Dojo
02-08-2010, 08:50 AM
Florida Duo Claiming Rights To Tea Party Name Have History Of Alleged Political Dirty Tricks
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/florida_duo_claiming_rights_to_tea_party_name_have _history_of_political_dirty_tricks.php?ref=mp
The two-man team of Florida political activists who are claiming the rights to the "Tea Party" name have been accused in the past of engaging in political trickery for profit, including allegedly pressing opposing candidates to pay for the endorsement of their candidate.
In August, Orlando lawyer Fred O'Neal registered the "Tea Party of Florida" (TPOF) as an official political party. Since then, as we reported yesterday, he and his close ally, GOP political consultant Doug Guetzloe, have asserted rights to the Tea Party name, and tried to strong-arm some local groups to drop the well-known moniker.
But some Florida Tea Party activists, already incensed that the pair is trying to claim the Tea Party name as their own, have deeper suspicions. Tim McClellan, one of the activists who O'Neal has tried to pressure to change the name of his group, told TPMmuckraker that Guetzloe has a reputation for using "bribery" and "extortion."
"That's his MO," said McClellan, who lists himself on his Facebook page as a Republican political strategist. "He's been doing it for years. He's a dirty player."
McClellan and others fear that O'Neal and Guetzloe will employ various schemes to profit from their claim to the Tea Party name. For instance: "I don't think it's too far down the road before they start going after people and saying, 'you pay us ten thousand dollars and we'll license the name to you,'" said McClellan.
Tea Partiers are also concerned about a more elaborate potential plan. They suggest that O'Neal and Guetzloe may try to leverage the state GOP by offering to withdraw their as-yet-unnamed candidate running under the Tea Party banner for the U.S. Senate, a race which has made headlines lately thanks to the GOP primary battle between Governor Charlie Crist and former House Speaker Marco Rubio.
Such a plan could be particularly effective if Crist is the nominee. The governor is reviled as a moderate by Florida conservatives, meaning even a poorly-funded Tea Party candidate could draw crucial conservative votes away from the GOP. And O'Neal has said that he plans to run conservative candidates under the Tea Party banner, and also that he intends for his fledgling party to model itself on New York's Conservative Party -- whose ability to win support from right-leaning voters in state-wide races has given it influence with the state GOP.
Guetzloe, a veteran anti-tax activist and conservative radio host who has run unsuccessfully for the Florida Senate, told TPMmuckraker in response that he and O'Neal had never been involved in any political dirty tricks, and that they have no plans to use the Tea Party nominee as a bargaining chip in the Senate race.
The Tea Partiers' fears may appear far-fetched. But O'Neal and Guetzloe have been accused of orchestrating similar schemes before. Indeed the Orlando Sentinel wrote in 2006 that Guetzloe -- who in 1982 founded Ax The Tax, an influential local anti-tax group, and has worked as a consultant for a string of Florida Republican pols, including former congressman Tom Feeney -- "has for years been dogged by allegations that he has taken or solicited money in exchange for his silence."
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/florida_duo_claiming_rights_to_tea_party_name_have _history_of_political_dirty_tricks.php?ref=mp
The two-man team of Florida political activists who are claiming the rights to the "Tea Party" name have been accused in the past of engaging in political trickery for profit, including allegedly pressing opposing candidates to pay for the endorsement of their candidate.
In August, Orlando lawyer Fred O'Neal registered the "Tea Party of Florida" (TPOF) as an official political party. Since then, as we reported yesterday, he and his close ally, GOP political consultant Doug Guetzloe, have asserted rights to the Tea Party name, and tried to strong-arm some local groups to drop the well-known moniker.
But some Florida Tea Party activists, already incensed that the pair is trying to claim the Tea Party name as their own, have deeper suspicions. Tim McClellan, one of the activists who O'Neal has tried to pressure to change the name of his group, told TPMmuckraker that Guetzloe has a reputation for using "bribery" and "extortion."
"That's his MO," said McClellan, who lists himself on his Facebook page as a Republican political strategist. "He's been doing it for years. He's a dirty player."
McClellan and others fear that O'Neal and Guetzloe will employ various schemes to profit from their claim to the Tea Party name. For instance: "I don't think it's too far down the road before they start going after people and saying, 'you pay us ten thousand dollars and we'll license the name to you,'" said McClellan.
Tea Partiers are also concerned about a more elaborate potential plan. They suggest that O'Neal and Guetzloe may try to leverage the state GOP by offering to withdraw their as-yet-unnamed candidate running under the Tea Party banner for the U.S. Senate, a race which has made headlines lately thanks to the GOP primary battle between Governor Charlie Crist and former House Speaker Marco Rubio.
Such a plan could be particularly effective if Crist is the nominee. The governor is reviled as a moderate by Florida conservatives, meaning even a poorly-funded Tea Party candidate could draw crucial conservative votes away from the GOP. And O'Neal has said that he plans to run conservative candidates under the Tea Party banner, and also that he intends for his fledgling party to model itself on New York's Conservative Party -- whose ability to win support from right-leaning voters in state-wide races has given it influence with the state GOP.
Guetzloe, a veteran anti-tax activist and conservative radio host who has run unsuccessfully for the Florida Senate, told TPMmuckraker in response that he and O'Neal had never been involved in any political dirty tricks, and that they have no plans to use the Tea Party nominee as a bargaining chip in the Senate race.
The Tea Partiers' fears may appear far-fetched. But O'Neal and Guetzloe have been accused of orchestrating similar schemes before. Indeed the Orlando Sentinel wrote in 2006 that Guetzloe -- who in 1982 founded Ax The Tax, an influential local anti-tax group, and has worked as a consultant for a string of Florida Republican pols, including former congressman Tom Feeney -- "has for years been dogged by allegations that he has taken or solicited money in exchange for his silence."