'Tea Party' to Fight Dozen GOP Candidates in 2010

PACs compete for 2010 donations from anti-tax activists

(NEWSER) - As Tea Party wrath brews, conservatives are hoping the anti-tax activists put their money where their mouth is in 2010—and a plethora of political action committees are springing up, angling for a piece of the pie. Dick Armey's Freedomworks Foundation launches its Take Back America PAC this week and the group, which aims to support conservative Republican candidates nationwide, is entering an increasingly crowded field. More»

Talk show host JD Hayworth gets close in new poll

(NEWSER) - Everyone’s favorite maverick could be unseated in 2010 by a hard-line conservative talk show host who's mulling a bid, a new Rasmussen poll suggests. John McCain leads potential primary opponent JD Hayworth, a local radio host and former House member, by a razor-thin 2%, which is within the poll’s 4% margin of error. Whoever emerged from that battle would almost certainly sail through the general election, Talking Points Memo reports, because Democrats still don’t have a strong candidate. More»

New York race just the beginning, activists say

(NEWSER) - The conservative coup in New York’s special election shows just how little control the GOP has over the ascendant tea party movement—it's a mutiny, and it's just gaining steam, activists say. The folks who helped push Republican Dede Scozzafava out of the race in favor of conservative Doug Hoffman tell Politico they’re itching for the next showdown. “The Hoffman campaign was the beginning. It was not the climax. There are going to be other conflicts,” promised one protest organizer, citing Charlie Crist as the next big target. More»

(NEWSER) - The so-called “tea party” movement has spawned a host of primary challengers for House Republicans, pressuring them to stay far to the right, CQ Politics reports. “I’ve got four primary challengers, and all of them hope to capitalize on the tea parties,” complains Bob Inglis of South Carolina, who has come under fire for backing a carbon tax and the resolution condemning Joe “You Lie” Wilson. More»