforts: Carl Paladino Pledges To Beat "Prince Andrew"

Something's brewing among New York's tea party organizations.   A "Draft Carl Paladino for Governor" effort is being talked about by activists around the state.

For those who missed Carl Paladino's first campaign video, a new variation has the Buffalo millionaire pledging to form a petition to get him on the ballot.  Tea party members sound divided on backing a major party candidate (they're still jaded from Scott Brown's vote on the job's bill).  However, there is a sense that they would back an independent without much difficulty -- possibly to form their own party.

Elizabeth Benjamin of the New York Daily News blog Daily Politics had other details and the You-Tube video.

John Faso's New Yorkers For Growth had been the first to use the "Prince Andrew" phrase, as has Rick Lazio, and it seems to be catching on.

News Copy is learning directly from Tea Party organizers throughout Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess and Westchester counties that Carl Paladino is circulating aggressively around New York State.

It's not implausible that Paladino -- through tea party enthusiasm alone -- can get on the ballot.  Factor in $10 million on hand, variations of Doug Hoffman's ground team now helping him and a little help from Mr. Golisano (and perhaps the Independence Party) and the "mad as hell" businessman from Western New York appears poised to become the biggest political game changer in history of the Empire State..

Nita Lowey's Congressional Challengers Lining Up: New York's 18th In Play For Republicans?

The White Plains Tea Party covering much of Westchester County in suburban New York held a candidates forum for candidates in the 18th Congressional District.

Three Republicans were there but 11-term incumbent Nita Lowey didn't show up.

Taking questions from tea party members were Republicans Jim Russell from Mount Pleasant, Paul Wasserman from Ossining and Mark Rosen from Mamaroneck.

"We don't need Nita Lowey anymore," said Paul Wasserman. "It turns out that taxation with representation is not any better than taxation without representation."

Only three days after the House of Representatives passed the health care bill, one irony is that they didn't talk much at all about health care.

But the skepticism about Congress was in the air.

"They don't get it.  They're career politicians," said Mark Rosen. "Nita Lowey's been there 22 years.  It's time to retire Congress."

Most of the answers from all three questions were safe -- and the answers played to the audience of tea party members.

"A group of five or ten people can make a big difference across the county," said Jim Russell. "Together we can retire Nita Lowey."

Self-described as a fiscal conservative, Rosen roused the audience with this response on education.

"We need to privatize our secondary education system," noted Rosen. "It's called competition.  It gets rid of the bad teachers. It rewards the good teachers."

Up to that point all three candidates had portrayed themselves as fiscal conservatives, dancing away from social issues.  They also openly agreed with each other a bit too often for this observer's taste.

On abortion, the three began to disagree.

Previously viewed as a social conservative, Russell supported abortion rights in the first trimester.

Wasserman also described abortion as a choice and supported abortion rights, though gave no specifics on exceptions or time frame.

Rosen called himself pro-choice and pro-life, backing all the exceptions supported by the pro-life movement -- including a firm stance against partial birth abortion.

Finally, on the prospect of a primary or a third party candidacy -- all three candidates didn't seem to answer the question.

After being re-questioned, only Jim Russell hedged on whether he would primary the GOP's choice or run as a third party candidate.

Wasserman was slow and cautious to agree that all three candidates needed to pull together behind one challenger to Nita Lowey.

Only Rosen was direct in supporting his party's nominee.

"I will get behind the GOP candidate," said Rosen.  He added that a divisive third-party candidacy would hand the election to Nita Lowey

First Impressions

Jim Russell

Russell's the maverick.  That works good with Tea Party regulars - but his right-wing have never worked in the liberal to moderate sections of this district.  Perhaps his Ron Paul approach to the issues will do better in 2010.  The audience took to Russell's intellectual bantor and fiscal conservative sense.

He has never resonated as a candidate against Nita Lowey but had the guts to run when few would show up for the fight (he also as found himself in a few divisive primaries).  Russell knows the grass-roots on the issues in Westchester.

Paul Wasserman

Wasserman held his ground as a fiscal conservative.  The Ossining native shouldn't be taken for granted -- but he had no break out moment at this gathering.

Wasserman has a sense of humor, a candor that could come in handy as he meets voters.  Wasserman has also stepped out of the gate by reaching out to local party and district leaders,  What he lacks in media presence, he makes up for in personable networking.

Mark Rosen

Rosen wasn't afraid to call himself a libertarian.  He also wasn't afraid to say take a tough stand on education reform. 

Rosen also had a determined edge at moments but some Tea Party activists were expecting more. 

Already establishing media presence with the same consultants used last year by Rob Astorino, this fiscal conservative appears poised to put forth a far more substantive campaign than the other two candidates.

Money, Money, Money

Nita Lowey had nearly a million dollars on hand at the start of 2010.  One of these three candidates will need to raise nearly double that amount to win back thre 18th.  It's as hard a financial and demographic climb as any Congressional seat in the nation.

All three candidates came across as strong fiscal conservatives, so expect one of them to sharpen their pencil against Lowey.  Ideally, that should mean a flow of money from the New York City financial services industry to the Republican candidate -- particularly since much of that business sector lives in Westchester.  The problem is that skepticism about Wall Street and the Federal Reserve will be an issue in the 18th -- something pointed out throughout the forum (and about Lowey).

Start raising money, gentlemen.

New York Republicans Missing Opportunity: Will GOP Snub Tea Party Candidates?

Erie County's Carl Paladino with $10 million of his own money and the backing of Tom Golisano should have been courted by Republicans the moment Erie County Executive Chris Collins dropped out of the race for New York State Governor.

But they chose Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy instead.  The Democrat-turned-Republican from Long Island is not a bad choice.  Is he the best choice?

