GOP-anointed Johnson fails to get Tea Party support

If you paid any attention to the Republican Party of Wisconsin Convention — and not GOP press releases and media accounts – you would have noticed that the Republican Party establishment-types are STILL the kingmakers of conservatives. Not the Tea Party.

Not a single Tea Party candidate emerged victorious.

Latest case in point of this oft-missed trend: A straw poll among Tea Party activists in northern Wisconsin shows Ron Johnson receiving just 2% of votes to Dave Westlake’s 98%.

And just today, the Glenn Beck inspired Tea Party group, the Wisconsin 9/12 Project, released a separate straw poll with Westlake ahead of Johnson, 95% to 5%.

Wowzers.

This isn’t the first time Johnson got slammed by the Tea Party. After Republican operative and Americans for Prosperity’s Mark Block sneaked Tommy Thompson and Ron Johnson on the Tax Day Tea Party roster at the last minute, an angry email from Tea Party leader Tim Dake was leaked to the media.

Then a couple weeks ago Ron Johnson got called out by the Rock River Patriots (a Tea Party group) for not knowing the U.S. Constitution.

Everybody and their moms know Ron Johnson was hand-picked by the GOP establishment because he was willing to throw down tons of money in the race. While the Tea Party and the rest of Wisconsin, on the other hand, were saying things like “We don’t even know who this guy is” and “We don’t know anything about him.”

I thought this year was going to be different righties? After a humiliating defeat in 2008, I thought the Tea Party was manufactured to appear distrustful of the whole political establishment – Republican Party included. I thought this year was going to be about principles, not politics.

The RPW Convention nominations and Wisconsin Right to Life‘s endorsement based on polling are telling a different story than what we are being led to believe.

I want to know just exactly how the “new right” is any different from the old.