
Top Democratic leaders and Democrats in conservative districts are among the names the tea party movement hopes to defeat this year. At the last stop of its nationwide tour in Washington this morning, organizers of the Tea Party Express revealed their list of 2010 "Tea Party Targets," a list that includes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Rep. Barney Frank and Rep. Alan Grayson.
Others on the list include Democratic politicians representing relatively conservative states, including Reps. Betsy Markey (D-CO), Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA).
The group also announced a list of Tea Party Heroes, which included tea party favorites like Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) as well as a single Democrat -- Rep. Walt Minnick (D-ID).
After the jump, the full list of tea party targets.
"We have been very busy for the past three years laying the groundwork for a victory over this ideology," Tea Party Express organizer Mark Williams told reporters this morning.
Senate Targets
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Harry Reid (D-NV)
Arlen Specter (D-PA)
Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
House Targets
Besty Markey (D-CO)
Alan Grayson (D-FL)
Baron Hill (D-IN)
Barney Frank (D-MA)
Dina Titus (D-NV)
Tom Perriello (D-VA)
Alan Mollohan (D-WV)
The organizers also announced their list of "Tea Party Heroes," incumbent politicians and candidates they say represent tea party values.
Senate Candidate And Incumbent Heroes
Chuck DeVore (R-CA)
Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Todd Tiahrt (R-KS)
Rand Paul (R-KY)
Sharron Angle (R-NV)
Pat Toomey (R-PA)
Jim DeMint (R-SC)
House Candidate And Incumbent Heroes
Tom McClintock (R-CA)
Tom Price (R-GA)
Walt Minnick (D-ID)
Mike Pence (R-IN)
Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
Joe Wilson (R-SC)
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
hychka
April 15, 2010 9:48 AM
Where are the GOPper targets? The people targeted didn't cause the deficit or TARP...these people brought a big tax cut.
The Teaparty crowd is just another GOPper ploy to fool confuse people and delay good government.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
CityGuy
April 15, 2010 10:01 AM in reply to hychka
Co-sign.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Douglas
April 15, 2010 10:47 AM in reply to hychka
And to forget Bush ever happened.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
jeffgee
April 15, 2010 11:13 AM in reply to Douglas
Until "history vindicates him" in about 50 years, they hope.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
GTFOOH
April 15, 2010 11:02 AM in reply to hychka
GOPer targets? All of them!
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
calbearinillinois
April 15, 2010 9:49 AM
Who does their strategy? Including Frank is like targeting Nancy Pelosi - ain't going to happen. Similarly, Babs Boxer makes no sense - she's just not vulnerable, and I can't think this does anything but give her another line to raise money against the money pit she's facing of Fiorina and DeVore. Grayson is the kind of guy a lot of Tea Partiers would like if he was in their district - and last time we checked, he's not facing strong opposition. And what did Blue Dog Baron Hill do to get anyone wanting to target him? Not run for Senate to replace Bayh?
Just a lot of head scratchers, plus some obvious tag alongs in the hopes of being able to claim victory without much effort(Reid, Lincoln, Markey, Perrillo, etc).
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
CVille Dem
April 15, 2010 10:10 AM in reply to calbearinillinois
Don't count Periello out! Charlottesville is not a red town. (Actually it's Orange and Blue). This teabagging shit is getting Dems fired up!
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
calbearinillinois
April 15, 2010 10:26 AM in reply to CVille Dem
I'm not counting anyone out - Perrilo has done a pretty good job of positioning himself as distinct from any general dislike of the Democratic Party in his district. I was simply pointing out that Perrilo and most of the truly vulnerable people on the list have been targeted by the GOP already, and are rated as likely losses by various "experts." To me, this part of the list reads as a lame attempt at piling on and then using "victories" to suck more money out of rubes than any serious effort at political action. That's all.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
IndyLinda
April 15, 2010 2:54 PM in reply to calbearinillinois
Baron Hill is a perennial target because he comes from a conservative district and has a self-funded wealthy Repub named Mike Sodrel who runs against him every time. (He did actually beat him once, but Hill ran again and has won pretty handily since then.)
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Knothead Jake
April 15, 2010 9:50 AM
This shows without a shadow of a doubt that TeaScrotums live in the Bizzarro World where everything is backward. They want to get rid of the best and replace them with the worst.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
chimpale
April 15, 2010 10:43 AM in reply to Knothead Jake
It proves they're a construct of a faction of the GOP. If they had any integrity or intelligence, instead of Barney Frank, they'd be trying to get rid of Mitch McConnell.
Hey tea-baggers, you dumb shits, are you happy with your GOP senators who are trying to kill financial reform for their big bank benefactors? Yeah, they've really got your best interests at heart. Keep telling yourselves that, you clowns.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
cwnidog
April 15, 2010 11:16 AM in reply to chimpale
I'm not so sure that the "dumb shits" label is all that accurate. today's NYT has an interesting article profiling them. They tend to be well-educated, affluent, white, male, and old. In short, the traditional gooper.
