Primary RESULTS in Kentucky, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Arkansas, Idaho

REPUBLICAN PRIMARY RESULTS

By Isabel Matos

The test of a candidate’s character is not only after a loss, but a victory as well. We have seen many in the Establishment gloat after beating the Tea Party in a primary or wanting to take 100% credit for their win in a primary AFTER it was made possible by the Base’s support. And we have seen great candidates concede graciously after losing or humbly accepting victory as A WIN FOR the PEOPLE. The latter is the candidate who really wins our hearts and minds and who we like to see win because in either case they vow to continue to fight for what is right. I’m looking forward to seeing the results tonight but how the candidates react as well. We thank the true fighters taking on the GOPe who vowed to crush us.

The polls have closed and the results are in. Let’s review the races that affected us briefly, starting with Georgia.

Excitement was building for underdog and Sarah Palin endorsee, Karen Handel. Former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel was one of several contenders in this GOP primary race. David Perdue – cousin of former Governor Sonny Perdue and former CEO of Dollar General, U.S. Representatives Jack Kingston, Phil Gingrey, and Paul Broun were among them. David Perdue is a liberal Republican elitist tried to smear her every chance he had.  He was unsuccessful.

He (Perdue) offended 65% of Georgians when he ridiculed Karen Handel for not obtaining a college degree. 

If a candidate does not exceed 51% to win, the top two winners will face each other on a run-off on July 22nd, and Democrat Michelle Nunn in the general election.  Real Clear Politics has Perdue in first place and Kingston in second, so the run-off will be between Perdue and Kingston.

WHY IT MATTERS

[Michelle] Nunn, the former CEO of the George H.W. Bush-founded Points of Light Foundation and the daughter of former Georgia Democratic Senator Sam Nunn, is a strong candidate for Democrats in an unexpected state, and Georgia could be an oasis for the party in an otherwise barren 2014 Senate landscape. Despite Georgia’s deep red leanings in recent years, polls have shown her narrowly beating the Republicans in the field. Perdue brings the most significant outside money behind him, while Handel, with her endorsements, brings tea party bona fides. Whoever advances tonight, a competitive general-election lies ahead.

Karen was enjoying a big surge as a poll on May 1st indicated. She was in a statistical tie with Perdue. It is undeniable Sarah Palin’s endorsements make a huge impact on any race. And she endorses terrific candidates. Karen IS a FIERCE defender of life, was adamant about repealing ObamaCare and against amnesty.

It’s crazy for Georgians to hesitate to elect a woman to represent them. (C’mon voters, who better to take on the left’s REAL war on women than a woman from the right?  Karen said it best herself:

“It’s a different dynamic when there are two women discussing the ‘war on women”.  She said it wouldn’t “go very far with her.”

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Matt Bevin has waged an uphill battle against five-term senator Mitch McConnell. His campaign was not the best, but you cannot underestimate the power of a right wing press statewide dictating the narrative before a newcomer makes his way into the race. At least he took a chance and challenged the status quo in Kentucky. That he can be proud of.  It takes courage to do what he did and it will set a precedent in races to come in Kentucky.  We predicted it, but again, he tried. We will keep a close eye with what happens in Kentucky politics from now on as they have a severe establishment problem there.

Matt Bevin hired Amy Kremer after she resigned from Tea Party Express on Good Friday, four days prior to the primary race in Florida between Curt Clawson (the Tea Party Express’s candidate) and Lizbeth Benacquisto.

MATT BEVIN CONCESSION SPEECH

If you’re up for having a depressing evening), read more here. I would rather hear from fighters like Karen Handel who were never deterred by challenges and overcame odds in her life. Like her, we must have the determination to keep on fighting with faith we can beat the GOPe, too.

“I have been underestimated my whole life.”

Lake — the Republican consultant — said that even if Handel comes in third place, it would be a moral victory for her because she’s “earned a lot of people’s respect.”

