2010 elections

Tea Party Fakers? Dems Blamed For Co-Opting 'Tea Party' Label To Split Conservative Vote

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 27, 2010, 8:22AM

At a tea party rally.

In many ways, 2010 will be the Year of the Tea Party. The angry conservative movement has bumped off a number of moderate and establishment Republicans in the primary season, packed huge rallies across the country and provided most of the best drama of the political year. But the success and prominence of the tea party movement has led to another trend: across the country, Democrats have been accused of helping get phony "Tea Party" candidates on the ballot in competitive races, in an attempt to split the vote between the Republican and fake "Tea Party" nominee so the Dem can cruise to victory.

It all made a lot of sense at the start. Back at the beginning of 2010, the tea party movement was showing real signs of splitting off into a separate political party. This was before the tea partiers set their sights on remaking the GOP with Senate nominees like Sharron Angle, Ken Buck and Christine O'Donnell, and, in turn, the GOP embraced the movement with both arms. A few clever Democratic activists, it appears, set about to take advantage of the schism between the GOP and tea party.

Evidence of the alleged plan has popped up in Florida, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania this year. Time will tell how successful it's been, but so far it's had very little effect.

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PA-SEN

Poll: Toomey Leads By 4 In PA-SEN

Marc Kilstein | September 20, 2010, 11:06AM

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) and former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-PA)

The Times Leader is out with a new Pennsylvania statewide poll and things appear to be looking up for the state's Democratic nominees. In the race for Senate, Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak trails Republican former Rep. Pat Toomey by four points, 40%-36%. In the state's gubernatorial race, Democratic nominee Dan Onorato finds himself down only one point, 38%-37%, to Republican State Attorney General Tom Corbett.

These findings show each race as tight as they've been in recent months' polling. Since this is the first poll conducted for The Times Leader, there are no polling results for direct comparison. A September 13 Rasmussen poll found Toomey up 49%-41% in the Senate race, and an earlier September 11 Fox News poll gave the Republican nominee a 47%-41% advantage over Sestak. The September 13 Rasmussen poll also showed Corbett up double-digits on Onorato, 49%-39%, while the Fox poll produced an equivalent 10-point lead for the Republican, 50%-40%.

The TPM Poll Average for both races still show the Republican nominees comfortably ahead-- in the Senate race, Toomey leads 46.6%-39.8%, while Corbett finds himself on top of the gubernatorial race, 47.3%-37.6%.

The margin of error for the latest survey is ±4.0 percentage points.

For the latest on the closely-watched Senate race, check out TPMDC's full coverage here.