Harry catches a HUGE break: "Tea Party to field candidate in battle for Harry Reid’s Senate seat"

[Pirate Smile]

Tea Party to field candidate in battle for Harry Reid’s Senate seat

Sun columnist Jon Ralston is reporting that the Tea Party has qualified as a third party in Nevada and will have a candidate in the Senate race to battle for the seat held by Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The party has filed a Certificate of Existence but needs to get 1 percent of the electorate to vote for its candidate in November to permanently qualify, according to the report.

Ralston reported that Jon Ashjian will be the Tea Party's U.S. Senate candidate on the November ballot. Ashjian still must declare his candidacy.

There are six other third-party candidates going through the verification process to appear on the ballot as U.S. Senate candidates — one Reform Party hopeful and five as independents, Ralston reported.

Reid's Republican challengers currently include former state Sen. Sue Lowden, former UNLV basketball star Danny Tarkanian and former state Assemblywoman Sharron Angle.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/feb/13/report-tea-party-field-candidate-battle-harry-reid/

According to Ralston, Ashjian will be listed on the ballot as "Tea Party" like Democratic Party and Republican Party are listed. Ralston tweeted the following: "Tea Party Senate candidate is Jon Ashjian, principal of TNT ENERGY PRODUCTS, LLC. Seems appropriate because his candidacy is explosive."

Reid could win with a plurality.

I think this is great news for possibly holding that seat.

[villager]

1. The downside is we'd be stuck with Reid as majority "leader"

and hence, without at least a 95 vote plurality in the Senate, we have no business expecting anything to get done, or expecting anyone to stick to even the remotest campaign promise...

[LiberalFighter]

5. It depends on what the Senate Democrats feel they need to do.

They don't have to support him when they make that decision for the next session in Congress.

It only requires another Senate member to suggest that Reid is a risk as the Senate Leader.

[Egnever]

12. Agreed and I will be voting against him because I cant stand another year of him

I thought Daschle was weak but harry makes him look like a gladiator.

[Emit]

24. So which Republican do you hope to be voting for come election time?

Lowden or Danny Tarkanian, or will you try a little strategy and vote for this Tea Party guy, Jon Ashjian?

Do you honestly think any one of thse choices will be good for Nevada?

As another resident in NV, I am not certain I understand your desire to replace Reid with any of the alternatives we have. I mean, we've got a likely Republican win for Governor (because I doubt Rory Reid can pull off a win, given the general dislike of daddy Reid - and Brian Sandoval, if he wins in the primaries, will be a formidable candidate), and then we already have Ensign and Heller to contend with - Ensign might be vulnerable when his time comes, but Heller is extremely popular and I don't see him going anywhere in the near future. I would think trying to keep Reid in the Senate is advantageous to us on a local level, at least. Sacrificing him now is not so good for us back home, imho.

[FrenchieCat]

2. Maybe, maybe not! Could get a candidate that gathers a following

just not enough to win, and then endorses Reid's opponent! It's possible, no? :shrug:

[Pirate Smile]

4. True but the other option is that they all support the Republicans the entire time and don't need

an endorsement at the end to win.

It is at least a better shot.

[Emit]

23. No, not likely, imo

I live here in NV and I doubt that would happen. We have our wing nuts, Libertarians and Independent Americans (which are the fundies, think Eagle Forum), but we also have an established good ol' boy Repug party - many of which are actually fairly moderate on social issues. This Tea Party will siphon votes from the Repugs by drawing in fundies, Libertarians and IAs for sure, and they may bring in some Independents (defined as Nonpartisans in NV), but I doubt they will get many of our traditional Repug voters - certainly not enough to win, imo. I can't wait to hear how the local Repug Party responds to this.

[jefferson_dem]

3. This is really good news.

Harry was already polling a little better than before and within striking distance from both Tarkanian and Lowden. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2010/senate/2010_nevada_senate_race.html Here's to hoping the Repugs nominate the least "teabaggy" between those two Repugs.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

6. Shouldn't that be a HUGH break?

:evilgrin:

[applegrove]

7. Oh wouldn't that be wonderful if the teapartiers put third candidates

in all sorts of races and split the conservative vote? That would rock.

[laughingliberal]

14. That would be a big help. Let's encourage them. Tee hee. nt

[UTUSN]

8. K&R #3 for, Harry's a good Dem. Has had a difficult row. n/t

[LLStarks]

9. Tea Party Party? My god. nt

[gulliver]

10. They chose the (Boston) "Tea Party" for publicity. And it's turning into...

...a real Republican splinter party.

You could not make up this stuff. What a turn of events.

The GOP should have chosen something without the word "Party" in its name. Too late now.

[Egnever]

11. Do we really want to hold that seat?

I seriously doubt even this will help harry.

[Emit]

20. Yes

As a resident of NV, I very much want Reid to win. The alternatives for us are not good.

[MadBadger]

21. He may be a shitty majority leader, but he is a reliable democratic vote.

[WonderGrunion]

13. Note To DU: Don't tell the Repukes about "Operation Tea Party"

Let them fume about the Tea Party the way we did about Nader after 2000.

[WeDidIt]

15. The Republicans love and hate the Teabaggers

as they love and hate themselves.

[ddeclue]

16. The Republican Circular Firing Squad strikes again..

:rofl:

[Monk06]

17. Reid would have to be completely incompetent to lose in a field split that badly. Go Baggers n/t

[Emit]

18. Here's an excerpt and link to their constitution, by laws, etc.

We, the members of the Tea Part of Nevada. establish ourselves to promote this nation's founding principles of freedom, liberty and a small representative government. We believe that our government under both Democrat and Republican control has led to a massive national debt, crushing deficits, increased taxes; while establishing a large and powerful federal government in a direct refutation of the founding ideals of America. We are concerned citizens who have had enough of government waste, corruption and intrusion into our daily lives. We desire God-given individual freedoms which were written out by our Founding Fathers. We believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country. The great conservative majority in America can no longer hope that their ideals will be upheld in Washington D.C and as such a new party, a new option, the Tea Party of Nevada must be established.

http://nvsos.gov/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=1384

[salguine]

19. The downside to "holding that seat" is that you're holding it with Harry Reid. Ooh, pinch me.

[Emit]

22. As a resident of N NV, here's my take on it. If the Libertarians identify with this Tea Party of NV

and if the Independent Americans (think Eagle Forum) identify with this party, then Harry will very much benefit from this. I have no doubt this is going to piss off a lot of Repugs - including Dick Armey and his crowd who've been working so hard to co-opt the tea parties, lol. The repugs here have been targeting Reid for a long while. Go Teapartiers!! I hope this continues to happen across the country.