"Tea Party" a Weapon in Red-On-Red Senate Infighting

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by: Colorado Pols

Last week, a total of seven Republican state senators voted against the “Race to the Top” enabling legislation, SB10-036–Mike Kopp, Scott Renfroe, Ted Harvey, Dave Schultheis, Bill Cadman, Kevin Lundberg and Greg Brophy. But the Senate Minority was far from unanimous voting to take Colorado out of the running for hundreds of millions of federal education dollars, and this has set off a furious round of intra-GOP acrimony.

According to sources, at least three of the Republicans who voted no on the bill called their respective “Tea Party” contacts–we’ve not confirmed, but we’ve heard it was Brophy, Schultheis and Lundberg–and told them that the Republicans who voted for the bill (list helpfully provided) “sold out to the teacher’s union.”

Over the weekend, many Republicans who voted for the bill were reportedly slammed with irate, with a few veering closer to creepy, phone calls castigating them for their vote. Furious about being thrown under the bus by their peers, Sen. Keith King on Tuesday morning allegedly demanded to know who did this–even going so far as to threaten the future leadership prospects of Republican caucus members who call in the “Tea Party” mob on their own.

Depending on whether or not Schultheis and friends decide to make a habit of this (it’s not like the retiring Schultheis can be threatened), we could be witnessing the beginning of a new and rather unpleasant chapter in GOP party comity…

14 thoughts on ““Tea Party” a Weapon in Red-On-Red Senate Infighting”

OneEyedOwl says:

January 22, 2010 at 2:46 am

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DevilishlyModerate says:

January 22, 2010 at 2:50 am

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1. Middle of the Road says:
  
  January 22, 2010 at 2:51 am
  
  Particularly nice to see Lundberg in the hot seat. God, how I despise him.
  
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  1. Steve Harvey says:
    
    January 22, 2010 at 3:04 am
    
    Ironically, I just got a campaign contribution today from Mike Kopp….
    
    (Okay, a different Michael Kopp. But it still has a nice ring to it).
    
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    1. Middle of the Road says:
      
      January 22, 2010 at 3:12 am
      
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      1. Steve Harvey says:
        
        January 22, 2010 at 3:21 am
        
        There’s something horribly amiss in this wonderful state of ours, when people who aren’t qualified to be Walmart greeters are elected to the state legislature.
        
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    2. Libertad says:
      
      January 22, 2010 at 4:59 am
      
      proclaiming your progressive democrat alliance and promising to go to the capital to make some much needed changes in healthcare, unions, climate, increasing taxes, etc…?
      
      Or was your day simply spent absorbing the USSC decision and scheming what lies you tell the union to attain walkers and cold hard cash?
      
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      1. Ralphie says:
        
        January 22, 2010 at 5:17 am
        
        Did your mommy run out of Gerber’s today?
        
        Is that why you’re posting totally unrelated bullshit to a thread with a theme?
        
        Oh. I forgot. You always do that.
        
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      2. Steve Harvey says:
        
        January 22, 2010 at 5:20 am
        
        studying environmental law, climate change law, public lands law, and tax policy; taking care of some correspondances; walking my daughter to and from school, helping her with her homework and playing with her; and discussing issues here and elsewhere. Thanks for asking. How did you spend your day?
        
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        Half Glass Full says:
        
        January 22, 2010 at 6:47 am
        
        Please do try to be at least somewhat relevant to the topic when you post.
        
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DavidThi808 says:

January 22, 2010 at 3:11 am

We’re looking at improving our education system and getting in much needed money – and they’re fighting it because it’s not perfect. Guys, if you want perfect as a choice – don’t go in to politics.

Yes the state rolled over for the unions. Yes tenure ~~reform~~ elimination is a key part of fixing the system. But guess what, with the proposed measurement tools it’s going to be real obvious to identify the crappy schools, administrators, teachers, programs, etc. And that will generate a ton of pressure to fix or remove those problems.

Grow up and learn to work with the world as it is.

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WesternSlopeThought says:

January 22, 2010 at 4:37 am

does not have to worry about the wrath of Mesa County teabaggers, Janet “Bestiality” Rowland bigots and all the assorted Aryan Nation and skinhead types, maybe he will actually and finally start doing something for Colorado instead of voting with the wacko extremists. You have a chance here, Josh, for redemption and to turn your piss-poor legacy around.

“Me? I ran for Governor, but fortunately I got that out of my system before the New Year.

Many of you offered words of encouragement when I made the difficult decision to get out

of the race. But I’m not going to lie: getting out of the race hurt my pride and bruised my

ego…which might explain why Senator Romer has been trying so hard to get me to join him

on a marijuana dispensary tour.” –Josh Penry

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1. Ralphie says:
  
  January 22, 2010 at 5:18 am
  
  n/t
  
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sxp151 says:

January 22, 2010 at 1:29 pm

is that there are Colorado Republicans more liberal than Olympia Snowe.

Republican legislators on the national level would never cooperate with any Democrat initiative. Literally none of them, literally never.

Republicans here once in a while care about things, even when Democrats are involved. Fucking commies.

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