It's not that they're dumb, it's just that they don't give a fuck about the rest of the world.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
cwnidog
April 15, 2010 11:18 AM in reply to cwnidog
Hmmm, the link's not working out too well for me. It's http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/us/politics/15poll.html?ref=todayspaper
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
chimpale
April 15, 2010 12:46 PM in reply to cwnidog
Stupid is as stupid does. Which tea-baggers would they be talking about? The ones who believe in death panels? The ones who believe that Obama is Stalin, Hitler, Mao, the anti-Christ, and that he's going to put them in concentration camps? The ones who vote for Michele Bachmann?
Stupid is as stupid does.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
WaitWut?
April 15, 2010 2:00 PM in reply to cwnidog
Being well-educated doesn't make you intelligent. Being affluent gives you more opportunity to become well-educated.
But, Liberals are smarter:
http://ooine.com/index.php/2010/03/10/higher-intelligence-is-associated-with-atheism-and-liberal-political-ideology/
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
cwnidog
April 15, 2010 6:55 PM in reply to WaitWut?
Sorry, while I do understand the difference between educated and intelligent (George W. Bush, anyone?) I don't automatically ascribe stupidity to those who disagree with me.
In the case of the TeaTwerps, I'd base it more on ignorance, greed, and fear, with a bit of racism thrown in. It's a worldview that I don't understand and certainly don't agree with, but I don't think that they're uniformly stupid.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
WaitWut?
April 15, 2010 8:29 PM in reply to cwnidog
Understood. It's an old argument that I used to have with an old friend with a Masters...that worked for me...a high school dropout.
I try not to call these fools stupid (ahem), but I have a low tolerance for ignorance and laziness when it comes to fact-checking. The fact that they can blindly follow the likes of Beck, Palin, Bachmann, etc, without so much as a hint of curiousity about facts drives me insane.
Education is wasted on many people.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Texar
April 15, 2010 9:55 AM
Teabaggers thrash wildly about in a pitiful effort to appear relevant, but their bigotry and ignorance is now apparent to all.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Michael A
April 15, 2010 9:57 AM
Don't tell the teabaggers, but taxes are lower this year than before. Gee, what a shock, but that won't stop the baggers.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Tax-Day-rhetoric-aside-apf-3276228499.html?x=0
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
pepe
April 15, 2010 10:04 AM
The tea party protests can be explained in a few words. Too many gullible idiots with too much free time.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
sbv
April 15, 2010 10:11 AM in reply to pepe
no, not completely true; some do have legitimate concerns. the problem though is the good ol' orwellian gop has been successive in deflecting their criticism to the wrong party, enabled by the msm.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
tinsk
April 15, 2010 10:32 AM in reply to pepe
Pepe - I agree 100%. But that is what makes them dangerous in mid-term elections for any Democrat. They are motivated by their gullibility and their free time allows them to get out and vote.
It is not the size and number of the tea party nuts. They are the right wing base of the republican party and the only difference now is that they have given themselves a "brand name". They've always been there and always voted republican as the base. This year, a greater percentage of that group will get out the vote. Success for the democrats is not only about convincing people that they have the positive ideas. It will come down to Democratic candidates convincing their supporters that if they don't get out to vote, the candidate who wants to represent the tea party nuts' agenda, will take everything away that has been gained in the past 2 years.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Bill
April 15, 2010 10:08 AM
TPM has every feature except a "print" option like most news outlets.
I must unfortunately skip TPM when I don't have time to read it on line.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
JennOfArk
April 15, 2010 10:11 AM
"We have been very busy for the past three years laying the groundwork for a victory over this ideology," Tea Party Express organizer Mark Williams told reporters this morning.
Really? An astroturf organization incorporated only about a year ago has been "very busy for the past three years"?
These guys don't even bother to try to sound like they aren't lying.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Michael A
April 15, 2010 10:18 AM in reply to JennOfArk
Because nobody calls them on it. The reich wing media just repeats the lies as truth and then the masses buy the bs.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
nathalie
April 15, 2010 10:33 AM
I would think it better reporting to explain high up in the piece just who the "Tea Party Express leadership" is -- Mark Williams, about whom TPM has written before -- including a description of his comments in the past. The way the story is written makes the "Tea Party Express" look like a legitimate force instead of the farce it is. From what I can tell, the TPEx is nothing more than one sour, rich, conservative bigot with a destructive agenda.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
nathalie
April 15, 2010 11:57 AM in reply to nathalie
UPDATE, just for example:
http://todayinteabaggery.com/2010/04/15/top-teabagger-political-correctness-led-to-911-blacks-not-knowing-their-place/
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
osage
April 15, 2010 10:47 AM
TODAY’S REPUBLICANS ARE AMERICA'S ENEMY WITHIN
Republicans ARE practicing seditious DEMAGOGUERY and anti-democracy OBSTRUCTIONISM intended to destabilize our economy for purposes of political exploitation.