In Rockland County, there is a businessman named Tony Mele who wants to run for Congress in the 17th.   Mele was born in the Bronx and he is ready-made to compete in a Congressional District that stretches from his home county to his old neighborhood.  Mele has tea party roots that have already impressed volunteers in Rockland and neighoring Westchester.

Mele is a veteran.  He is Hispanic.  He is articulate and a self-starter whose resolve won't be denied this year.

Mele wants to challenge Bronx/Virginia Congressman Eliot Engel -- who reportedly lobbied to gerrymander the 17th to stretch ridiculously into Rockland to avoid primary challenges by Bronx Latinos,

Like Paladino, Mele seems a natural as a candidate.

GOP leaders are so far giving no ear or seriousness to either gentleman.

Welcome to New York.

The Rockland GOP's choice for the 17th is a man named York.  And that's all anyone is told.  He has a last name, Kleinhandler, but he is neither formally declared nor does the news media have any idea this man is running.  The story is that Kleinhandler has money, a million or more, yet he needs to raise $12,000 for a poll?

The story is also told that Conservatives have already chosen York -- yet Bronx Conservative Chairman Bill Newmark had not heard of the Rockland candidate yesterday.  Conservatives have not met to choose a candidate nor apparently have Independence Party leaders.

So what is going on here?

It's not fair to Mr. Kleinhandler to be treated so "under the radar" that his own chances of beating Engel are diminished.  It's not fair to the Rockland Republicans or other candidates running in Rockland, particularly in the 18th and 19th Congressional Districts.  It is also unfair to the esteemed State Senator Thomas P. Morahan from Rockland, who Democrats are crudely circling like vultures. 

What happens if Morahan does sadly retire, due to illness, as has been openly discussed?  Where does this leave the Republicans in the State Senate, that a popular tea party candidate is snubbed in Rockland and the Bronx?

Republicans need to learn from tea party members.  The GOP needs to empower them, listen to the people and quit the closed-door nonsense.

Where will this leave Republicans in the 34th State Senate District, a district that overlaps Engel's district in the Bronx, where Eastchester Town Supervisor Tony Colavita could be challenging State Senator Jeff Klein?

It is certain that Republicans and Conservatives in the Bronx can benefit from a Bronx-raised Hispanic running this year.  It is as certain that the tea party movement does resonate with the residential areas of the Northern Bronx.  Mele's candidacy makes sense in the Bronx -- and he made sense in Ramapo in 2007 when he drew nearly 11,000 votes as a town supervisor candidate.

But Mele so far is being shown the door ... though, to be fair, it may take Republican leaders time to get used to the tea party movement.  The problem is that tea party activism and partisan control don't meld well.

What if this pattern is being repeated throughout New York State?

What about Erie County and Western New York and the Golisano's reach into the Independence Party and the Tea Party movement and Conservatives -- all needed for the State GOP to have a successful slate of candidates throughout New York State?

Mr. Paladino should be heeded as much as Mr. Mele.

Republicans will be missing a once-in-a-century opportunity if they continue to disregard and pass over Tea Party and non-partisan candidates.

This is not to fault Steve Levy or his supporters.  They mean well and have clout among Conservatives (the jury is still out whether he has measurable support among Tea Party members).

This is not to fault State GOP Chairman Ed Cox, who I personally believe is a reformer. Cox is one of the most well-intendedparty leaders New York has seen in a generation.  I also won't fault Rockland Republican County Leader Vincent Reda.  Reda is a gentleman who has courted success for years in Rockland.  His judgment on the 17th and Steve Levy should also be heeded.  Reda is joined by Bronx leaders supporting Steve Levy because they are rightfully fed up with Rick Lazio's business-as-usual Republican campaign.

For that acknowledgment that something is broken, Vincent Reda and Ed Cox should be applauded for standing up to the old establishment.  They got it right.

So why didn't they give Carl Paladino or Tony Mele the same consideration, when tea parties across the state continue to grow at a rapid rate?

Something's happening out there.

Reagan would have been smiling.

Why aren't Republican leaders?

Healthcare Vote Could Make Or Break Republicans With Tea Parties: Reconciliation Needs 216 Votes In House

David Brooks and Mark Sheilds debate the merits and demerits of reconciliation.

President Obama compares healthcare insurance to shopping at Walmart and then threatens reconciliation.

MSNBC reported that 9 Democrats who voted against the healthcare package may switch their votes in favor.

The House version of health care passed 220-215 in November, with 39 Democrats voting against it.    However, since November, defections, resignations and a death have taken away yes votes.  216 votes would be needed for Pelosi to approve the Senate-passed version.

Glenn Beck Blames Tea Parties For Scott Brown: Did We Lie To Ourselves About His Conservative Credentials?

Glenn Beck asked if Scott Brown should be getting attacked when he was elevated by the people.

1. He misrepresented himself as a conservative.
2. He compromised for a more important in the future.
3. Voters misunderstood him -- or they lied to themselves about Brown.

This is a Pogo moment.

Beck noted that many people in America chose to believe that Scott Brown was a small goverment conservative.

"... He never claimed to be.  We projected that on him.  He is a progressive Republican like Snowe or John McCain," explained Beck.

Throw The Bums Out: Republicans Can Blink Or Be Brave

While Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) hails bipartisanship, 13 Republicans betrayed their party outright today.

Hot Air's headline:

Jobs bill passes Senate — with 13 Republican votes

Why aren't Republicans waking up?

The slope is more than slippery now.  This is a luge course with no end.

Michelle Malkin called it a "pay-off" and business as usual.

Mediaite reported on Facebook, Blogosphere Take On “Traitor” Scott Brown

Inexplicably, Scott Brown was defended by The Heritage Foundation (CNN).

"I think this shows independence," said Brian Darling, director of Senate relations for the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation. "A $15 billion jobs bill is an important vote, but it's not going to be one of the more important votes that they are going to have this year."

