Nevada Tea Party Bolts the GOP and Glenn Beck

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The Tea Party is evidently cutting its ties with the GOP in Nevada and pitching its own political tent. Certainly the best news Harry Reid has had all year:

Sun columnist Jon Ralston is reporting that the Tea Party has qualified as a third party in Nevada and will have a candidate in the Senate race to battle for the seat held by Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The party has filed a Certificate of Existence but needs to get 1 percent of the electorate to vote for its candidate in November to permanently qualify, according to the report.

Ralston reported that Jon Ashjian will be the Tea Party’s U.S. Senate candidate on the November ballot. Ashjian still must declare his candidacy.

Reid might actually have a chance if a Tea Party candidate can split the vote on the right, where Reid is currently down 10 points to most of his Republican opponents.

But why would the Tea Party split from the GOP, right after their happy Nashville convention headlined by Sarah Palin? Well, who knows. It’s probably been in the works for a while. But last week, after libertarian gubernatorial candidate Deborah Medina polled only 4 points behind Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Glenn Beck torpedoed her as a 9/11 Truther just as he did Van Jones, cheered on by Hot Air and the Washington Independent.

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February 17, 2010