Rebuking George Allen's Endorsement Claims
In an email released to members yesterday, the Executive Committee of the Northern Virginia Tea Party made the following statement on George Allen’s new release claiming various Tea Party endorsements:
The Northern Virginia Tea Party has rebuked a George Allen campaign announcement which has implied that they and the state federation of Tea Party Patriots have endorsed his campaign and called upon George Allen to withdraw the announcement, reprimand the staff or consultants who created this misleading or dishonest announcement, meet with their leadership to offer his assurance that this will not happen again, and focus on face to face debates with other candidates seeking the support of Tea Party Patriots in Virginia for the 2012 GOP Senate nomination.
The recent announcement of Tea Party endorsement by the Allen campaign, the Tea Party statement said that “it is misleading at best, dishonest at worst. No candidate has been endorsed by any statewide Tea Party organization in Virginia and especially not by the Northern Virginia Tea Party.”
The rest of the statement is included at the bottom of this post.
This incident and its handling by the Allen campaign are raising serious questions as to the professionalism and integrity of the Allen campaign. Questions of whether George Allen would be the kind of reform minded, fiscally responsible defender of the Constitution Virginians are looking for, or just another pre-Tea Party, business-as-usual Republican, were being asked before Allen’s campaign published these endorsement claims.
This is neither the Virginia where Allen won a Senate seat in 2000, nor the Virginia where Allen lost a Senate seat in 2006. Allen would do well to listen to Tea Party members rather than trying to steamroll Tea Party leadership. Allen has an opponent in the primary, Jamie Radtke, who comes from Tea Party roots and will not make these kinds of blunders.
The full statement of the Executive Committee to the Allen campaign:
Official Statement of the Executive Committee of Northern Virginia Tea Party . com
An announcement was recently made by the George Allen for U.S .Senate campaign which implied endorsement and support by the Tea Party movement in Virginia and by the Northern Virginia Tea Party, specifically saying that he had the endorsement of “Virginia Tea Party Patriots.”
The Northern Virginia Tea Party calls upon George Allen to withdraw the statement and rebuke those on his campaign staff or consultants who ran with this news release.
This George Allen announcement is misleading at best, dishonest at worst. No candidate has been endorsed by any statewide Tea Party organization in Virginia and especially not by the Northern Virginia Tea Party.
We ask for George Allen to meet with the leadership of the Northern Virginia Tea Party to tender his apology for the placement of this misleading announcement. We welcome robust debate within the GOP leading up to a primary vote and decision on the best candidate to run for this important U.S. Senate seat.
We are hopeful that the new U.S. Senator for Virginia will switch to the side which challenges President Obama’s tax and spend policies. We do not recommend any candidate, although our individual leaders are free to endorse and support the candidate of their choice.
We are delighted that George Allen and the other candidates for U.S. Senate think enough of the Tea Party movement that they are openly seeking support from those who support our principles. We welcome robust and honest debate during what we hope will be a very spirited debate offering Virginia voters a choice on who they wish to be their champion in challenging Barack Obama’s failed policies which are bankrupting America.
We ask that George Allen withdraw his news release and meet with us to provide his apology and his personal assurance that he will keep tighter control of his campaign staff and consultants in the future to prevent future misleading announcements or advertisements which falsely claim the endorsement of the Tea Party movement in Virginia.
While it would not be our intention to so repudiate George Allen as a candidate, we would certainly be willing to emphasize our view and the view of our members that his deplorable campaign tactic is misleading at best and dishonest at worst.
We call upon George Allen to withdraw the announcement, issue a correction, meet with us immediately to assure us that this will not happen again in the future, and that he should concentrate his campaign attention on attending personal debates with the other candidates for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.
Signed,
Executive Committee
Northern Virginia Tea Party .com
For further information on this release call our Director of Communications at 703-625-7052.
This statement is not an endorsement of nor advocacy against any candidate(s) in the 2012 US Senate Race in Virginia.
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Eric Odom (Media Director)