Republicans AREN'T making a sincere effort to STOP the bleeding THEIR incompetent leadership and failed policies created. Instead, they're using inflammatory lies and accusations as a smokescreen to conceal their subversive agenda, which is to cause President Obama and America to fail so they can blame Democrats for the consequences of THEIR calamitous mismanagement.
Republicans ARE preposterously professing that THEIR disgraceful political WHORING had nothing to do with the banking, real estate, stock market and employment catastrophes that resulted.
Republicans ARE trying to hamstring Democrats to prevent them from repairing the damage caused during a Republican presidency that was irresponsibly enabled by Republican Senators and Representatives.
Republicans ARE offering ridiculous arguments meant solely to disrupt and prevent progressive change. They'd rather divide America and create political gridlock than endure the political consequences of effective Democratic governance.
Republicans AREN'T the LOYAL OPPOSITION; they ARE the ENEMY WITHIN whose mercenary priorities have eroded their moral and ethical standards to the point that duplicity and betrayal have become their preferred modus operandi.
It's one thing to advocate their conservative beliefs; it's another thing entirely to willfully sabotage America's government because a successful Democratic presidency would not be vulnerable to the greed, fears and hatreds that have produced and sustained the radical Republican anti-government corporatism and anti-Christian faux theocracies that are poisoning and crippling American society.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
rwspisak
April 15, 2010 11:18 AM in reply to osage
Osage
"TODAY’S REPUBLICANS ARE AMERICA'S ENEMY WITHIN
Republicans ARE practicing seditious DEMAGOGUERY and anti-democracy OBSTRUCTIONISM intended to destabilize our economy for purposes of political exploitation."
You are absolutely correct, they've "let it slip" several times, OBSTRUCT, Use the Ancient Evil names, REDS, SOCIALISTS, FASCISTS ... and they get away with it because, for many it's all they hear above the noise of Dancing with the Stars and American IDOL-Worship!
If you could call what they're doing "tactics". Besides, protecting their corporatist robber barons, they simply hope to delay or deny the democrats any progress away from the massive republican give-aways that have accomplished a massive redistribution of wealth - the very class war, they claim is the dem agenda [ironic well not to them.] It has marked a huge retrenchment of the monarchist types who have a slightly more thoughtful(?) agenda than the mere social-troglodytes who simply hate anyone who wasn't involved in the original stealing of the land from the 1st nations. (Late Comers needn't apply).
The tea partiers think they've made America safe for racists and women haters again. NOPE... NO PASSAR!
Invest in Health NOT WAR, Invest in Education NOT WAR, Invest in JOBS, not BANKERS BONUSES!
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
pppwww
April 15, 2010 10:50 AM
So, if you are on their "Target" list, does that mean they are going to publish your home address and attempt to cut the gas line that runs into your house? If so, than Tom Perriello's name can be crossed off.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
pppwww
April 15, 2010 11:00 AM in reply to pppwww
["than" should be "then"]
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
jsdc007
April 15, 2010 11:14 AM
Its much easier to get funding and votes when you make your opponent's demagoguery an issue in your campaign.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
JennOfArk
April 15, 2010 11:27 AM
And, again with the "3 years" BS: Obama wasn't even the Democratic nominee 3 years ago. So they started organizing against the Kenyan socialist because they were frickin' psychic and knew he would be elected?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Grassrootsmyass2
April 15, 2010 11:29 AM
Here is an interesting article about the so called "grassroots" Tea Party Express:
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=FA90462A-18FE-70B2-A8C4C7D0CC493FF2
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Knothead Jake
April 15, 2010 11:37 AM
Sure the TeaScrotms have only been around a year but it feels like three years.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
nancydenis
April 15, 2010 12:10 PM
So is a positive or a negative to be on their hit list? For that matter the same question applies to the "heros" list.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
crazycarnypoptart
April 15, 2010 4:59 PM
the funny thing is as an independant I like some of the ideas of the tea party but I feel they are horribly distorted. For example I am for lower taxes on the poor and middle class, but for higher taxes on the rich and corporations. And I am also for reducing the deficit. However the tea party is suspiciously silent about the major things that cause the deficit. For example I haven't heard word one from the teaparty about ending the wars that are balloning the deficit. Didn't we win in Iraq like 6 years ago? Why are we still there. And while peple talk about the entitlement programs like SS and medicare busting our budget they don't talk about how politicians have been taking money from the surplus in social security to fund the wars and the big tax breaks. And why would the GOP be the party to vote for when they have done a lot of this in the first place? There are a few tea party candidates that represent the third party called the teaparty, why aren't they supporting them? If they ever bring up these issues and push to solve them I would vote for the teaparty.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
crazycarnypoptart
April 15, 2010 5:00 PM
In fact Alan grayson supports a lot of these same ideas so why aren't they supporting him? See this is why as an independant I don't take them seriously.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Sonny!!!
April 18, 2010 11:43 AM
Most of the folk's on this blog have tried to marginalize the Tea Party movement, just like the rest of the ultra left in this country, but come November next, I truely hope to read your responses, if any. If the recent elections in Virginia, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts are any indication, it should be a fun read. Have a nice day.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?