They don't get it.

Glenn Beck rationalized that maybe America's wish fulfillment for Scott Brown had left them projecting something he had never been -- and holding onto hope by lying to themselves.

MSNBC further reported on the furor among tea party conservatives and right wing bloggers.

Republicans can blink or be brave now.

 

 

Tea Party Movement Reels Over Scott Brown Defection: See You In November

There are no words to describe the disappointment and resolve of tea party activists who learned yesterday that Scott Brown had betrayed their movement.

I will be revising this column throughout the day, since the shockwave of what transpired yesterday in Washington, D.C. will ripple across the country and the Internet and the tea parties and well-meaning Republican, conservative and independent leaders nationwide.

For those on the grass-roots level, this is a dark day. 

There are an estimated 16 million tea party activists.

That's a lot of people for Scott Brown to disregard.

There are several million more volunteers from all political and non-political corners of the country.

For those who worked so hard to elect Scott, it's a betrayal.

How many made calls for Scott Brown?

For those who were so happy the night he won, no poll can capture how they might feel today.

It's impossible to calculate the damage to the Republican Party.

It's too late to safeguard all candidates from the backlash.

Mad as hell and not going to take it anymore?

The ensuing protests will consume any lawmakers who don't heed the participatory movement growing nationwide.

It isn't reactionary, as that actor in Sacramento copped out.  It's built on common sense, a page from Thomas Paine rather than Robespierre.

If we didn't have anarchy before, the United States will have something close to anarchy now.  No ... not "lock and load" -- but something along the lines of a fierce determination to vote ALL the bums out come November 2nd.

Yes ... please vote all the bums out.

ALL ... both major parties ... all incumbents.  Vote them all out.

It hurts more than anything else.  There are no more icons or heroes on pedestals anymore in America (at least not anyone running for elected office).  The trust and comfort level for Americans is damaged irreparably by Scott Brown choosing to be political expedient.  It's "perfectly normal" for D.C. but not outside the Beltway.  It's especially not normal for those new to the process.

Tea party activists don't want to look at an incumbent right now.

They probably don't want to look at any candidate either.

If there was any doubt that the tea party movement would avoid endorsing candidates this November, the sellouts in Congress who walked all over their principles yesterday have made it MUCH worse for their contemporaries.  Whether you're running for the U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives, don't expect much help right away.

The wounds may heal.  I personally doubt it.  As a political consultant, I will advise candidates to step lightly.  As a partisan, I expect to hear their frustration and distrust.  If you're a candidate, be ready to be chased out of rooms.

How dramatic a reversal of fortune could this be for the Republican Party?

With more budget "reconciliation" right around the corner and coming right at them, Republicans better not blink.

It's probably too late already.

See you in November.

Scott Brown Branded Turncoat For Jobs Bill Vote: Four Other GOP Senators Betray Platform

Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, George Voinovich of Ohio and Christopher "Kit" Bond of Missouri ... might have been expected to sell out to the Democrats.

Scott Brown has sold out a movement.

The Washington Post reported that Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky wasn't particularly perturbed about Brown's vote, saying his election last month has "made a huge, positive difference for us and for the whole legislative agenda."

"We don't expect our members to be in lockstep on every single issue," McConnell added.

That's what's wrong with the Republican Party.

What legislative agenda?

 

Governor Arnold Doesn't Get It Either: Schwarzenegger Dismisses Tea Parties

For an actor who was swept into office during a populist election, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sounded like an elitist discounting the tea party movement.

ABC News blog, The Note, had video of Governor Arnold trying to terminate the tea.

"They're the party of no, and at the same time, I think that there are a lot of people that are disenchanted and dissatisfied and they're angry and this is why you have the Tea Party and all of those things.  The Tea Party is not going to go anywhere.   I think the Tea Party is all about just an expression of anger and dissatisfaction ... "

The party of "no" ...

What a copout.

Libertarian movements have their contrarian moments (though nowhere near as counter-productive as partisan Democrats).

---

The Firedoglake blog noted some conservative contradictions at CPAC --  "Ron Paul at CPAC Exposes the Incoherence of the Modern Republican Party"

The marrying of anti-war protestors with hawks irked one blogger -- and Ron Paul winning the straw poll.

"So Ann Coulter agrees with everything Ron Paul says, except for that trillion or so a year she wants to keep spending to maintain a US Empire. Or, put another way — Coulter and the neoconservatives that have taken over the Republican Party want Ron Paul’s pre-WWI, pre-Fed, pre-Social Security, pre-IRS federal government — to go with LBJ’s Great Society military."

Complicated.

Thoughts On The Tax Burden: Not Worth Violence Or Anarchy

No economic recession or depression justifies suicide or violence.

My first thoughts on the suicide bomber, who apparently had a bone to pick with the I.R.S., range from disgust to complete revulsion that any human being would murder people over an inability to pay a tax bill.

We still have a responsibility to pay taxes.

What Joseph Stack did in Austin was a criminal act.

It was not domestic terrorism, as some in the news media or Democratic Party want to rationalize.

The tea party and conservative movement didn't stay up all night plotting a suicidal and murderous plane crash.  We do not advocate violence.  We do not advocate murder.  We are not terrorist cells.   We do not advocate overthrowing the United States government (though many of us hold the present leadership of Congress in complete disdain).

Democrats want to capitalize on one individual's emotionally unstable act.

... At least one lawmaker, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, disagreed and compared the incident to the 1995 bombing that killed 168 people in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

"Like the larger-scale tragedy in Oklahoma City, this was a cowardly act of domestic terrorism," Doggett said in a statement. "Stack's apparent website message reflects the steadily increasing flow of 'the government is out to get me' paranoia."

