“Please don’t tell me I’m a Republican tool.” “We can’t be just a Republican organization. We’ve got to be an influential force in both political parties. We have to reward some Democrats that have been willing to stand with us on the tough issues.”
These were the words of Mark Williams and Sal Russo of Tea Party Express, announcing their list of “Tea Party Heroes” on April 15 2010. Conservative Democratic Representative Walter Minnick was the only Democrat to make the “Tea Party Heroes” list; Williams and Russo waved his name wildly that day in an effort to prove that they weren’t simply acting as stooges for the Republican Party and its interest.
But Tea Party Express never campaigned for Walter Minnick. Instead, in the final week before Election Day, the organization spent $33,175 to air advertisements opposing Walt Minnick’s re-election, and spent another $27,075 to air advertisements supporting his Republican Party challenger.
The fig leaf’s off. As FEC records show, not a single dime of the $2.5 million Tea Party Express spent to influence congressional elections went to support a Democrat. The Tea Party Express is a partisan Republican Party tool.
That the Tea Party funded by the Koch Bros. was a Republican weapon (ala the Swift Boat shitheads from a while back) was, i always assumed, obvious to most people. i guess the electorate are more dense than i thought.
I wasn’t aware that the Koch brothers had funded Tea Party Express. Do you have a source on that?