UPDATE: Blunt spokesman Rich Chrismer weighs in: "We are very pleased to have the support of Michele Bachmann. With less than 100 days until Election Day, she will be helping energize our volunteers and supporters at one of our weekend phone banks."
JEFFERSON CITY -- As several politicians have learned over the past couple of years, upstart Tea Party groups do anger well, and some of the members of those groups in Missouri are angry today at one of their heroes, Minnesota Congressman Michele Bachmann.
A coalition of Tea Party and Patriot groups issued a news release this morning saying they were "shocked" that Bachmann would be coming to St. Louis to campaign and raise money for Congressman Roy Blunt. While the Tea Party groups have said they don't endorse candidates, they made it clear in their news release that they do not endorse Blunt.
Many of the Tea Party groups have been offering support to state Sen. Chuck Purgason, R-Caulfield, who is running a longshot campaign against Blunt, the front-runner who has raised more than $8 million in the race.
From the Tea Party release:
Tea Party participants believe the spending in Washington has to STOP. Roy Blunt voted for TARP and Cash for Clunkers. For Michele Bachmann to come to Missouri and give the impression that all the Missouri Tea Parties support Roy Blunt is an abomination of everything we have been standing up for. “Most Tea Party supporters I know will be baffled by Michele Bachmann helping someone with a record like Roy Blunt before the primary vote,” said Jedidiah Smith, a Tea party leader in Franklin County, Missouri.
The news release was signed by 28 different groups, though not by the St. Louis Tea Party.
Bachmann, who recently started a Tea Party Caucus in Congress, is scheduled to be in St. Louis to raise money for Blunt on Saturday.
Bill Hennessey, a member of the St. Louis Tea Party, said the group will stay out of the fray. Speaking for himself, he said:
"We decided a long time ago not to endorse candidates in the primary. That means we don't un-endorse, either. The Tea Party, being totally decentralized, represents a lot of ideas and opinions. We love that. We love that so many passionate conservatives have gotten involved in the process."