See you in November, Mr. Doggett.  I suspect the voters will send you a message.

It doesn't help the country to fan the reactionary flames of paranoia by unfairly labeling well-intended citizens opposing bad public fiscal policy as domestic terrorists.  On the other hand, those using the tea party movement as a copout for a prior lack of civic involvement need to show some humility.

Hailing a suicide bomber as a hero is stupid.  It's irresponsible.  Stack was unstable and morally bankrupt.

The Daily News reported on a Conservative radio talk show host in Syracuse, Jon Alvarez, creating a Facebook page praising the murderer.

"This guy was making a sacrifice to others who were having problems with the IRS," Alvarez told Syracuse's Post-Standard newspaper. "We at least owed it to him to make note of his thoughts."

Nonsense.  Facebook was correct in taking down the page.  We don't need people yelling FOR fire in crowded theaters.

Everyone has to calm down.

That the taxes are unjust, that they may justify significant civil unrest and that some form of protest is our right as U.S. citizens -- doesn't preclude the fact that we still have a civic responsibility to pay taxes.

And if you don't like it, get off your asses and get involved with elections to vote the bums out of office.

But don't scapegoat your personal problems or bad economics on everyone else.  Don't blame the government if you have never voted, if you have never volunteered to help a candidate, if you have never at least acknowledged the value of our democracy.

Every two or four or six years, our elected officials -- the lawmakers responsible for passing these public budgets -- come up for re-election.

Vote them out if you don't like the cost of government.

Geesh.  It's not worth flying a plane into a building.  It's not worth violent protest.  It's not worth an anarchy that still refuses to accept that part of human existence is the body politic and the process to choose those to represent us.  Go door to door and collect signatures on petitions to get the candidates of your choice on the ballot.  Man the phones to pull out the vote.  Vote.  Change takes work, sweat, time -- and, yes, you might lose a few times.

Voting is not mandatory but it is a patriotic obligation.  If more people voted, we would not have most of the problems the tea party activists are screaming about.  I'm happily part of the tea party movement, particularly on the local level with Rethinking Westchester Government and with many good government initiatives that preceded the tea parties.  I am also proudly part of New York's Conservative Party, an independent movement that started in 1962 to go after the liberal spend and tax policies of then New York State Governor Nelson Rockefeller.

By the time I first registered to vote in 1980, the principles of the New York State Conservative Party were the mainstream policies of the Republican National Committee and soon-to-be President Ronald Reagan.

No one had to fly a plane into a building.  No one had to reject political parties.  Consensus brought conservative (and libertarian) policies to the forefront.

However, no one plotted to frame Reagan's supporters as enemies of the state.  Admittedly, there was a polarizing divide -- particularly in New York -- between those who loved Reagan and liberals who viewed the late President of the United States as the devil incarnate.

Many of Reagan's critics had a holiday while flawed economic policies hid worse problems.  Many of the liberals' critics weren't as active politically when the economy was humming.  This vacation from campaigns and elections, partly an aversion to a prior generation's machine politics and Watergate, allowed a lot of corrupt human beings to take control of government on all levels.

We were asleep at the wheel (I wasn't).

Now the issues of the day are picking our pockets.  Now the economy is on everyone's mind.  Now the unrest is more valid than it may have been 42 years ago when Vietnam and racial divides had measurable rioting on the streets.

Fingerpointing is easy.  Changing our economic woes will take some work.  As for the public sector, start with taking advantage of those planned revolutions called elections.

Forget about flying planes into buildings or blowing up something.  Forget about trying to "spin" the tea party as something evil.  We are not the enemy of the people.  Those elected officials who refuse to acknowledge debt-ridden fiscal policies as destructive are the true enemies of the United  States.  But the tea party better start working with political parties to reform our system from within.  Just anarchy won't do it.

Ode to political machines ...

The reality check is that two generations of Americans are making up for lost time when they should have been more civically engaged to keep their tax bills down.  Now they are playing catch up, desperately (and rightfully), but a little humility might help too.

Vote the bums out, at least.

Then perhaps the United States can start turning the page and clean up the debit column of our nation's financial statement.

It's really that simple.

Clinton Plotting Tea Party Counterattack: Democrats Digging Dirt For Blackmail Schemes

Democrats must be desperate.

Bill Clinton and James Carville running campaigns against Tea Party leaders?  Breitbart's Big Government detailed the blackmail scheme.

"They plan to identify 7-8 national figures active in the tea party movement and engage in deep opposition research on them. If possible, they will identify one or two they can perhaps ‘turn’, either with money or threats, to create a mole in the movement. The others will be subjected to a full-on smear campaign."

Michelle Malkin is sick of it all being the tea party's fault.

This nutball had deadly grudges that transcended partisan lines. But within minutes of the story breaking, a furious, left-wing blogger at the popular Daily Kos website – where countless Democrat leaders have guest-posted – fumed: “Teabagger terrorist attack on IRS building.”

They don't get it.  They just don't get it.

As for Boss Clinton, he may like being back in the hardball game -- but shouldn't be given the kid gloves treatment as a former President anymore.

An Insider's Perspective On The Outsider's Movement: The Tea Party Is The Voice Of The People

Vox populi.

The New York Times calls it "a movement in ferment" (the attached slide show was a fair representation of things).

 
I was there on 9/12/2009 as the crowds overflowed the National Mall.  It was distinctly non-partisan, with an overwhelming number of senior citizens and young families.  Though some of the radical fringes were there, they comprised a small percentage of the crowd.

These aren't politicians.

Admittedly, I'm a politician.  I'm a local party chairman of the Eastchester Town Conservative Committee, a member of the Westchester County Conservative Committee, an active supporter of the New York State Conservative Party and steady part of many Republican campaigns through Westchester County and the Hudson Valley.

