Mark Meckler, Tea Party Patriots

While the Tea Party Express claims it talked to tea party leaders on the ground in Idaho's First District who endorse Democrat Walt Minnick, no one can seem to find any. Why is the Tea Party Express endorsing a Democrat against conservative Republicans in an conservative district in Idaho?

There appears to be a growing backlash against the Express for meddling in Idaho politics against the great majority of tea partiers in the state. More reporting here by Ed Morrisey of Hot Air.

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/04/21/t ... -in-idaho/

You have to ask yourselves...do you want Tea Party Express, a California based PAC, run by a decades old Republican consulting firm, coming into your state and telling you to vote for a Democrat over conservative Republicans supported by local tea partiers? What's up with that? And even if they weren't telling you to vote for a Democrat...do you want them telling you who to vote for at all? Isn't it up to you, as the local tea parties, to decide who to endorse, if anyone?

This is classic, top down, old-style politics. An organization from outside a state comes in and "endorses" in YOUR local race. To make matters worse, this group is NOT your local tea party, but because they use the name "Tea Party" everyone thinks your local group is endorsing someone they are not. Based on the fact that this PAC is run by a Republican oriented consulting firm that's been around for decades, it's not a surprise to see this sort of heavy handed, old style, top down politics. The only question is, will the folks in Idaho tolerate it? My bet is on the local tea partiers in Idaho to assert themselves against this outside intrusion into their local congressional race against their will.

http://teapartypatriots.ning.com/profil ... idaho-over