“Whether you like Karen Handel or not I think everybody has got to agree that she has exceeded expectations of what most people thought would happen in this race,” he said. BUZZFEED

UPDATE  (2:30 a.m.)

Sarah Palin posted on her Facebook Timeline:

Congratulations to the recent victorious primary election campaigns. We trust you’re rested up because America needs you to put shoulder to the grindstone as time marches toward this fall’s general election. Our nation’s future depends on aconservative agenda that lets freedom flourish and industry thrive with American workers again. 

We need a united front to combat the egregious agenda under which our economy, security, and freedoms now suffer. It’s only by banding together to push conservatives across the finish line that America can recover. How to do it? Focus. Keep your eye on the ball. Remember the real threat to our country’s solvency and sovereignty is the liberal pro-Obama candidates we’ll face this fall.

A special thanks tonight to Georgia senate candidate Karen Handel for having the courage to jump into the ring and fight for what is right. Our nation becomes a better nation when good candidates like Karen come forward and offer to serve for the right reasons. The party of Lincoln and Reagan needs more strong, confident conservative women like her. Teddy Roosevelt’s quote about the man – or woman – “in the arena” is applicable here: God bless the candidate “who strives valiantly,” and “if [she] fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that [her] place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Many more primary races are underway. Constitutional conservatives will be the ones to adhere to the blueprint our Founders created for us to follow towards a more perfect union. Please support them. United we’ll stand for the exceptional nation America is destined to be again. Divided we’ll fall under continued failed liberal policies. 

Thank you, campaign volunteers and informed voters! Hang in there; God bless you for your good efforts! Campaigns going forward, like Nebraska’s Ben Sasse, are in need of our involvement now more than ever. Here’s a reminder of what patriots can do together for our nation:  

– Sarah Palin

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Co-Founder of Tea Party Express Openly Supports Amnesty. Has Been GOPe Operative for 50 Years. So Why Has He Been a “Tea Party” Strategist?

 

By Isabel Matos

I reported last month how the endorsement of the Tea Party Express in Florida’s 19th Congressional District threw the election off by giving voters the wrong impression that “their” guy was a Tea Party conservative and an outsider.

An article appearing in Richard Viguerie’s ConservativeHQ reports that Sal Russo is openly supporting amnesty. This is a 180 degree turn from Tea Party Express’s statement that it would not take a position on immigration reform.

I’m jubilant about the news because I feel a bit vindicated. I knew there were issues with TPX early on but first learned about Sal Russo when I wrote about him and possible infiltration in TPX via Russo and RandPac. Being at Lizbeth Benacquisto’s campaign helped me see first hand the impact the Tea Party Express endorsement had and the meme that would not go away in the media.  (It is important to get involved. You never know what good comes of it.)

Chris Chmielenski, Director of Content and Activism, Numbers USA mostly writes about amnesty but adds a link to Sal Russo’s past I found interesting:

The man behind the organization is anything but a fresh-faced activist. The architect of the Tea Party Express, Sal Russo, is a California political operative who has spent nearly half a century campaigning for Republican candidates. 

The Sacramento-based political action committee that funds Tea Party Express activities, Our Country Deserves Better, has taken in more than $4.5 million since forming in 2008 to help John McCain’s presidential campaign. That includes major contributions from corporate executives and other bedrock supporters of conservative candidates, such as actor Chuck Norris.

That raises a couple of questions: WHY didn’t we know about this before and WHY would a REPUBLICAN OPERATIVE be chosen to be a strategist for a Tea Party enterprise to begin with? All of this means we have to continue being vigilant but get better at disseminating information for our movement to sparkle and be squeaky clean.  Conservative HQ’s article, his links or any information leading to more knowledge about the corruption in the TPX must be shared.

After Florida I saw how TPX mixed establishment and non-establishment candidates on their national tours, how they used good people to travel and represent them at those rallies (you know who they are) and how by doing so, they hurt the Tea Party brand. TPX’s ties with the GOPe creates confusion in races they interject themselves in. It has been a big confusing mess! GOPe collaborators like Russo and organizations like the TPX need to be exposed.