I've actually run for office, twice.  I was the novice, under-funded and distinctly non-political during the process.  I found myself at local Town Hall meetings for the town board and the rest just followed.  It works that way sometimes in democracy.  Everyone has a different story how he or she gets involved.

Each of these tea party enthusiasts have a different story and some may or may not find their way into "politics" -- but they're already there.

Politics is not always a dirty word.

I prefer to say that I am "civically engaged" (a safe way to soften explaining that I'm both a political chairman and political consultant).

I have worked as a reporter and that's how this affection for the body politic really started.  You cover enough elections and a part of you eventually starts following it like a sporting event, though no journalist wants to admit anyone takes sides (even though publishers and producers have been taking sides for two generations).

Elections have become a blood sport, a verbal boxing match and the people are tired of it all just being a game of subtraction.  They want to see new ideas, new candidates and new kinds of candidates.  This is the year of the anti-politicians, the everyman in elections and a people's movement.

This grounded populism is not new.  Blame Frank Capra.  Many of us have a weakness for old movies that unite our visions.  Deep down inside, we are Mr. Smith Went To Washington.  We are Howard Beal in Network.  We are Al Pacino in And Justice For All.  We are searching for that Main Street, a place that is safe and boring.  All those Tea Party patriots want peace too, believe me.  But taxation without benefit or representation is not peace.  It's fiscal war. 

This time the good guys are going to win.  The whole country benefits from what unfolds now.  We're all finding a way to make a noise; blogging, letters to the newspapers, rallies ... We're finding our voice.

What's happening to America right now is a good thing.  I'm not sure many politicians "get it" but they will, especially as party leaders find their committees over-run by well-intended activists whose zeal for the process already rivals what happens on any campaign trail.  The smart chairs are empowering the tea parties.  They should let them run the show.  Just let go and let human nature take its course.

Wine must wait.

So let it all ferment, though don't let it all sit idly either.  Am I a member of the Tea Party movement?  My friends in the press, fellow bloggers and fellow partisans remind me that I was talking about things like a tax revolt across New York State five years ago (actually, one of my mentors and close friend, former Congressman Joe DioGuardi was talking about a national revolt 25 years ago).

Larry Kudlow this past week reminded the New York Young Republicans that the late Jack Kemp was discussing tea party ideas before Reagan was in the White House (by the way, go to Draft Larry Kudlow and tell him to run for the U.S. Senate aganst Charles Schumer).

The tea party movement in our time probably started with Proposition 13 in California in the mid-1970s.  It stalled ironically during the budget gridlock of 1982 -- in the middle of the Reagan revolution -- when spending wasn't held down properly.  Adjustments to the real estate and oil investments taxes in 1986 removed deductions that drifted Reagan's movement into a recession.  By 1988, when George H.W. Bush said "no new taxes" at the Republican National Convention, the deficit dye was already cast.  The budget deal of 1990 to raised taxes to meet runaway spending made it a lonely time for Republicans until Newt Gingrich showed up in 1994 to reclaim Congress for the first time in over four decades.

The Contract With America, 14 years after Reagan first took office, renewed hope -- but it only took Speaker Gingrich two years to go from citizen to demagogue.  Also, Gingrich blinked when it was time for a government shutdown.  It's been written that the Oklahoma bombing left Gingrich fearing that his revolution had spun out of his control.  The problem was that he had played Robespierre rather than Thomas Paine.  This is what happens when a citizen's movement is turned into a cult of personality, so Gingrich failed as quickly as he succeeded.

And he never did get it, did he?

He didn't get it last year when he showed up in upstate New York's 23rd Congressional race to again play demagogue.

Those who know why Dick Armey walked away from Congress understand why it is so fitting that he started FreedomWorks with the late Jack Kemp.

This is all so long overdue.

Since initiative and referenda first hit the California coast to lobbying scandals ruined Republican control of Congress, the country had trusted their elected officials to get the job down.

Now it's the people's turn.

What matters now is what continues to happen on the local level, as The Journal News observed last week.

However, I don't agree with Gannett that most Tea Party activists don't show up at local school or town board meetings.  They are the people who usually have been showing up at local village, town and city hall meetings.  Yes ... many are those gadflies people like to joke about, or the lone citizen who shows up at the podium to ask questions every week.  These people care.  They're good neighbors.  They're great citizens.

As they still say at WVOX in New Rochelle, New York (where such populism is standard fare), Vox Populi ...

... Voice of the people.

This story needed a different headline.

NRCC Elevates Hayworth To Contender: Endorsed By Tea Party Group As Hall Stumbles

A tea party group from the city of Port Jervis in Orange County called the Tristate Sons of Liberty has endorsed Republican Congressional candidate Nan Hayworth.

Hayworth is vying to face off against Democrat John Hall in the 19th Congressional District.

The same day as the tea party endorsement, Hayworth was elevated to contender status by the NRCC on the basis of her fundraising.

"Hayworth’s campaign has already achieved some success, reporting $519,000 cash on hand as of December 31, which is $67,416 more than Democrat incumbent Hall had on hand."

A Republican surpassing an incumbent Democrat in fundraising this early in an election cycle is significant.

It's an indication that Hall might be more than vulnerable.  Sources in the Hudson Valley have suggested the two-term House Rep is "giving up" but the NRCC cautioned that the 19th was won by Barack Obama (52-48).

Hayworth's financial advantage makes her formidable, so anyone looking to challenge her better hurry up.

Back in December, the City Hall blog reported that Assemblyman Greg Ball was being asked to re-enter the race.

Ball appears solely focused on running for State Senate, despite that leaving him on a collision course with popular incumbent State Senator Vincent Leibell.  The NRCC still openly praises Ball but he is a political peck's bad boy or whipping boy depending on who you speak to ...

