Palace Politics at the Tea Party

It pains me to report that on the same day that the Tea Party was celebrating a great victory, it suddenly appeared that since the Tea Party is now engaged in electoral politics, the rhetorical politics has quickly ensued.

Palin Stands By Fiorina Endorsement Amid Backlash From Supporters

But Eric Odom, chairman of Liberty First PAC, a Tea Party-fueled political action committee, called Palin's endorsement an "unforgivable sin," and her second strike after endorsing her 2008 running mate John McCain in his Senate race.

"This one is much worse, though," Odom wrote on his blog, arguing that Fiorina is not a "commonsense conservative."

"The first strike was painful, but tolerable," he said. "This second strike is downright confusing, dishonest, and leaves me feeling cheated."

The Tea Party does not need this type of fractious rhetoric. Especially when there is nothing to be gained but schadenfreude by state run media and the political class. On Mr. Odom's blog he attempts to clarify his position.

Two strikes for Sarah Palin…

For the record, we never once claimed that Scott Brown was a conservative. In fact, we said the opposite and made sure it was clear that we believed he was a moderate Republican. We were very honest about the fact that our support in the MA special election was almost solely based on political science and the actual possibility of defeating Martha Coakley for the seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy.

But Palin is not doing that in this particular case. She’s actually claiming that Carly Fiorina is a conservative and representative of the type of person the tea party movement should be electing.

I hope this helps clear things up a bit…

Ummm..... No! Getting rid of Barbara Boxer is just as important as preventing Ted Kennedy's seat from falling into the hands of a Martha Coakley. The political science remains the same. The Tea Party needs to retain it's focus on upending incumbents. Carly Fiorina is a conservative and representative of the type of person the tea party movement should be electing. She is! She is because she can unseat Barbara Boxer.

Disclaimer: I’ve contributed to, and have fully supported Chuck DeVore in the California race since he first kicked off his campaign.

Well done and rightfully so. However Mr. Odom, don't let your loyalty for your friend Chuck DeVore cloud your judgement on the larger task at hand. Don't take your eyes off the prize!