They are afraid that their agenda of "get along politics, as you Dems pull us further and further to the right" in order to keep their "good ol' boy" clique in power may be coming to a screeching halt. they are afraid they may be outed for who and what they are - moderate progressives, RINO's!
And so they have taken the propaganda offensive to minimize the impact the Tea party really will have in this Congress and in future Congresses. Don't let them fool you! And as for Jim DeMint? Man, I love that guy...
GOP congressman says Palin cost Republicans control of Senate
By Holly Bailey holly Bailey
A GOP congressman from Alabama has given fresh fuel to a growing debate within the Republican Party over its failure to take control of the Senate amid last week's enormous GOP wave on Election Day. Nine-term Rep. Spencer Bachus, in line to head the House Financial Services Committee, has laid blame for that setback at the feet of Sarah Palin.
As first reported by the Shelby County Reporter's Jan Griffey, Bachus told members of a chamber of commerce in his district that Palin's tea party choices sank GOP chances in the Senate.
"The Senate would be Republican today except for states [in which Palin endorsed candidates] like Christine O'Donnell in Delaware," Bachus told the South Shelby Chamber of Commerce. "Sarah Palin cost us control of the Senate."
According to Bachus, that means Republicans aren't really in charge in Washington. "You can wipe that thought from your mind," he said. "Democrats are in control of the presidency and the Senate. It would take 67 votes to override any veto."
That's not to say Bachus, who is considered a staunch conservative, is anti-tea party.
He told the chamber while tea party candidates did well in House races, the movement's picks in the Senate "didn't do well at all."
Palin aide Rebecca Mansour responded to Bachus via Twitter Monday night, suggesting the blame should not fall on Palin, but rather on the candidates who lost. Mansour did not mention O'Donnell, whom Palin endorsed in this summer's GOP primary, but she cited three losing candidates whom Palin did not endorse: Dino Rossi in Washington, Ken Buck in Colorado and Linda McMahon in Connecticut. She also listed three whom Palin did support—Carly Fiorina in California, John Raese in West Virginia and Sharron Angle in Nevada—though she added that Palin did not endorse Angle in the GOP primary.
"Sarah Palin didn't cost the GOP the Senate," Mansour said in a Twitter message. "We were nowhere near winning control of the Senate. Deal with it Beltway GOP."
Bachus is the first Washington Republican specifically to blame Palin for the loss of the Senate, but other leading GOPers have been pointing fingers at another tea party leader, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint. Both Lindsey Graham, DeMint's Senate colleague from South Carolina, and former Senate GOP leader Trent Lott took barely veiled jabs at DeMint, each telling Politico that the GOP had not nominated its best candidates in 2010.
Politico quoted another GOP senator, who declined to be named, trashing DeMint specifically and calling him a "big loser." "It's like you're on the five-yard line ready to score and the quarterback calls the play and some member of your team tackles one of your members and keeps you from scoring," the senator said. "We came tantalizingly close to a majority."
But DeMint pushed back on that criticism Sunday, telling NBC's "Meet the Press" that the GOP should crediting the tea party for its gains last week. "I think [tea party activists] made a huge difference in the election," DeMint said. Asked about Christine O'Donnell, whom he and Palin endorsed against party pick Mike Castle in Delaware, DeMint insisted she couldn't have won because she was "so maligned" by other Republicans. "She didn't have a chance," he said.
Stand With God, Stand For Liberty, Prepare To Fight For Both!
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