nt

*cough* Stenberg *cough* over *cough* Jon Bruning…

Just saying – full disclosure Bruning is one of my clients.

You know I luv ya Erick.

I support him in all his political endeavors. I think Allen has been more loyal to our party, than they have been to him.

I didn’t see and cannot find the Politico piece Erick refers to. Anyone want to provide a link?

This is very unfortunate, since Allen is obviously not the ideal candidate and a more conservative candidate is certainly preferable.

Agree with your Allen observation…insider all the way! Too bad about Radtke, I had some hope of change…guess not as now seeking someone to challenge Allen but I don’t think Cuccinelli will challenge Allen.

nothing else to say except I get her last name mixed up with the autoczar wonderkid rathke

When you posted your endorsement of Radtke, way back when, I knew who she really was, and posted what I knew at the time. Some others also posted info about her, and her shady past with her relationship to the Tea Party Patriots in Richmond. To date she still has never divulged where the donation monies went.

You had a problem with Huntsman, still working for Obama, and planning on the side a run against him. Radtke also worked for George Allen, albeit in a lowly position, while colluding with a true Allen hater. Her entire campaign has been nothing more than to attack Allen, while saying little, if anything about her own strengths and positions and plans. She obviously has none. It is amazing that she is still able to stay in the race, as she has no financial support at all. She’s out begging her few supporters to donate enough money for her to lease a campaign bus, wrap and all, in order to campaign around the state.

As to her, and her few supporters attacks on you, welcome to the Ron Paul method of demanding support for their candidates. No surprise there.

Thanks though for being an honorable and big person in admitting that you may have jumped the gun a little too early. No worries though, Radtke has less chance of winning the nom than does Beep Beep the Roadrunner. Polling showing Allen with 68% to Radtkes 6% bears that out.

…how freaking awesome it is that video accompanies this post. Erick, you made my day sir.

I do hope Allen pulls a Hatch and swings to the right when he’s back in the Senate. He comes off as conservative; especially so in a recent interview with Levin. But then again, so has Paul Ryan.

I just want to hear one of these guys say they want all gov’t departments closed except for Defense, Treasury and State, and make it clear all other functions should be handled by the states. That really shouldn’t be too much to ask.

I popped over to Jamie’s website (http://radtkeforsenate.com/home/) and the very first image that appears is of $10 bills. Someone at her campaign is either incredibly stupid or is in violation of photo copyrights. The image has a huge deposit photos watermark layered in the center of the photo. The image can be found legally here: http://depositphotos.com/2033640/stock-photo-Heap-of-ten-dollars-isolated-on-white-s.html. For someone who is already having a difficult time running a campaign, I’m surprised they would do something so obvious on their website.

I do not blame you for initially endorsing her, Allen has some issues of his own and Radtke was saying all of the right things.

I think that we need to be on the lookout for people such as Radtke who mimic Tea Party talking points, but are a.) not goood candidates or b.) are more closely linked to Ron Paul, rather than Conservative.

Remember that RP is trying to take credit for the rise of the Tea Party.

I was reminded by another post the other day about the Medina candidacy for Gov. in Texas not too long ago. She sounded great from the outset and enjoyed initial support from some Conservatives. Then came a Glenn Beck radio interview where an innocuous question regarding 9/11 resulted in her all but admitting that she was a 9/11 truther. That was the end of her campaign because she was shown to be way off the reservation.

The ball is now in Eric Erickson’s court…. where is the video?

Just like the claim that Tea Partiers shouted the N word at Pelosi, etc. and Breitbart demanded the video of it… I do the same to Eric Erickson on this “drunken rambling” that Radtke gave.

In this day and age of video on everything, how about the video clip of Radtke’s “drunken speech” that you promote as your justification for some of your flip flopping re her candidacy?
You promote the idea that she was drunk and gave a ridiculous speech introducing Steve Bannon…
where is the video clip?
I demand the video. Pure and simple. You put out that it was a disaster and embarrassing. Lets see it please.
I am sure that there is video of everything else at the Red State gathering… can we please see the video of her “ramblings” so we can see for ourselves.
I would like to make up my own mind rather than depending on your word which we now know is not very good as it seems to morph when it comes to financial backing and continued employment running this site.

