Having never bought into the breadth, depth or staying power of the so-called Tea Party “movement,” particularly here in Washington state, I somewhat what agree with Eli Sanders’ assessment of the “Didier Bubble” over on Slog:
Now, I love the Didier story line as much as the next person—a tractor-driving, government-handout-slurping, Sarah-Palin-endorsed insurgent? irresistable!—but this idea that he’s about to become the favorite of the National Republican Senatorial Committee just doesn’t have anything to it.
That said, I’m open to being surprised, at least to the extent that Clint Didier could potentially create enough trouble for Dino Rossi that it seriously damages his prospects in November. And in that context, I’m particularly intrigued by Didier’s “impromtu” meeting with Sarah Palin last week, in which, according to PubliCola, the two discussed “a series of Didier fundraisers with Palin.”
Like many Alaskans, Palin has strong ties to Washington, and is frequently in-state visiting family, so it’s not surprising that she would take a special interest in our U.S. Senate election. Likewise, if Palin chooses to headline “a series of Didier fundraisers,” it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suppose that they might be able raise a substantial amount of money.
How much qualifies as substantial? I’d say a million or two, and while even that likely wouldn’t be enough to overcome Rossi’s substantial lead, it could potentially take an awfully big bite out of it, assuming the money is spent well. And by “spent well,” of course I mean relentlessly negative.
As Sanders writes, “If Didier were really a surging threat, would Rossi’s campaign be so studiously ignoring him?” Probably not, and if I were advising Rossi I’d tell him to focus solely on Sen. Murray too. But faced with a well-funded attack from Didier (and perhaps Nevada-style independent expenditures from the likes of the Tea Party Express and Club For Growth), that strategy would have to change.
No, I’m not all that impressed by either Didier or the folksy antics of our indigenous teabaggers. But I retain a profound respect for the transformative power of targeted political money.
the tnt smell test:
http://blog.thenewstribune.com.....s-for-irs/
with respect to this NIKI interview with TV-W:
http://www.tvw.org/capitolreco.....-and-more/
IRS Shotguns! Global Warming vs. Folksy Common Sense! it has it all…
The teabaggers will donate a lot of money if Palin shows them her tits.
I’m looking forward to visits to WA by Mooselini Also.
Unfortunately I doubt she’ll be anywhere accessible. But if she shows her false titties (covered or not) anywhere in public, I’ll be glad to respond with my big, bare, hairy smelly ass.
Well this should be obvious, but the best result for Murray would be for Didier to beat Rossi in the primary.
Of course I don’t think Murray is going to have too much trouble with Rossi either, especially if he is forced into a dirty primary fight.
Q: “Can Palin’s fundraising prowess make Didier a player in WA?”
A: I hope so.
Apparently, in his Seattle U college days, Dino was a dashing ladies man. Must be a blow to his ego to lose sweet Sarah to a redneck hunk.
“government-handout-slurping” is a great turn of phrase. But I thought we were talking about Didier Drogba.
Zotz @ 3
Man, that is not a pretty picture. I think an apology would be in order.
@5
May Didier and Rossi have a nasty, knock-down, drag-out, dirty primary fight.
Speaking of Teabaggers, here’s a real gem and he’s running for Congress:
http://voices.washingtonpost.c.....l?wprss=44
“If Didier were really a surging threat, would Rossi’s campaign be so studiously ignoring him?”
The tea party is the Republican party. Rossi has his tit in a wringer and whichever direction he turns the crank, it’s gonna fucking hurt. Didier lives and breathes the teabagger shit. If Rossi attacks his positions, he attacks teabagger positions. If he attacks Didier’s character, he attacks teabagger character. If he tries to fully embrace the teabaggers, he’ll only prove that he’s too late as Palin has sealed the deal. If Rossi is doing so well with fundraising, why no more donation bragging? Time’s a wastin’. Where’s his campaign?
Rossi’s real enemies appear to be in his own party and they’re kicking his ass. I suspect it’s now dawning on him that when he entered this race he ended his political career. He won’t be cancelling any foreclosure seminars because he knows damned well that’ll be his only paying gig for the foreseeable future. I always thought Rossi was a dumb fuck. Rob McKenna and Didier/Palin will prove it. Hell, they’ve already aced his sorry ass.
This may all be a ploy by Palin and her handlers to do some damage control after her recent embarrassing performance on The O’Reilly Factor. Even Bill-o was pretty shocked when he asked Palin what she would do about the situation in the Gulf of Mexico and she didn’t have a clue.
Solution: come to Washington State, stand in the protective shadow of someone who’s even more of a crazy fuck than she is, and cue our local teabagger rabble to dance and cheer and post a bunch of bullshit everywhere they can.
Pretty or not (not is the point!), I’ll be inviting her to kiss it!
[;-P]
Dino’s problem is that he has NO CHOICE but to ignore Didier. If he acknowledges him in a friendly fashion, he alienates independents. If he attacks him, he loses his base.
Dino needs to pretend that he didn’t even know Didier was running, so he can say after the primary: “Gee, I’m sorry, I didn’t notice you. If I had, I would have said you were a great guy! And so smart! We would make a great team! By the way, can I have your contributor e-mail list?”
Go Clit Diddler! Win that nomination and guarantee a 30-point win for Murray!
Stupid does, as Stupid is.
@14 “By the way, can I have your contributor e-mail list?”
I think it might play out to be more like this,
“By the way, do you want to buy my contributor e-mail list?”
Is Perez Hilton a human? or is he/it some other “thing”.
discuss.
Posting inappropriate pics of a minor = a bullet in head.
