Establishment GOP Calls his Shot: Tea Party is Going to Lose in Upcoming Primaries
As the 2014 congressional primary season heats up, the Republican establishment is once again facing off against the Tea Party, and one establishment Republican predicts the Tea Party is poised for a defeat in the upcoming intra-party battles.
I think at the end of the day theyre going to lose big time, said former Rep. Steve LaTourette, R-Ohio, who now heads the Main Street Partnership, an advocacy group that aims to elect moderate Republicans to congressional seats.
The month of May features several establishment-vs.-Tea Party primaries, including key Senate contests in North Carolina (May 6), Georgia (May 20) and Kentucky (also May 20). And right now, it appears the GOP establishment holds the early advantage in these contests.
But LaTourette has focused on one race in particular -- the May 20 Idaho primary between eight-term incumbent Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, and challenger Bryan Smith. Establishment types like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Super PAC for LaTourettes organization and even 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney are backing Simpson, while conservative groups like the Club for Growth and Senate Conservatives Fund are supporting Smith.
You can take it from me -- the conservative choice for congress is Mike Simpson, Romney says in a TV ad sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. (In 2012, Romney easily won this congressional district, which has a substantial Mormon population.)
Defending Main Street, the super PAC arm of LaTourettes organization, launched an ad in April attacking Smith and Club for Growth President Chris Chocola. The ad ties in comments made by Chocola at a March debate with LaTourette where the Tea Party backer conveyed his respect for Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
While personal injury attorney Bryan Smith and his financial backers help Pelosi, Mike Simpson has been Nancy Pelosis worst nightmare, claims the Defending Main Street ad out against Smith.
Meanwhile, the Club for Growth has been airing a TV ad hitting Simpson for backing the 2008 Wall Street bailout. My name is Mike Simpson; I voted for the $700 billion bailout, the ad shows Simpson saying.
What irks LaTourette is when these conservative groups spend millions of dollars trying to defeat incumbent Republicans rather than Democrats. Theyll go in and claim that the incumbent Republican who served, in some instances for a long time, is a RINO [Republican-In-Name-Only], a liberal, not a true Republican, says LaTourette. These outside groups funded by a few very rich people tilt the playing field by dumping sometimes millions of dollars into a race that, before then, would only be a couple hundred thousand.
He also questions the tactics these conservative groups have employed like the ones that led to last years brief shutdown of the federal government over President Obamas health-care law. I dont have a problem with very conservative people in our caucus, LaTourette said. I dont have any problem with the Tea Party. What I have a problem with is when they then, in order to raise money in many instances, say, Were going to have this fight, were going to take this hill when theres no chance of taking this hill.
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Establishment GOP Calls his Shot: Tea Party is Going to Lose in Upcoming Primaries