As for Hayworth, money changes a lot of minds but the following sentiments from two months ago still appear to hold true.

The county chairs say their main misgiving about Hayworth is her lack of political experience. But a personal dispute is playing into it as well: Hayworth hired John Hicks, the former party chair of Orange County, as her campaign advisor. Hicks is embroiled in a long-term dispute with DeProspo, who helped oust him. DeProspo says that by choosing Hicks, Hayworth has displayed her political naiveté and an unwillingness to fit in with the local G.O.P. team.

“I think that the NRCC has looked at [Hayworth] on paper,” he said.' “They have their own goals and benchmarks and guidelines…what they really, really like about her is that she has a lot of money.”

As chairman of Orange County in 1996, Hicks found himself at odds with Conservatives over his support of Sue Kelly -- whose radical late-term partial-birth abortion stands then had her at odds with half the national Republican Party.  DeProspo's backing the liberal William Weld for governor in 2006 didn't endear himself to Conservaties either -- but the Orange County Chairman has openly articulated a willingness to support a pro-life conservative in the 19th.

So far, that candidate has not arrived.

Meanwhile, News Copy was handed solid confirmation on another detail in the 19th that may surprise people.

The same political operatives within the NRCC praising Nan Hayworth had far more good things to say about Greg Ball's aborted candidacy.  The respect for Ball's run in the 19th was so effusive -- by NRCC staff simultaneously promoting Hayworth -- that it seemed hard to believe that this was the same organization Nan Hayworth's campaign had claimed wanted Ball out of the race over a faulty poll.

Currently, Greg Ball has not articulated ANY plans to re-enter this race nor does that appear likely.  However, Hayworth is vulnerable to a challenge in a primary -- regardless of what the rocket scientists in D.C. say. 

G.O.P. Caught "Hijacking" Tea Party: RNC Chair Michael Steele Grounds Controversial Website

Republicans have shutdown a website that some tea party leaders saw as evidence that the GOP is trying to "hijack" the grass-roots conservative movement, reported Newsmax.

TeaParty.Gop.com was pulled off the Internet after a meeting Tuesday between RNC Chairman Michael Steele and 50 conservative activists in Florida.

"The move may indicate Republican recognition that tea party leaders will not tolerate efforts to absorb it into the GOP. Tea party leaders have to be very careful to avoid any appearance of an alliance with the GOP, because their ranks include many independents and former Democrats who would strongly object."

This Palm Beach news blog had a video of a meeting between Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele and a tea party group that tea party activists claim isn't representative of the tea party movement.

They're being called "hijackers" for now, a group called DC Works for Us, but in media reports, Hoffman has been identified as a "tea party leader." So this week, when Hoffman's group landed a meeting with Republican Chairman Michael Steele, it seemed a signal that the tea partiers were moving toward the GOP's political tent.

However, it also sounds like a bit of competition between tea party groups.

"They were using the name 'tea party,'" says Everett Wilkinson, chairman of the official South Florida Tea Party, which sprawls from Martin County to Miami-Dade. "These people who have the meeting are not really tea party people. If you have a group of 120 or 130 people (as Hoffman apparently does), and we have a group of 5,000 people, then who's really the tea party?"

Steele is doing a lot of talking in the above video, probably too much.

"Wilkinson told Juice that he thinks Steele is trying to create the illusion that he's lured the droves of tea party activists toward voting Republican. In the past, he's been recruiting the group, with little success. Last year, the tea party denied him permission to speak at its conference in Chicago."

The Atlantic blog had more details on the tea party hijacking, if that's what it was.

"Some of the criticism hints at a central facet of the Tea Party movement: it's decentralized. Things tend to happen via word of mouth, and segments of the movement aren't necessarily aware of what's going on in other segments. Some of it, meanwhile, hints at an ongoing power struggle over who gets to be considered part of the real "Tea Party" movement."

Decentralized or not, some partisanship probably came into play.

The issue of candidates being endorsed by tea parties has roused controversy too.  Call it anarchy or independence, tea party activists don't want to feel as though they have been had ...

It's a big issue with hardcore tea party organizers.  The separation from any political organization, party or candidate for many in the tea party movement is not negotiable.  Of course, it resists reason -- since a third party movement or the anarchy of an independent movement that splinters the Republican independent base might defeat its own purpose.

The lack of trust in either major party is a major element of tea party activism.

Republicans wish that they could borrow all this energy and activism in election but the additional problem is not knowing who is in charge.  Well ... some tea party groups don't want anyone in charge ... more anarchy.

At some point, a leader will emerge and that that leader will be thrown overboard for another leader and that leader will face tea party protests until finally tea party organizations will have their own constitutional conventions (or first committees on correspondence).

Imagine the Founders not having a George Washington to choose as the first U.S. President, arguing about who was actually in charge.  This gets like Lord of the Flies, until some lucky survivor is the leader (like a game of Survivor).

Rockland Tea Party Holds Civic Conference: Cold Shoulder From Palisades Mall

"It's not what we oppose," explained Rockland County Tea Party organizer Anthony Mele. "It's what we are for."

Despite the Palisades Center not allowing the Rally for America to gather at the Nanuet mall, Rockland County was host to a well received "Blueprint for Change" on President's Day.

A few hundred well-intetended citizens held what organizers call a civic conference at the Comfort Inn in Nanuet.

Mele and others, including former Congressman Joe DioGuardi, explained that people are worried about over-taxing, over-spending and government over-reaching into their lives.

Moderated by a group called Conserveality, the day included panel discussions on grass-roots planning, galvanizing the voters, how to become more politically active in the coming elections with campaigns -- and joining political parties as committee members/district leaders.

Above is the welcome video that started the conference and below are some clips from the entire conference.

