Tea Party Senate Challenger Can’t Spell the Word ‘Senate’

carrr for sentate

Joe Carr (R-TN) is the perfect poster boy for the Tea Party; he even paid homage to the Tea Party by rolling his campaign out with a misspelled sign.

Thanks to Roll Call, we know that Carr’s campaign misspelled “Senate” on a campaign banner on the very day he announced his primary challenge against Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN).

“Carr for US Sentate”, it read (see above) — or as they say in the Tea Party, “Winning against socilism!”

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Perhaps this is Carr’s way of making sure his base can’t accuse him of being an elitist. A way of pretending that he is not already a state representative — but rather a fresh faced, know-nothing full of hubris and rage. A real Tea Party “patriot”.

The campaign is a trial run that demonstrates how the candidate puts an organization together. It tests competency and skill at leadership. So it mattered that Romney’s campaign executed a complete flop with their get out the vote system because they chose not to do a trial run and didn’t plan in advance. These are not the signs of a good leader.

If you can’t execute your campaign well, odds are high that you won’t lead well in the position you seek. If your staff are idiots (see Anthony Weiner) or racists (see Rand Paul), it says something about you. Water seeks its own level.

Carr’s campaign’s error tells us: Careful readers? No. Meticulous? No. Unprofessional and careless? Yes and yes. Oh, sure, anyone can make a mistake — but on your roll out, this kind of mistake should be deadly. This was the banner with which he announced his run. First impressions and all…

Of course, Judson Phillips, the founder of Tea Party Nation, can’t get enough of willful ignorance and unqualified, so he breathlessly endorsed “Carr for US Sentate”.

“We enthusiastically endorse Joe Carr in the Tennessee Republican Senate Primary. At Tea Party Nation, we refer to Senator Alexander as ‘Liberal Lamar’ because he votes with Barack Obama more often than he votes the way the people of Tennessee want him to vote. Perhaps he should be referred to as the Senator from Obama.”

“The Senator from Obama” is apparently a Tea Party attempt at humor. Swallow at your own risk.

In addition to not having a properly spelled sign, Carr has other credentials for the Tea Party. He’s a member of Greenhouse Ministries, National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), National Rifle Association (NRA), and National Right to Life — or as we like to call it, the Jesus Loves Guns and Predators club.

Perhaps I’m being unfair; after all, odds are decent that Representative Carr has an inkling what the Senate actually does, even if he can’t spell it. He’s been in the state House since 2008. This means that he might be able to inform Princeton graduate and Constitution-impaired Ted Cruz how the Senate works. Between the two of them, maybe they make one whole brain.

Image: Roll Call


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