I look forward to journalists in the Right Wing Media reporting more on this and for them to add Rand Paul 2016 to the list of corrupt politicians in the GOPe. Every other GOPe establishment type has been named except him it seems.

I wish I knew why Amy Kremer resigned but I can start seeing why.  I will stay on top of this.  I also promise to write what I can if I find anything.  For now this article (most of it in the passage) is a juicy and encouraging start:

Sal Russo, co-founder of the Tea Party Express, announced his support for amnesty on Wednesday, reversing his organization’s statement from a year ago that it would not take a position on immigration reform. If you take a look at Russo’s background, this isn’t exactly the revelation that some in the media are making it out to be. What’s interesting, though, is the dichotomy between Russo’s position and the principles of the organization he helped to create.

The Tea Party Express bills itself as anti-establishment, but Russo’s immigration proposal is nearly identical to the principles pushed by GOP House Leaders — John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and Paul Ryan — back in January. While most Conservatives scoffed at those principles, Russo warns that if they don’t act, immigration reform would take the shape of the “misty-eyed ideals of some of the liberal do-gooder reformers.” This is strange seeing that if you simply changed the byline of Russo’s op-ed in Roll Call to Sen. Chuck Schumer, no one would notice the difference.

Even though it’s buried in the second-to-last paragraph, Russo expresses his unequivocal support for amnesty (even though he doesn’t want you to call it that). He calls for the legalization of 11 million illegal aliens once they pay a penalty, pay their taxes, learn English, and undergo a background check. Contrary to many House Republicans, he doesn’t even block illegal aliens from eventual citizenship; instead, he says he opposes a “special path to citizenship that puts them in front of people who waited in line.” That’s a creative way of describing Schumer’s plan that creates a special path to citizenship after the 4 million foreign citizens waiting in line receive their green cards.

The Tea Party Express calls for a return to Constitutional principles, but Russo seemingly has no issue with rewarding illegal aliens whose first act in the United States was to defy the very document his organization fights to defend.

Another principle of the Tea Party Express is to restore American prosperity, which to many Americans likely means individual prosperity. But Russo joins the business elites, the GOP establishment, the Gang of Eight, Pres. Obama, and 99% of the Democrats in Congress by calling for increases in foreign worker visas. When scoring Schumer’s amnesty bill, the Congressional Budget Office found that its increases in foreign worker visas combined with amnesty would depress wages for American workers, increase unemployment, and reduce GDP per capita over time. Is that the kind of American prosperity that the Tea Party Express and Russo stand for?

The Associated Press called Russo’s comments “notable”, while other reporters wrote about the significance of his coming out party. But if one knows Sal Russo, this is really no surprise.

In the 1980’s, he started a political consulting firm in California where he helped his “close friend” Jack Kemp during his 1988 presidential run.That’s the same Jack Kemp who advocated for both the 1986 and 2006 amnesty bills. It’s the same Jack Kemp who had Cesar Conda, Marco Rubio’s chief of staff, serve on the board of his think tank, Empower America, that employed Paul Ryan. If that’s not enough, Russo also consulted John McCain during his 2008 presidential run. Russo’s open-borders, pro-amnesty ties run far and wide.

For the rest of the article read more here.

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I’m not on the traitor band wagon. I just think we have to focus on exposing the infiltration and corruption going on in the GOPe and very aggressively!

Update : LAURA INGRAHAM HAMMERS SAL RUSSO ON AMNESTY (Interview 5/15)

Related Articles

Front Page Magazine:  Tea Party Express Jumps Shark, Endorses Illegal Alien Amnesty (5/15) http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/tea-party-express-jumps-shark-endorses-illegal-alien-amnesty/

 GROVER NORQUIST: Here Are The Only 6 Republicans Who Can Win In 2016  http://www.businessinsider.com/grover-norquist-2016-candidates-2014-3

Family, Politics and the Scandal of Corruption That Binds Them: Should Those Ties Compromise Rand in 2016?

by Isabel Matos

I hate working in a vacuum when preparing a video or a lengthy article sometimes because it can take hours away from interacting with people; but I actually enjoyed putting this clip (and article) together because my mission and obsession is to expose GOP corruption and deception. I think you will like it.