The conference had only one flashpoint.  Some discussion of social conservative issues in a news story one week prior to the conference prompted this letter to the editor by Joseph DiToma of Pearl River in the local Gannett newspaper disagreeing with a Rockland lawmaker.

The comments of Rockland County Legislator Frank Sparaco that "many are concerned about gay marriage and abortion" is precisely the kind of comment that is meant to cause division in an otherwise noble cause ...

... Gay marriage, abortion, etc., these are not our concern. Our concern is to take back our government, abolish the 16th and 17th amendments and reinstate the Constitution as our basis of law. We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted from our quest ...

Tea party groups appear divided on more than just the social issues, including territorial fights and resistance to endorsing any candidate (or getting involved in any political party).  However, today's conference in Rockland had no revealed controversies or disagreements.  Much like the Founding Fathers they tend to emulate, this is not a one size fits all movement -- nor are these true patriots afraid of dissent.

Tea Party Pits Populists Versus Elitists: Since When Has Populism Been The Problem?

Since when is populism a bad thing?

In recent days, news outlets have been deconstructing Sarah Palin as some freak of backward Americanism.  It's as if an entire portion of the United States has been laid out as lacking intelligence or order.

The mainstream media and the autocratic political establishments don't want the masses in control of a movement influencing millions of people.

What's at stake here is centralized control of "the message" -- and this rebellion against elitist control is where the conservatives find common ground with libertarians.

Hotline called Palin's pitch "beer-track populism" -- warning of a Republican rift.

"Palin's elevation of the instinctive wisdom of heartland Americans over the rarefied knowledge of egghead elites, in her speech at the Tea Party convention last weekend, echoed conservative arguments against Democrats dating back to Adlai Stevenson and the 1950s. But it's easy to imagine Palin trying to consolidate beer-track Republicans by directing the same attacks against Romney--a wealthy and modulated former management consultant who radiates expertise from his crisply starched shirts to his imperturbable hair."

A face in the crowd or a brilliant manipulation of the mobs?

Democrats are desperately looking for some language, some angle, to discredit what has risen out of middle-income America.  Though Palin may not always be the best messenger, these generalizations are demeaning and reflect an urban bias against the rest of the country.

David Broder of The Washington Post called it "pitch-perfect populism" -- saying it was time to take Palin seriously.

"Blessed with an enthusiastic audience of conservative activists, Palin used the Tea Party gathering and coverage on the cable networks to display the full repertoire she possesses, touching on national security, economics, fiscal and social policy, and every other area where she could draw a contrast with Barack Obama and point up what Republicans see as vulnerabilities in Washington."

The Seattle Post put forth poll numbers from an ABC poll saying Palin's favorables have "deteriorated significantly" to 37 percent -- and the New York Daily News drew from the same poll that 71% of Americans don't believe she is qualified to be President.

Ouch ... Whipping girl, she is ... but those numbers come from the same news organizations who flocked behind Barack Obama like infatuated fans.  Populists, in this establishment?

More damaging is when columnists like David Brooks picks apart populism as if it is an emotional condition that has always divided the United States, The Populist Addiction.

"The populists have an Us versus Them mentality. If they continue their random attacks on enterprise and capital, they will only increase the pervasive feeling of uncertainty, which is now the single biggest factor in holding back investment, job creation and growth. They will end up discrediting good policies (the Obama bank reforms are quite sensible) because they will persuade the country that the government is in the hands of reckless Huey Longs."

Brooks conveniently forgets about Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt or perhaps even Robert Kennedy -- as if every spontaneous human fire across America's landscape over the past 200 years has been a bad thing.

It was alright for the people to fawn over Bill Clinton but Brooks would rather compare Sarah Palin to William Jennings Bryan or Huey Long?  Brooks rightfully points to Abraham Lincoln and Alexander Hamilton, as thinkers independent of a popular or reactionary crowd.  But what would pundits say about John Adams or any number of the founders?

Would Ben Franklin be discounted by today's mainstream media due to his adoration of anarchy?  How might Thomas Jefferson fare against such stuffy elitists ignoring his concerns for the common man (as if the naysayers believe the primacy of the individual has no part in this present day populism)?

I hate to borrow from that 1992 campaign but blind fanaticism isn't driving the tea party movement.

It's the economy, stupid.

John McCain Blinks At Tea Party Challenger: J.D. Hayworth Pushes Moderate To The Right

Marshmallow McCain?  For those who argue that the long-time U.S. Senator lost to Barack Obama because he wasn't conservative enough when it counted, J.D. Hayworth's primary challenge to John McCain could be typical of several challenges to Republicans across the nation.

The New York Times noted that McCain had steered back to the right since Hayworth announced that he would be primarying the Arizona senator.

"Mr. McCain now sharply criticizes the bailout bill he voted for, pivoted from his earlier position that the Guantánamo Bay detention facility should be closed, offered only a muted response to the Supreme Court’s decision undoing campaign finance laws and backed down from statements that gays in the military would be O.K. by him if the military brass were on board."

Welcome to the party, Mr. McCain.

The New York Examiner crunched two Rasmussen Reports polls; one showing Republicans with an eight point lead among likely voters.

But the second poll indicated Tea Party candidates pulling at least 17% percent from Republican candidates in three way races.

That number should only get bigger throughout the summer and fall, as Tea Party protests scheduled for next weekend and April 15th -- coupled with what probably will be a huge turnout on 9-12 -- would provide greater support for independent and conservative candidates.

As for the McCain-Hayworth primary, some Republicans just don't get it.

"Mr. McCain has been long vexed by the more right-leaning corners of the Republican Party, especially the ones here at home, who are forever straw-polling their way toward his (fictional) downfall. His support for immigration policy overhaul, campaign finance restrictions and his past opposition to the Bush administration tax cuts and the Federal Marriage Amendment all contributed to his problems here."