Definitely non-human, Max. heh- You guys call the inheritance tax the “Death Tax”. I call it the “Paris Hilton Inheritance Tax”. You’re lucky my name didn’t catch on like yours did or the Paris Hilton Inheritance Tax would be at 95% by now and with the entire nation cheering it higher! Eh, too bad.
In reply to the off topic comment made in comment No. 18. Is this guy better than Perez Hilton?
Family Values are so strong.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/.....rrested.2/
Palin has strong ties to WA?
@20
Figures gman would cum running to the rescue of perez hilton.
no worries gman, im sure perez’s ass is so blown out you could drive an F-150 through it. Your type of guy, Im sure.
happy trails.
@21
Palin has an aunt and uncle in the dry shitties. I took the strong ties comment to be directed at Alaskan’s in general. Which is true when you consider that most everything you can buy in Alaska started its trek north on a barge in Tacoma.
Keep Breeding Murderers, thieves, liars and Bigots. I wouldn’t know about Perez’s ass, but you sure do show an interest. You should give him a call, maybe you could work something out with him.
Wait a sec, Max. I read “Perez” and registered “Paris”. Oops. Now I’ll have to Google Perez to see whether or not the fucker’s human or not. Paris? Not human.
Today’s politcs is made up of a bunch of skitzophrenics. Republicans are skitzophrenics.
And I wasn’t coming to the rescue of Perez, like you say, putting words or making false accusations. Iras balancing your homophobic biggoted comments by pointing out the weakness of heterosexual biggots. So go fuck yourself Max I wanna big dick to suck on.
Now just think about it, if a libtardo could think. As Clint Didier has the Tea Party vote which you fools claim is right wing and Dino Rossi is to the left of Clint Didier, that means Rossi is more of a center leaning candidate. Guess there goes another insipid libtardo argument against Rossi!
Puddy was in LA. Laker tickets were going from $271 in nose bleed to $16,390+ court side!
“which you fools claim is right wing”
We’re talking a real mo’fo krazy wingnut with the Diddler here now, Puddy. Um, in fact, now that I think of it, he’s kinda like you that way.
“that means Rossi is…”
…a sleezey, money grubbing wingnut. He’s cut from the same cloth as the KLOWN. You know what I mean, the type of guy who would steal yo mama’s last dime with a smile.
Puddy
Dino has no personal center. He is whatever his salesman roots tell him to be on any given day, in front of any given audience. He’d flip and be a liberal Democrat tomorrow if he thought that would advance Dino, I mean advance his political career. He is not a fellow guided by principle. I’m sure you, an insightful guy, recognize that, right?
You still krazy, Puddy?
“Rossi is more of a center leaning candidate”
Damn. Still krazy.
@21 Palin has strong ties to WA?
She has an aunt in the Tri-Cities and her uncle owns Infinity Internet, in Vancouver, WA.
Can’t tell what wing Rossi is, his website doesn’t say. In fact his website says nothing. No curriculum vitae, no statements of purpose, no position papers, no speeches, no list of rallies or appearances nor what he believes. Nothing, just the video from his “announcement” and a form where you can donate money.
# 33: And that’s the way he wants to keep it. He’s trying the stealth candidacy again: arrange for meetings with small audiences (any but the most assuradly friendly media excluded), but keep his public appearances to a minimum. He’ll try to avoid taking any public positions. He might even try the “I’m not running on that…” theme to dodge the tough questions again.
It didn’t work out for him last time against a marginally popular governor who’s campaign style was definately cool, at best. I don’t know how he thinks it’s going to work any better against Patty Murray.
I’m guessing that he’s hoping he can lay low, rely upon his Republican base to bring out 35% to 40% of the vote (mostly from rural areas), and hope Murray makes a mistake. Military men know that’s a losing strategy in war, but Rossi seems to think it might work, this time.
Personally, I think he’s still been drinking too much of the cool-aid at the Republican gatherings, where everybody slaps him on the back, tells him what a great guy he is, and how certain they are that 2010 is going to be devestating to the incumbent Democrats, and how he’s sure to win this time. He should learn that if you want the truth, don’t rely upon what your friends tell you.
Rossi will be damaged by Didier. Either he will sound like Didier passively and hurt himself in the general election, or he will try to steer to the center and will lost the support of the rabid rightwingnuts.
Either way he loses. Goldy is correct, a challenge from the right only hurts Rossi and cannot help him. It won’t make him look more moderate in the GE, but it may pull him further out to the right and that will hurt him with independents.
As much as I loathe the condescending soccer mom that wants to be my nanny government….I moved out of the house decades ago.
But given the choice as a moderate R (by the way the Teabaggers don’t speak for me) I see we’re fractured and won’t win this fight. Neither do I have love for a three time loser real estate pimp or a not-so-bright farmer that has no real qualifications for such an important job.
Least of evils for this race this year.
Reading some assorted papers in the South, it appears that the Tea Bag party may be exploding. Several candidates, from local to national level, are engaging in a “my (primary) opponant isn’t wingnuty enough” contests, with lots of shouting back and forth about who is furthest to the right.
Of course, the Tea Party is by definition unorganized, and this is one of the hazards of lack of organization and party discipline. Those of us who are Democrats don’t find that too unusual an environment, and we find ways to work within it. But I’m not sure the Tea Party will survive this election as a political movement, or merely end up like the John Birch society – old people gathering around to gripe about the government and pass around wild conspiracy theories, but without any real substance.
@37
people gathering around to gripe about the government and pass around wild conspiracy theories, but without any real substance.
sounds eerily familiar to a bunch of people gathering at a bar drinking liberally and griping about Bush and passing around wild conspiracy theories, but without any real substance.