In this story we have an entrenched five-term Establishment politician with the second-most powerful position in the Senate (Minority Leader, Republican Mitch McConnell) grasping to retain his power one more term to maybe be Majority Leader (an ironic scenario given it would be made possible by Tea Party support of the same Conservatives he is trying to defeat). We have a Junior Senator (Rand Paul) compromising his own Tea Party principles as he vies for that position or a higher one down the road that will secure a place for him to lead in some leading capacity (as he will never be president). Because the Junior Senator comes from the same state as the elder status-quo he has to play the game and run everything he does past the Establishment we are ALL trying to take on. And last (for the sake of this article, there are more) we have a family member, confidant and campaign manager -Jesse Benton- who they have in common. Benton is not the only bad guy in this political drama which also happens to be a family affair. Benton is married to Rand Paul’s niece (or Ron Paul’s granddaughter). Their corruption, however, is putting our country at risk and possibly why Sarah didn’t get near this race directly. The entrenchment is as thick as the bonds that tie their family.

Jesse Benton was a top campaign aide during Rand Paul’s 2010 Senate bid and became campaign manager after a staff shake up. He served as communications director in 2008 and then campaign manager in 2012 for each one of Ron Paul’s Presidential bids. Mitch McConnell hired him to be his reelection 2014 campaign manager as part of his commitment to running a presidential campaign in Kentucky, which he announced in a prepared statement on September 13, 2012:

[a campaign] starts with a presidential manager. Jesse is literally the best in the business at building and organizing conservative grassroots  movements and I’m thrilled he’s chosen to return to Kentucky to lead my campaign.

The merger was a no-brainer:  McConnell would use Paul to help him garner the Tea Party vote (albeit dishonestly and deceivingly). In turn, Paul would have a very powerful “ally” and access to huge amounts of money for being a loyal “ally”.

Benton’s move from the Paul camp to McConnell’s left some conservative activists scratching their heads because of the two senators’ divergent political philosophies. But since Paul arrived in the Senate, the gentlemen from Kentucky have nurtured a symbiotic partnership that gives Paul establishment credibility while shoring up McConnell’s bona fides among the Tea Party base f.

On February 18th a complaint was filed with the Iowa Senate Ethics Committee regarding a payoff for an endorsement for Ron Paul in the Iowa caucuses. In the complaint Pete Waldron, former campaign staffer for Michele Bachmann alleged that the Paul campaign, “its operatives, and third parties conspired to pay a bribe” to Sorenson “to betray” Bachmann and publicly endorse Ron Paul. The names of those involved are listed here; among them Jesse Benton and Dimitri Kasari.

On December 28th, 2011.. Iowa State Senator and Campaign Chairman for Michele Bachmann for President, Kent Sorenson resigned from Bachmann’s campaign during the 2012  Iowa Caucuses and endorsed 12-term congressman Ron Paul instead.

While this event did not significantly affect the outcome of the election, Sorenson’s endorsement of Congressman Paul is drawing heavy scrutiny after e-mail conversations and memos released exposed a financial proposal of over $200,000 for Sorenson’s defection from the Bachman campaign.

The results of the January 3rd Iowa caucuses were too close to call – the closest in its history. It appeared that Mitt Romney had won at first, but after the results were released on January 19th, it was Rick Santorum who had beat him by a small margin, missing out on all the attention and PR Romney got for it. Ron Paul came in third place. Michele Bachmann came in sixth and dropped out of the race.

