Tennessee lawyer Judson Phillips, leader of Tea Party Nation hosting the National Tea Party Convention this weekend in Nashville, had some straight talk for gathered reporters. Phillips didn't flinch when surrounded by media asking him if he agreed with convention speaker Tom Tancredo's remarks, that Obama was a "commited socialist ideologue."

From CNN, "Tea Party organizer; Tancredo 'Fantstic Speech'":

"The word 'socialist' is a word you don't want to be labeled with in the American political system. It's got a lot of negative connotations, but it also has a very specific political meaning. It refers to a specific political ideology. I think it is very clear that that is the political ideology of Barack Obama."

Photo of Phillips speaking at a TN Tea Party rally. Rep. Marsha Blackburn can be seen in the lower right corner.

The Providence Journal is reporting that rather than launching a third party, Tea Party activists in Rhode Island are just going to take over the existing Republican Party. What's more, the existing Republican establishment has signaled that it welcomes such a move.

From ProJo Politics Blog, Jan. 18:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Lacking a formal party structure of their own, Tea Party activists in Rhode Island and elsewhere -- despite consistent pledges of non-partisan status -- have set their sights on the Republican establishment.

Local conservatives openly embrace the mission of the National Precinct Alliance, an organization that seeks to take over the Grand Old Party by becoming elected "precinct executives" who endorse candidates.

Rhode Island Tea Party president Colleen Conley says she will attend a Texas conference next week that offers a session devoted to the strategy.

"We want to build a farm team. And that's what this is," she told Political Scene. "It is through the GOP, and clearly we have a lot of independents and libertarians [involved in the Tea Party]. It's just that the GOP here is such a nonentity."

State Republican Party Chairman Giovanni Cicione, himself a self-described "libertarian," according to RH Libertarian Party officials, had this to say:

"I absolutely support the efforts of the Tea Party activists to get their people involved in grassroots Republican politics. We are the only possible home for any reform movement."

Note - the Rhode Island Libertarian Party essentially operates as a subset of the RI GOP. All three RI Libertarian Party Executive Comm. members also serve as local GOP Precinct Committeemen, and two of them ran for the State Legislature as Republicans in 2008.

Photos of RI Tea Partiers at the Capitol in Providence, plus Colleen Conley.

From Eric Dondero:

Is embattled Rhode Island Representative Patrick Kennedy next on the endangered Democrat list? A drunk driving (he says muscle relaxer) incident at the Capitol in DC back in 2006. And most recently a thoroughly embarrassing mis-speak: "Marcia" Coakley, at the Massachusetts Coakley rally for US Senate in early January. Now, Kennedy is attacking newly elected Senator Scott Brown as a "joke." Here's the full Kennedy quote from the Boston Herald this morning:

"Brown’s whole candidacy was shown to be a joke today when he was sworn in early in order to cast his first vote as an objection to Obama’s appointment to the (National Labor Relations Board."

He went on to hint that Sen. Brown did not have Massachusett's best interests at heart:

[He's] "in the tank for the Republicans..."

But Kennedy is facing an increasing amount of heat from folks back home in Rhode Island. From WRPI-12 Providence:

Congressman Patrick Kennedy may be facing his most difficult re-election campaign in 16 years, according to an exclusive WPRI-12 Poll released this week.

The poll shows 31 percent of those interviewed said they would "consider another" candidate and 28 percent said they would "vote to replace" Kennedy. Those who would re-elect the eight-term Congressman came in at 35 percent. Five percent weren’t sure.

Enter John Loughlin. The Republican Party has managed to recruit perhaps its strongest candidate ever to challenge Kennedy. Loughlin is a longtime State Representative, community buisiness leader and family man from Tiverton. Eerily similar to Lt. Colonel Scott Brown, Loughlin is a retired Lt. Col. from the Rhode Island National Guard.

Also like Brown, Louglin is all about Jobs and the Economy. From his website:

Rhode Island’s economy is a total mess. While our career politicians in Washington have done little to nothing to fix the underlying problems, our local economy steadily worsens. Sure, you will see giant checks being presented by the career politicians on the six-o-clock news, evidence, they say, that they “bring home the bacon,” but keep in mind that check represents money borrowed from the Chinese government that you, your children and even your grandchildren will be forced to pay back in higher taxes. Rhode Island needs more taxpayers not more taxes.

Damien Baldino, publisher of RIRepublican blog described as "Personal Responsibility, Fiscal Conservatism, and Self-Reliance" writes at Pundit.net:

Patrick Kennedy is the perfect example of someone who gets by solely on his family name. With an anti-incumbent sentiment spreading across the nation, disgust with the Democrat’s thirst for bigger government, and a strong Republican candidate, Patrick Kennedy might be looking at his last term in Congress

If you would like to help rid Congress of Patrick Kennedy, please visit the website of his opponent, John Loughlin. He’s an exceptionally strong candidate, and worthy of your help.

DEVELOPING...

Jack Ryan Redux?

From Eric Dondero:

This news just breaking this morning... Only two sources so far, so we're reluctant to move full speed ahead.

The politician in question manages a huge state, and has been heavily rumored to have had affairs in the past. So, revelations of a Swingers Lifestyle would not come as a great surprise.

To date, the best-known politico to have been a Swinger, was ironically Jack Ryan of Illinois. Ryan and his wife Jeri, were said to be full-blown in the Lifestyle. In court documents trips to elite Paris clubs, and Chicago-area Swingers parties were detailed. The couple eventually divorced. But not before Ryan, viewed as a rising star in the GOP, was knocked out of a US Senate race.

The Chicago Political Machine: Then and Now

He lost to none other than a budding young State Senator from Chicago's southside: Barack Hussein Obama. It was rumored at the time that Obama's opposition reseach team had uncovered the allegations about Ryan, which eventually led him to drop out of the race. Ryan had been favored to win the seat. (Perenniel candidate Alan Keyes then stepped in as a replacement for the GOP with disastrous results.)

With the current situation, the individual in question is also a political opponent of Obama's, and it has been known for quite some time that he has wanted him out of the race, to make way for a more trusted Obama-ite.

UPDATE!

The celebrity news site Asia One is reporting:

New York Governor David Paterson... is facing rumours of sexacapades.