Trouble Brewing in Maine's Tea Party
It's a cliché that protest movements begin to splinter as soon as they gain some measure of power.
An analysis of online chatter seems to show this to be true of the Maine Tea Party movement which, after its great success culminating in today's inauguration of Republican Governor Paul LePage, is now losing some of its focus. (Although, to be fair, there has always been some measure of conflict within the group.)
Despite the talk from national media outlets about the possibility of a Tea Party challenge to Senator Olympia Snowe in 2012 and polls showing she's vulnerable on the Right, no serious challenger has emerged. Scott D'amboise has been stalking across the state for months promoting his Tea Party-themed primary campaign without creating much support or excitement and the other rumored opponent, Tea Party spokesperson Andrew Ian Dodge, is more just a colorful character than a credible contender.
Pete "The Carpenter" Harring, the other face and voice of the Maine Tea Party, even went so far as to pooh-pooh Dodge's potential candidacy in print, saying “I think that the press would have a field day with him, just because of his connections over in England — there’s questions about whether he’s a citizen or not.”
This quote prompted members of the Cumberland County Tea Party to accuse Harring of slander for questioning Dodge's citizenship, beginning a back and forth online battle across several Tea Party sites and culminating in a post by Harring titled “Slander are you kidding me?” in which he states that “the chances of [Dodge] being able to win is slim to none. Lets be serious here.[...] I am very much in favor of Snowe Removal and I strongly believe that she must be replaced, but we are wasting our time if we support someone who is not capable of winning the general election.” Harring has since deleted the post but it's still available via Google's cache.
The Tea Partiers have also been riled by some of Governor LePage's actions leading up to his inauguration and there are hints that some are turning against their recent champion. There was consternation in the forums when LePage announced his backing of Senator Snowe for re-election in 2012 and even more when he gave a $41,000-a-year job in his administration to his young daughter.
“For the first time we agree with Dirigo Blue,” wrote the authors of the CCTP site, linking to a critique of LePage's hiring decision posted on the left-leaning weblog.
Some of the movement's members are also apparently gearing up to oppose a rumored appointment of Peter Mills to a cabinet post, something that hasn't occurred or been publicly discussed by the administration.
To have a chance of defeating Snowe, who, no matter what the latest polls say, is a savvy politician with a long history in the Maine Republican party and solid support from much of the GOP establishment, the Tea Partiers will have to coalesce around a single candidate and bring their disparate factions together in one major organizational effort. They certainly aren't there yet.
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- Mike Tipping
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Let's be clear about the Tea Party
There are numerous Tea Party Groups in the State of Maine. Tea Party Patriots is the National structural organization. Andrew Ian Dodge is the coordinator of
Tea Party Patriots. He is not the leader of the Tea Party here in Maine, which he makes very clear. The Cumberland County group is a part of Tea Party Nation,
which is the "Republican Tea Party" they are a small group looking to capitalize on some media attention.
It must be understood that Tea Party Patriots and Tea Party Nation are 2 distinct groups. Tea Party Patriots
is the largest in Maine. It is made up of Independents, Greens, Republicans, and Democrats. Maine Re Founders is a Group under National Tea Party Patriots. It is the largest Tea Party group in the State. Pete Harring is the founder and leader of Maine Re Founders. Communication does occur between various Tea Party Patriot groups. Let me be clear about one thing. The first time I have ever heard of a Cumberland County Tea Party group that is a part of Tea Party Nation was when they insinuated that Pete Harring had slandered. This was not the case. For the media to conclude that there is a war going on in the Tea Party is a stretch...because they don't have their facts. You have done a good job in giving this one group a little media attention. If you go to National Tea Party Patriots website, you will not find this group on the Tea Party Patriots, the official home of the Tea Party. You will find Andrew Ian Dodge and you will find Maine Re Founders, Pete Harrings group.
Re: Let's be clear
I stand corrected. It is a political movement based on anger, resentment and factionalism.
Got a grudge? There's a Tea Party for you!
Have your facts before you start labeling
Ada,
You have no idea what the Tea Party is about.
I suggest you read this article (link below) It is by someone who had the same thinking as you, but found out the reality was much different than what they thought.
Please do not assume or comment based on speculation.
http://www.sunjournal.com/perspective/story/930256
Tea
I don't think LePage won because of Tea Party support but in spite of it. To suggest that a political movement based on little more than anger and resentment is losing its "focus" is just funny. That AID is taken seriously - even for a nanosecond - as a potential challenger to Snowe is a more sobering thought: fantasy role-playing in your bedroom is one thing, but for the love of God, man, keep it there.
Rock on. Or what ever the British equivalent is.
Tea Party
I think that the clash between Pete Harring/Andrew Ian Dodge is sort of indicative of what you can see in TP movements across the country. There is no defined "leadership structure" but more of a come as you are kind of thing. That leads to folks jockeying for position, along with the usual personality clashes.
Since someone has to organize, rent the hall, and bang the gavel, they must get more of a party structure in place. Harring may be at odds with LePage about "Snowe Removal" and take a segment of the TP's with him, but in the long run Olympia is going to keep on keeping on. Unless they nominate someone with SERIOUSLY deep pockets for the primary, expect the challengers campaign to go into the ground like a flippin' lawn dart.