Everyone is entitled to support whomever they choose. Erick did that by endorsing Radtke and also by endorsing Stenberg. That’s fine and I understand his motives on the issue. Still, well regarded names in the conservative movement shouldn’t endorse someone just because they are the most conservative. It may sound crazy, but the whole package ought to be considered.

George Allen may not be the greatest guy to ever run for Senate, but when compared to Radtke he is far and away a better choice. Radtke’s implosion proves that. I would argue the same can be said about Stenberg. He may be slightly more conservative than Brunning, but Stenberg’s a four time loser. Brunning has won statewide.

I just don’t want to see the conservative movement make the same mistakes it did in 2010. We went for Angle, O’Donnell, and Buck simply because they were the most conservative choices, yet each was a terribly bad general election candidate. It’s one thing to stand on principle, it’s another to lose for the sake purity.

Please, don’t see this post as arguing for people like Castle over O’Donnell. Instead, I’m just trying to make the point a person’s conservatism isn’t the be all end all. What did giving away seats with Angle and O’Donnell accomplish? Nothing at all. Their purity campaigns only kept the Senate that much more liberal.

the voyeristic side of me would love to see the meltdown. If it wasn’t filmed she is incredibly lucky as this would be a great attack campaign footage.

and then the trap door was sprung? I would have suggested a coffee and a nap, maybe another line of work.

Sounds like Erickson and his handlers overplayed their hand.
Public drunkeness? From a woman who only has an occasional drink? (and almost never at a political function). No video of the supposedly worst speech on the planet? (plenty of you tube video of Radtke’s other speeches, including the Sammy Awards, and the Virginia Tea Party Convention). Notice how the leftist-style attacks are coming. Apparently it’s not the issues, nor the solutions Radtke proposes, but her mere existence that is sending Allen supporters through the roof.

So, if she wasn’t “electable”, or didn’t have a chance, why bother?
She must be a bigger threat to the GOP establishment than people realize.

It’s called vetting, and for whatever reason many conservatives get suckered in with bumper sticker slogans and ridiculous purity tests. Whenever I see some dingbat activist that has ZERO elected experience try to run for something like Governor or Senator, I run in the other direction. It speaks poorly of them and us.

I want to see at LEAST one election that you’ve won before you even float your name in that direction. It’s like a kid right out of college applying to be CEO of a billion dollar corporation. It’s arrogant and absurd.

Conservatives have got to get over this ridiculous “establishment vs outsider” nonsense, we lost far too many Senate seats and Governorships in 2010 with these hucksters. A seasoned office holder can also be a solid conservative (like Jim DeMint for example). I’m all for a good primary, but if the competition is some Christine O’Donnell type dingbat, I’ll take the “evil” moderate.

George Allen is about as conservative a Senator as you’re going to find who lost by a whisker in a Democrat wave election. Why on Earth would you want to risk this seat to someone that will likely crash and burn?

Here is a direct quote from Sara James of the Richmond Tea Party

“Jamie Radtke is the candidate. She has the final say in what supporters she very actively courts, she has the final say about who manages and plans her campaign. She has the final say in who she shares updated campaign info with in order for them to work the blogs on her behalf. They’re called “surrogates” – and a candidate should choose them wisely.

If she hasn’t, well, that tells you something…… that many of us already know. She is not anywhere near ready to be a US Senator. The fact that she even thinks she is is, is what should scare people most of all.

A victim, she is not. If she is listening to campaign managers and high priced consultants who tell her they can get her elected, that they can make her a “rising star” in the movement, that they will get her gigs with all the big radio stars or talking head shows and through their contacts, all the right people will support her, and the money will come – it is because she thinks highly enough of herself to believe them. That’s not being a victim, that is being narcissistic.”

Even if Radtke wasn’t drunk, or didn’t give such a horrendous speech, as was witnessed by the attendees, Radtke has no experience or qualification at all whatsoever to warrant a US Senator’s seat. I’ve said this all along, the US Senate is not the place to enter the political world with training wheels. Because the fight is between the establishment and the non-establishment, doesn’t automatically qualify someone who has no resume, other than having run a Tea Party, to qualify simply because they have not served in elected office before.

This kind of contemplation of the navel of purity and recounting of “He said … She said …” reminds me of a Libertarian state convention!