Tea Party Express has decided to toss its money into the race for the Republican nomination for a challenger to Sen. Ben “Cornhusker Kickback” Nelson in 2012. They announced, just in the last hour, that they will be endorsing Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning.
In that hour (and in preparation for the announcement), Nebraska grassroots tea party groups have expressing their displeasure with TPE, via Facebook posts, and (last night) via a press release sent to media and others on behalf of the leadership of at least 15 different Tea Party groups:
TEA PARTY EXPRESS DOES NOT SPEAK FOR NEBRASKA’S TEA PARTY GROUPS..Local Tea Party and Conservative Groups Not Affiliated with Tea Party Express
Tea party and conservative patriot groups are concerned that Tea Party Express’ “surprise” US Senate endorsement, scheduled to be made in Washington, DC tomorrow, will be confused as a sign of support from their own movement within Nebraska.
Over 40 tea party and conservative patriot groups have personally had the opportunity to meet with both Attorney General Bruning and Treasurer Stenberg on several occasions. Many have also met with candidate Pat Flynn and other potential US Senate candidates who may throw their hat into this race.
At this time, none of the autonomous conservative groups have made endorsements in this race.
“Tea Party Express is a national organization that most certainly does not speak for local conservative groups throughout our state. Making an endorsement this early in this race without the input of Nebraska’s tea party and conservative groups is disappointing,” said Joanne Elliott, co-organizer for Conservative Connections in Lincoln.
“We have important work ahead of us in Nebraska which doesn’t include focusing efforts and finances on a primary election that is more than a year away,” said Greg Vaderneck, Chairman of the York County Tea Party. “You can count on this: We won’t be supporting #60 who embarrassed all Nebraskans with the Cornhusker Kickback.”
Ron Hasley, Organizer for the Citizens Action Group in Beatrice added “Nebraska tea party and conservative patriot groups are focused on grassroots communications with our state officials—not on endorsements. The projects we’ve been focused on range from fighting any state proposed tax increases, working diligently with our Nebraska federal officials to stop ObamaCare and the promotion of meaningful CIR reform that brings control back to our local elected officials.”
Jim Mason, State Director with Tea Party Patriots Nebraska, said “The endorsement of a US Senate Candidate from Tea Party Express is coming from outside Nebraska. In fact, Tea Party Express isn’t even coming to Nebraska to announce their big ‘surprise’ endorsement. We certainly don’t want our fellow Nebraskans confusing the views of Tea Party Express with the tea party folks here in Nebraska.”
Tea party and conservative groups throughout Nebraska are unsure as to which of the Nebraska US Senate candidates will be endorsed by Tea Party Express.
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Of course now they know who is being endorsed.
This race will be an interesting one. Bruning and Stenberg both have some conservative credentials—Bruning is younger by about 20 years than Stenberg. Stenberg used to be Attorney General, has run for Senate on several occasions, and if my observations are accurate, seems to be sort of the “personal favorite” of some of the tea party leaders in the state. Likewise, Pat Flynn (the other announced candidate) made a run for the Senate nomination in 2008, but otherwise, has limited political experience, but strikes a tea party-like chord at times.
Tea Party Express tossed some money into Scott Brown’s Senate election. For those who are politically aware, Brown has been something of a disappointment for the tea party crowd. It’s endorsement in the Nebraska race could be a mixed bag for Bruning: good for the money it brings in, but potentially bad as people look at who is behind it, and what their record is.
LLE
