To recap, the general Tea Party/establishment preferences for new committee chairmanships in the GOP-run Congress were:
Appropriations
: Jack Kingston vs. Hal Rogers. Kingston had the backing of members of Tea Party Patriots, in a phone-based vote; Rogers
had been called
out as a “porker” by Citizens Against Government Waste. Winner:
Rogers.
Energy and Commerce
: Cliff Stearns or Joe Barton vs. Fred Upton. Stearns
had the backing
of the Washington Examiner, Barton got the backing of members of Tea Party Patriots. Upton was opposed by FreedomWorks, which created the website DownWithUpton. Winner:
Upton.
The Republican Study Committee
: Louie Gohmert vs. Jim Jordan. Gohmert
had the backing
of the Tea Party Patriots (sounding familiar yet?), but Jordan had the backing of RedState’s Erick Erickson. Winner:
Jordan
.
Conference Committee : Michele Bachmann vs. Jeb Hensarling. Just like the RSC fight, this was between two conservatives with nothing in their records that was objectionable to Tea Partiers, but the more TV-famous member – Bachmann – actively campaigned for it. Winner: Hensarling .
So the record is 0-4, with 2 fights being real disappointments, and the Tea Party getting
a small victory as Jeff Flake
grabs an Appropriations seat.