The credible allegations in the complaint resulted in Kent Sorenson resigning from office as Senator in October of 2013.  Sorenson admitted receiving payments from, among others, Ron Paul’s deputy campaign adviser, Dimitri Kesari. The federal probe continues it seems. FBI raids reveal connections to the case. Computers have been removed from Sorenson’s house and a grand jury investigation is ongoing.

The FEC assigned a MUR (“Matter Under Review”) number, which indicates a formal inquiry will begin. It has not fazed Benton who is not answering questions about the bribe, or Paul who has tapped him to be his 2016 campaign manager.

Rand Paul’s political adviser, Doug Stafford was managing a consultant involved in bribery payments to Sorenson. His name: Dimitri Kesari. Stafford is Executive Director of Redirecting America (in a) New Direction (RandPac) and is busy ramping-up a political infrastructure “for the 2016 presidential hopeful.”

Jesse Benton joining Stafford makes sense given his comments in a secretly recorded conversation provided to OpenSecrets Blog and other outlets saying that he had accepted the job as McConnell’s campaign manager for the purpose of bolstering Rand Paul’s prospects in 2016.

Jesse Benton has a record of unethical conduct. His ties with so-called conservative organizations like “Americans for Tax Reform” (founded by Grover Norquist, known GOP infiltrator) and the ACU (also known to be infiltrated by GOP enemies Norquist and Suhail Khan) should also be noted. In a simple search:

Who is Jesse Benton? Jesse Benton is a political consultant and libertarian activist know for working with conservative and libertarian organizations like Americans for Tax Reform, the Liberty Coalition, and the American Conservative Union. Benton is strongly associated with the Paul family, serving as a high-ranking staffer for both Ron Paul and Rand Paul.

Those two associations alone would explain many of the stances Paul has taken on issues clearly not supported by the Tea Party, base of the GOP and movement he supposedly represents and is the leader of. He is using them for his political gain and in the process is guilty of confusing and depriving voters of the truth about who he really is.. A fake friend of Conservatives which makes him… a RHino.

Kent Sorenson and Ron Paul (Updated)

SORENSON confirms payment to endorse Paul Aug 2013 (Updated)

References

1)  Mitch McConnell Beating the Tea Party: We are Going to Crush Them Everywhere:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/10/mitch-mcconnell-beating-tea-party-we-are-going-cru/

2)  Rand Paul Reacts to Mitch McConnell’s Plan to ‘Crush’ the Tea Party:

http://www.glennbeck.com/2014/03/11/rand-paul-reacts-to-mitch-mcconnells-plan-to-crush-the-tea-party/

3)  Mitch McConnell’s Campaign Manager: “I’m Holding My Nose”:

http://swampland.time.com/2013/08/08/mitch-mcconnells-campaign-manager-im-holding-my-nose/

4)  FEC Will Examine Allegations Against Ron Paul Campaign

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2014/03/fec-will-examine-allegations-against-ron-paul-campaign.html

5)  Bribery Scandal Compromises Rand Paul 2016

http://chrisinmaryville.net/benton-bribery-scandal-compromises-rand-paul-2016.html

6)  New Investigation Into Ron Paul and Sorenson Payoff

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2014/04/new-investigation-into-ron-paul-inc-and.html

7)  Leading Republicans Move to Stamp Out Challenges from Right

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/us/politics/leading-republicans-move-to-stamp-out-challenges-from-right.html?_r=2

8) Mitch McConnell Hires Ron Paul’s Campaign Manager

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/mitch-mcconnell-hires-ron-pauls-campaign-manager/

9) Ron Paul Campaign Accused of Trying to Buy Iowa Endorsements (The Emails)

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/08/ron-paul-campaign-accused-of-trying.html

10)  Head of Paul’s 50-State Operation is Accused of Earlier Questionable Work

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2014/03/head-of-pauls-50-state-operation-is-accused-of-earlier-questionable-work.html

 

Amy Kremer of Tea Party Express Who Endorsed McConnell Donor, Resigned on Good Friday. Something Is Up!

