The "gang of 8" are the Republican state senators who rebuked LePage, in the letter kpete posted about here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x807889The reaction to that, as reported by the Portland Press Herald:
http://www.pressherald.com/news/pleas-from-within-gop-rile-tea-party-activists-_2011-04-05.htmlApril 5
Pleas from within Maine GOP stir up tea party activists
Conservatives lash out at eight state senators who criticized Gov. Paul LePage in a newspaper piece.
By Tom Bell
MaineToday Media State House Writer
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While Republican legislators and party officials downplayed the opinion piece Monday, saying the GOP remains united behind LePage's political agenda, Ashcroft and other conservative activists were clearly agitated.
Conservative media outlets and online forums operated by tea party groups were dominated by criticism of the eight Republicans, who were ridiculed for being "weak-kneed" and "mutinous R.I.N.O.s" – Republicans In Name Only.
The party even was lambasted for lacking the discipline of Democrats, a comparison that would have been laughable in November, when Maine Democrats lost control of the Senate, the House and the governor's office in one election.
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On the "Ray & Ted Show," a conservative talk show on WLOB radio in Portland, 80 percent of the callers Monday were critical of the authors.
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