MAYBE THE BAGGERS ARE MORE BARK THAN BITE

I would expect that the Tea Party crazies would have a great deal of influence in a reactionary state like Texas but the Houston Chronicle revealed that they weren't much of a factor in the recent primaries. If the Baggers aren't a big deal in Texas, then they certainly aren't a big deal nationally.

Lackluster showing puts damper on Tea Party
Faithful are left to wonder if Perry is worth their vote
By JOE HOLLEY and R.G. RATCLIFFE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
March 4, 2010, 12:08AM

Anti-establishment voters simply didn't materialize at the polls on Tuesday, and most Republican incumbents cruised to victory over their Tea Party challengers.

“After all the talk from the 9-12 groups and the Tea Party, it's surprising,” said John Gay, one of three Republicans who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Ron Paul, R-Surfside. “From what I was hearing, there were a lot of people saying they were going to vote for someone besides the incumbent this time.”

They didn't. Paul, considered by some to be the founder of the Tea Party movement, got 80.8 percent of the vote against insurgents on his right flank. U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Woodlands, got 79.2 percent of the vote against three Tea Party challengers who had maintained that the incumbent was too liberal.

There were some local Tea Party successes.

Roy Morales, who finished fourth in the Houston mayor's race last fall and whose Tea Party support fueled something of a surge toward the end of that campaign, won the GOP nomination for the 29th Congressional District this time.

Don Sumners, who knocked off incumbent Harris County tax assessor-collector Leo Vasquez, also claims Tea Party bona fides, running on the slogan, “I was Tea Party before Tea Party was cool.” Sumners said he believes his anti-tax message, an integral part of the Tea Party movement, resonated more strongly with voters than Vasquez's pledge for businesslike efficiency.

But the only clear Tea Party winner outside of Houston was David Simpson, who vanquished state Rep. Tommy Merritt, R-Longview. Simpson credited his victory to shoe leather, prayer and the power of the people. Merritt had held the seat since 1997.