By Geoff Middleberg, Contributing Writer
Erick Erickson and RedState are at it again.
Just last week, Erickson called for Tim Murphy to have a primary challenge. Now, the managing editor of the influential national conservative blog RedState is saying Rep. Todd Platts (R-York) should face the same.
Why?
Erickson wrote, “He is pathetic on education issues and school choice reforms in particular. He voted in favor of No Child Left Behind, and earlier this year, was one of only 4 Republicans to oppose reinstating opportunity scholarships for poor children in D.C.”
The post continues, “He is a defender of seemingly every liberal spending program, including: the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Amtrak, Headstart, Americorps, the National School Lunch Program, the Legal Services Corporation, etc. He is serial reauthorizer of farm subsidies, highway subsidies, and energy subsidies.”
Finally, the article said, “He was one of only three Republicans who voted for all of “Six in 06” priority bills of the new Democrat Majority in 2007 (increasing the minimum wage, adding price controls in Medicare, Democrat PAYGO, etc.).”
This comes about a week after police sergeant Ted Waga announced a primary challenge against Platts. Earlier this fall, Platts crossed paths with York 912 Parriots after its leaders suggested Platts was complicit in a communist agenda and ought to be ousted.
Platts pulled in about $1,500 in third quarter fundraising and has about $40,000 on hand, which is par for the course. In each of the last two cycles, Rep. Platts has raised about $200,000. He is in his 6th term and is known for winning easy re-election after inexpensive campaigns.
In 2010, Rep. Platts fended back a Tea Party challenger, winning 70 percent of the primary vote. He finished with 72 percent of the vote in the general election that November.
Read the full RedState post here.
Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that Platts raised $40,000 during the third quarter. That number reflects his cash-on-hand, not his Q3 haul which was $1,501.
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4 Responses
“liberal spending programs, including…Amtrak…” Seriously?
Another thought. Some comedian had this line:
The tea party candidates ran on the premise that government does not work, and then they went to Washington and proved it.
The hard right Erick Erickson does all of us a disservice by attacking Platts. The hard right and hard left members of Congress are the ones who have brought government to a standstill. I prefer a Congressman who wants government to work, and Todd Platts is one of them. The art of being a statesman requires a give and take, not just blustery bullying which these tea party extremists engage in. Platts is consistently conservative, but he is willing to compromise when appropriate. A statesman? Yes!
This is much more than just an intra-party spat between disaffected Republicans. Congressman Platts represents a growingly diverse district; and much of the disgruntled faithful of the grand ole party may begin to seek reasonable alternatives in light of increasing extremism from the persistent yet waning tea party ranks. Libertarian challenger Mike Koffenberger seeks to capture these trends, and responds to Erickson’s article here: http://yorklp.org/redstate-is-right-on-platts-wrong-on-solution