Republicans like McCain will lose in November if they don't adjust to the populist message at home.

The New York Tea Party Central: Make Your Voice Heard

April 15th promises to be a busy day around America for Tea Parties.

The list of tea parties in New York on Tax Day is a long one.

I suspect this is just the beginning.

As a courtesy to the hundreds of volunteers out there making these events happen, News Copy will be updating the following list.

We will also be highlighting each tea party group and covering the revolts all over New York, including much national coverage (Many thanks to Barry Pardee, the New York State Tax Day Tea Party Coordinator).

The following is a list of CONFIRMED Tea Party Tax Revolts planned within the state of New York. Please note that we ONLY list events happening on April 15th.

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City: Albany
When: April 15, 11:00am - 2:00pm
Where: Corning Preserve
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: http://www.albanyteaparty.com/
Facebook Group: CLICK HERE

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City: Albion
When: April 15, 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Where: Orleans County Courthouse Square, Main St. at State St.
Other Info: Let people know to bring their own signs, and tea.
Contact Info: EMAIL

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City: Binghamton
When: April 15, 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Where: Confluence Park, S. Washington St.
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: Requesting every one bring symbolic empty wallets, shirt off their back and tea bags.
Website: CLICK HERE

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City: Buffalo
When: April 15, Noon
Where: Across from City Hall
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:
Facebook Group: Coming Soon

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City: Canton
When: April 15, 11:00am - 2:00pm
Where: On the corner of Main Street (Rt. 11) & Park, Across from the Canton Post
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:
Facebook Group:

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City: Corning
When: April 15, 5:30 pm
Where: Centerway Square
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: Blog
Facebook Group: Click Here

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City: Eastern Long Island
When: April 15, 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Where: East Hampton (NY) City Hall then to 3-Mile Harbor (City Pier), 159 Pantigo Road
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:
Facebook Group: Click Here

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City: Elmira
When: April 15, 9:00am - 9:00pm (see event contact for details)
Where: At N. Main St. and Gray St.
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:

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City: Endicott
When: April 15, 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Where: Endicott Post Office on Washington Ave
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:
Facebook Group: Coming Soon

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City: Fishkill
When: April 15, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Where: Dutchess Stadium, 1500 Rte. 9D
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: www.fishkillteaparty.com
Facebook Group: CLICK HERE

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City: Gardiner
When: April 15, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Where: The Rail Trail, Route 44/55
Contact: EMAIL
Phone: 845.255.3557
Other Info: gardinersright.org
Facebook Group: Coming Soon!

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City: Gouverneur
When: April 15, email contact for time
Where: Village Square
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:
Facebook Group:
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City: Hauppague
When: April 15, 5:30pm
Where: Korean War Memorial, 100 Veterans Memorial Highway, #3
Suffolk County Dennison Building
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:
Facebook Group: Coming Soon

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City: Hicksville, Long Island
When: April 15, 5:30pm - 8:00pm
Where: Broadway Mall
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: Click Here
Facebook Group: Coming Soon

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City: Kingston
When: April 15, 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Where: RT. 9W across from the Hudson Valley Mall
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:
Facebook Group:

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City: Massapequa
When: April 15, 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Where: Massapequa Train Station on the Sunrise Hwy side
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: Click Here
Facebook Group: Coming Soon!

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City: Medford
When: April 15, Noon
Where: The wedge across from Tremont Elementrary School
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:
Facebook Group:

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City: Nanuet
When: April 15, 12:00 Noon — 5:00 pm
Where: Corner of Route 59 and Middletown Road
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:
Facebook Group:

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City: New York City
When: April 15, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Where: City Hall Park
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:
Facebook Group: CLICK HERE

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City: Norwich
When: April 15, 9:00am - Noon
Where: Courthouse on Broad St. (Route 12)
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:
Facebook Group: Coming Soon

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City: Riverhead
When: April 15, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Where: Riverhead Riverfront (behind the east end Arts Council in downtown Riverhead)
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:
Meet-up Group: Click Here

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City: Rochester
When: April 15, 11:00am
Where: Downtown Rochester, Genesee Crossroads Park
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:
Facebook Group: Click Here

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City: Rome
When: April 15, 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Where: Fort Stanwix
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:
Facebook Group: Coming Soon

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City: Sag Harbor
When: 12:00 p.m. until ….
Where: Long Wharf
Contact:EMAIL

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City: Smithtown
When: April 15th, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm+
Where: on Route 347 & Moriches Rd (west of Toys R Us)
Contact: EMAIL

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City: Staten Island
When: April 15, Noon
Where: Cong. Michael McMahon’s office, 265 New Dorp Lane, at the corner of Edison Street
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info: http://taxdayteapartysiny.blogspot.com/
Facebook Group: Coming Soon

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City: Syracuse
When: April 15, 11:30 am - 1:30pm
Where: Federal Building
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:
Facebook Group: Click Here

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City: White Plains
When: April 15, Noon
Where: Outside the Westchester Count Center
Contact: EMAIL
Other Info:LateHitSports.com/TaxDayTeaParty
Facebook Group: Coming Soon

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City: Windham
When: April 15, 5:00 p.m. until …
Where: Windham Civic Center
Contact info: Jim Varelas at 589-5849

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Rockland County Tea Party: The Blueprint For Change Conference (February 15, 2010)

The Tea Parties aren't going away.

Rockland will be host to a President's Day forum of speakers entitled "The Blueprint For Change Conference" on February 15, 2010.

I went down to Washington, D.C. on December 15th with the Rockland Tea Party group, Conserveality -- Forum For Conservative Reality for the Code Red Rally against the healthcare bill.

We went down to make a bit of noise -- and I think Congress heard us.

Both Michele Bachmann and Laura Ingraham were on hand to rally the people at this Senate Emergency Rally.