Tea parties unite to pick GOP candidate to take on Stabenow
2012 Elections Friday, November 18th, 2011
By: Marisa Schultz/ The Detroit News
Tea party groups in Michigan plan a statewide convention and straw poll to pick their GOP candidate for U.S. Senate in an unprecedented move of solidarity to avoid splitting their votes.
Organizers say the only way to ensure a true constitutional conservative defeats Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow in the 2012 election is for tea parties to unite around one candidate.
For fiercely independent groups leery of a top-down power structure, a decision to work together on behalf of the straw poll winner reflects the urgency of their cause, organizers say, though some tea party supporters question whether the alliance weakens the freedom of the grass-roots cause.
“Our best chance … is if we unite and start now,” said Cindy Gamrat, of Plainwell, an organizer of the tea parties’ Michigan 4 Conservative Senate push. “It’s a big feat we are undertaking.”
With a rallying force Gamrat puts at 15,000 tea party members, the unification effort could be a big boost to a Republican challenger to former U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Holland, a frontrunner who has netted endorsements from many prominent members of the GOP, but who has had difficulty convincing some tea party groups he’s conservative enough.
Several candidates vying for the Republican nomination say the chance to win a unified tea party endorsement is an enormous opportunity.
To read more, visit: http://www.detnews.com/article/20111118/POLITICS02/111180382/Tea-parties-unite-to-pick-GOP-candidate-to-take-on-Stabenow
Short URL: http://www.reteaparty.com/?p=4505
