Letters to the Editor

Tea party helped Dems

I am writing to encourage Tea Party members to quit their vengeance against Republican office holders and instead to spend their time on moving Democrats out of office. So far, the Tea Party’s efforts in US Senate races have been of more help to Democrats than to Republicans. Tea Party actions continue to narrow its base by its stridency when the TPs should be broadening it to win general elections.

In 2010, Tea Parties injected candidates into three Republican primaries, won the primaries then lost the general elections keeping the seats Democrat. Republicans had three good opportunities to pick up those seats yet, the result was three disastrous losses. They were:

Colorado –Ken Buch (TP) beat GOP candidate Jane Norton in the primary then lost the general election to Michael Bennett (D) keeping the seat Democrat.

Delaware – Christine O’Donnell (TP) beat GOP candidate Mike Castle in the primary then lost the general election to Chris Cooms (D) keeping the seat Democrat. This seat was held by Ted Kaufman (D) who was appointed to replace Joe Biden after he was elected VP.

Nevada – Sharron Angle (TP) beat GOP candidate Sue Lowden in the primary then lost the general election to Harry Reid (D) keeping the seat Democrat and Harry Reid Senate Majority Leader.

In New Hampshire, it was different. The Senate seat was held by Republican Senator Judd Gregg who was retiring. Kelly Ayotte, the GOP candidate and a moderate, defeated Ovide Lamontagne (TP) in the primary and then defeated Paul Hodes (D) in the general election. In the primary, Ayotte got 48K (38 percent); Lamontagne got 47K (37 percent). But in the general election, Ayotte got (60 percent) and Hodes got only (36.8 percent).

Why did Ayotte do so well? Because, as a more moderate conservative, she appealed to a broader range of voters and the results show it. In Colorado, Delaware and Nevada, Tea Party candidates made up the majority of the primary voters, but their appeal was too narrow to carry the general elections. Voters considered them too radical.

The problem continued in the 2012 US Senate Races. In Indiana, Richard Mourdock (TP) beat incumbent Republican US Senator Richard Lugar in the primary because he was considered too “liberal” by the TPs. Mourdock lost the general election to his Democrat opponent, Joe Donnelly, a Blue-Dog Democrat. It was Colorado, Delaware and Nevada all over again. Only this time, we lost a Republican seat.

To put it bluntly, the Tea Parties look like closet Democrats. To change that image, I recommend that the TPs change direction and focus on defeating Democrats, not Republicans.

No, I am not a Tea Party member. My sole loyalty is to the Republican Party. It is not divided like the TPs. It’s not me who is the Republican in name only.

Ted Smith, Jr.

Park Hills, Ky.


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