TPX calls for Danny Tarkanian to drop out of NV U.S. Senate race

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A leading Tea Party organization is asking Danny Tarkanian to drop out of the U.S. Senate race in Nevada. A news release from Tea Party Express (TPX) claims that the latest polling results indicate that Tarkanian has dropped into third place in the race for the GOP nomination, behind Sue Lowden and TPX-endorsed Sharron Angle:

The Tea Party Express is formally requesting U.S. Senate candidate Danny Tarkanian terminate his campaign for U.S. Senate as new polling data confirms Tarkanian has fallen into third place and dropping.

"Danny Tarkanian has been a strong supporter of the tea party movement, and he can best help this movement by ending his campaign for U.S. Senate," said Bryan Shroyer, Political Director for the Tea Party Express.

[...]

"We really like Danny. He's been personable, intelligent and straightforward in his dealings with us," said the Tea Party Express's Shroyer.

"Sadly, it has become increasingly clear, however, that his campaign has failed to catch fire with voters. He is receiving less support in the polls now than when he first announced his candidacy despite having spent over $800,000 to reach voters (according to the most recent data reported by the FEC).

If Danny Tarkanian listens to the tea party group and ends his campaign, it could head off a potentially awkward situation for Sarah Palin. Her father and brother have endorsed and campaigned for Tarkanian, but the governor has yet to make an endorsement in the race. The withdrawal of Tarkanian would clear the way for Gov. Palin to endorse either Sharron Angle or Sue Lowden without any appearance of divided loyalties withing the Palin camp.

But judging from the defiant stance taken by the Tarkanian campaign in response to the TPX request, the son of successful and colorful college basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian isn't about to go quietly anytime soon:

A spokesman for Tarkanian's campaign issued a statement calling the request a "money grab" by a consulting firm "making big money off the Tea Party Express."

"The Tea Party Express is leading the corporatization of the Tea Party movement and it's distasteful," said Tarkanian consultant James Fisfis.

It's not clear which of the two women the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate would support should Tarkanian finally relent and exit the contest. The Susan B. Anthony List, parent organization of Team Sarah, has endorsed Lowden, as has Sen. John Kyl and Jerri Thompson. In addition to the Tea Party movement, Angle has the backing of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies, Club for Growth, Concerned Women for America, and conservative talk show host Mark Levin. If Tarkanian refuses to exit the race, we're not sure if Gov. Palin would want to get involved in what is rapidly becoming a contentious Republican primary.

A new survey just out from Democrat firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) in Nevada finds Sharron Angle has surged ahead of Lowden and now leads with 29 percent of likely voters. Sue Lowden now follows at 26 percent and Danny Tarkanian has 24 percent of the vote. A recent Mason-Dixon poll of 500 likely Republican primary voters in the Silver State, conducted for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, had Lowden in first place with 30 percent, followed by Angle with 25 percent and Tarkanian at 22 percent. All three leading GOP candidates have taken pro-life positions.

- JP

Chuck Heath, Sr. cuts radio ad for Jerry Tarkanian

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From CNN's Political Ticker, Sarah Palin's father Chuck Heath has recorded a radio ad for Danny Tarkanian:

Sarah Palin's dad is again weighing in on the Nevada Senate race – this time by starring in a new radio ad on behalf of Republican primary candidate Danny Tarkanian.

Palin's father Chuck Heath has long supported Tarkanian, one of the many Republicans hoping to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid this November.

"You supported my daughter Sarah Palin, now please join me in supporting another strong conservative – Danny Tarkanian," Heath says in the state-wide ad, according to a script provided by the campaign. "Danny Tarkanian is strongly pro-life, and he will protect our Second Amendment rights. He will fight to cut taxes, slash spending, and end budget-busting pork barrel politics."

The retired science teacher who lives in Alaska made five stops across Nevada last October with Tarkanian, the son of legendary college basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian.

CNN producer Alexander Mooney says that Nevada GOP chairwoman Sue Lowden is leading Tarkanian in a recent Mason-Dixon poll by nearly 20 points.

Gov. Palin has not weighed in on the Nevada primary, leaving it to her father and brother to endorse and campaign for Tarkanian. Should Tarkanian lose to his primary opponent, then Palin can endorse Lowden in the general election against Harry Reid without the Democrats making hay out of any prior Palin endorsement in the primary. The 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate will be in Reid's hometown of Searchlight, Nevada for the kickoff of a major Tea Party Express tour later this month.

- JP

Linda Hirshman: Enter the Sarah Palin Brigade

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Linda Hirshman's article about four female candidates at the Daily Beast is worth the read, even though it has been marinated in leftist attitude. Here are some snippets:

Longtime Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is either going to lose the Republican primary for governor of Texas today or, at best, lose in a runoff with Rick Perry in a couple of months. With Hutchison's retirement from the Senate, the Republicans are down to three female members. Will Congress' Republican caucus now go overwhelmingly male, just as it has already gone all white?

Maybe not: Enter the Sarah Palin Brigade.

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Republicans are popping out Palin variations all over the place. Women are making impressive showings in at least four Republican primaries where the GOP stands a reasonable chance of taking the Senate seat in the general.

And these aren't your mother's Hutchison Republicans: the 60-plus, first-women-in-their-law-school class types who have few or no children, are mildly pro-choice and fiscally conservative—ladies who came into politics, whether they admit it or not, in the wake of the feminist movement. Like their precursor, the mini-Palins—Jane Norton (Colorado), Sue Lowden (Nevada), Kelly Ayotte (New Hampshire), and Cherilyn Eagar (Utah)—are all under (most well under) 60, beautiful, impressively fecund, unreservedly conservative, and stonily pro-life.

Actually, Sue Lowden is viewed as the Republican Party’s establishment candidate because she is currently Chairman of the Nevada GOP. Her primary opponent, Jerry Tarkanian, is the more conservative of the two. But to liberal pundits such as Hirshman, all conservatives look the same in terms of ideology, i.e., "right-wingers."

Update: Little Miss Atilla agrees:

"Linda Hirshman is right up there with Frank Rich in her insightful insightfulness."

h/t: Brian

- JP