By Muriel Kane
Friday, June 18th, 2010 -- 10:42 pm
Amid all the fuss over surprise Democratic Senate nominee Alvin Greene in South Carolina, a less-noticed but even more colorful uproar is brewing over certain Tea Party candidates in Florida who may not be quite what they appear -- including one who could draw votes away from the Republican challenger to Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson.
According to Adam Weinstein at Mother Jones, Florida GOP Chairman John Thrasher is claiming that "lefties have pulled an 'Alvin Greene' in the Sunshine State."
Weinstein points to an article in the St. Petersburg Times, titled "The Florida tea party conspiracy," which notes that out of the dozen or more tea party candidates who have qualified for state races, "a number ... are former Democrats, some appear financially strapped to pay the $1,800 filing and others are filing to run in districts far away from their listed address. A number of the seats are also targeted by Democrats for takeover."
"The recent flurry of last minute filings by so-called 'tea party candidates' looks awfully suspicious," Chairman Thrasher charged. "While a few tea-party candidates across the state do have ties to the tea party movement, in the majority of instances, it appears that the Democrats have coordinated a dishonest attempt to hide phony candidates behind the name tea party and to confuse voters who may be supportive of the tea party movement."
