PuffyPost Shows Political Ignorance Once Again: Joe Walsh ‘The Party Candidate’

12 Feb, 2010 by Warner Todd Huston

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Well, the Puffington Post has once again shown that it is wholly un-credible as a source for serious political analysis. This time it’s the “work” of HuffPuffer Will Guzzardi who doesn’t seem to know what a primary is or what it does, at least if his headline can be used as an example.

In his titled “Joe Walsh, First Tea Party Candidate To Win Election, Starts Attracting Attention,” Willie Guzzardi attempts to regale us on his deep knowledge of what occurred in the late Illinois primary. Unfortunately, we can doubt that pretension of depth without getting any further than his header. After all, Joe Walsh was not elected to anything as the headline claims. He did win the nomination of his party in order to run for election, but he didn’t get elected.

Additionally, we can easily take issue with Guzzie’s claim that Walsh is “the tea party candidate.” Yes, Mr. Walsh ran as “the tea party candidate” but previous to December 2009 Mr. Joe Walsh had never once BEEN to a tea party event in his life. And to this he admits openly. His running as “the tea party candidate” was a campaign strategy, not a grass roots reality.

Now, just before the primary on Feb. 2, Walsh did get the endorsement of a local tea party group. So, though belatedly, he did become a “tea party candidate.”

But for Guzzardi to pretend that Joe Walsh represents “the tea party candidate” is not a reading of reality, but merely a bi-fold mistake. Number one it accepts Mr. Walsh’s strategic claims that he is “the tea party candidate” (based less on reality than mere bombast), and two it ignores that the tea party movement has no real, long-term connection to Joe Walsh.

So, Guzzardi’s claim that Walsh is “the first tea party candidate” is ill-informed. There are other candidates across the country that were involved in the movement and then decided to run for office, but Mr. Walsh is not one of them.

Now, this all isn’t to say that Joe Walsh is a bad candidate or that he should be worked against. I am not saying such a thing. I support Joe Walsh over Melissa Bean. Joe Walsh has an authentic small government, fiscally conservative record. Walsh is certainly the better candidate compared to Congressman Melissa Bean. So, yes, I want folks in the 8th District to vote for Joe Walsh.

But it is a mistake to think he is “the tea party candidate” in the sense that Guzzardi is assuming. Walsh is not a grass roots member of the tea party movement, he’s never had any contact with the movement before December of 2009, he’s never attended a tea party protest prior to December… he just has no long standing tea party roots. Even in a movement that is only just over a year old, Walsh has only a month’s worth of connection to it.

Walsh is a fine candidate, yes. But he simply cannot be considered “the tea party candidate.” Sadly, PufffyPost shows that it is not a credible source for serious political analysis once again.