By Isabel Matos

I know it’s Easter, but the truth has no time-table sometimes, and with the FL D-19 Primary coming up on Tuesday, April 22nd, someone has to keep the story out there because it is a big deal. This article is written for Amy Kremer.

Amy Kremer, I remember when you first sent an email after I joined the Tea Party and got involved in American politics for the first time. It was such an exciting time. Here’s more on your beginnings at the Tea Party Express.

Fast forward to 2014.  We have a primary in the State of Florida two days after Easter. There has been a lot said about Curt Clawson being the “outsider” in the race; however, we have had a candidate who would better represent the People, but TPX (Tea Party Express) chose on March 18th to endorse someone who bought ads and press for months to fool constituents instead. If ever there was such a thing as crony journalism this would be it.

I am not a fan of blaming voters because unless you’re there, it’s hard to deny the impact of local media has on impressions people have. In this case, it was that “the Tea Party endorsed Clawson”. That had huge consequences, so bowing out of this situation as if it didn’t happen, is wrong.  Voters also don’t identify the establishment problem we have and that is not a local issue.

Clawson has had no experience in politics. He never even attended a single Tea Party event in 2009 when all the excitement was stirring. He was busy getting out of managing a company and paying himself a $13 million salary after laying off over a thousand workers article here over the years. How can anyone sleep at night (from Clawson’s point of view)? And how can voters trust this man with their district’s needs for jobs? I don’t get it.

Clawson is as corrupt on the outside as he is corrupt on the inside playing politics with our futures at stake by making donations to Mitch McConnell (the Senate Minority Leader and Biggest Tea-Party Terminator Wannabe, Mitch McConnell) as well as the Republican Party of Kentucky.

If he was really “Tea” he would not have donated to our GOPe enemies. This article from Shark Tank is pretty straightforward about Clawson’s deception before he was in the tank for him, openly. Clawson is shady and will care about his constituents as much as he did about his employees. He has already lied to them about who he really is.

But let’s get back to Amy who this article is for. 

You resigned from Tea Party (Tea-Rino) Express on Friday night (Good Friday even slower than most Fridays for news). It is curious to me.

Maybe you did not want to be associated with the wrong endorsement (I am hoping), or maybe you were given orders to avoid certain candidates. All I know is, I would speak up if that is the case. I do not think you would get in trouble. And if you did, we should know about it. It should be something that is played out openly, for all of us to see.

As a patriot, it is your duty to let us know what happened if TPX is guilty of “selling” something they are not – TEA PARTY. In addition, if they have been involved in any unethical behavior of any kind, we should know about it as well. We’ve had enough so-called Tea Party organizations bamboozle voters.

Amy, we are WATCHING!  You have downplayed supporting Clawson this weekend but it will not go unnoticed. You are involved. And it will not be forgotten, unless you speak up and explain what happened. You have information we could use.

We know Rand Paul has ties to the TEA PARTY EXPRESS via his RandPac Chairman, Alexandra Russo, who is married or has family ties to Sal Russo of Tea Party Express (the same link above). Sal Russo is Co Chairman of Tea Party Express. That would explain a lot to many of us wondering why Rand Paul is considered “Tea”. He’s not. He’s a useful Rino desperate to make a name for himself.

TPX has to answer to us. Lizbeth is responsible, respectful and everything a candidate should be. She is much more qualified to lead in Washington than Clawson could ever be and believes that one person can make a difference. She’s like us.  Plus she’s neighborly and nice.

Amy Kremer has worked hard in the last almost 7 years but she has made some mistakes like we all do. She could end things best if she made an unofficial (or official) un-endorsement of the Anti-Tea Party candidate in this race, if anything to make a point. It would have the impact needed to set the record straight with voters who seem to be “confused”, even if it is late, and even if it was unofficial.

Here is Lizbeth Benacquisto in her own words (for the record) in case you missed them (in no particular order):

 

* H/T “Pat” for RandPac/Alexandra Russo lead which is to be confirmed. Update 4/21/2014 5:19 p.m.