Tea Party Heroine runs for office

sexist, racist liberals faint.

[rquoter]


Judging from the loud cheers she generated, one of the highlights of last weekend's Tea Party Convention in Nashville was the appearance of Angela McGlowan, a Fox News contributor and former GOP congressional staffer. She electrified the crowd when she hinted she would be announcing her candidacy for Congress from neighboring Mississippi in a few days. If elected, Ms. McGlowan would become only the third African American elected as a Republican to the U.S. House in the past 75 years. "Conservatives advocate policies that recognize the innate value of all humans, as opposed to liberal policies that demean the poor and disadvantaged by encouraging victimhood," she told the enthusiastic crowd.

Ms. McGlowan kicked off her candidacy yesterday by beginning a five-city bus tour of her sprawling northern Mississippi district, which is now represented by Democrat Travis Childers, who recaptured the formerly Republican seat in a 2008 special election at the nadir of the Bush presidency's popularity.

Her candidacy puts the House GOP campaign committee in a bit of a jam. Republicans had previously identified State Senator Alan Nunnelee, chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee, as a top challenger in the race. He already has $292,000 in cash in his campaign account and was touted by the GOP committee as "one of the best candidates for us this cycle." The committee now insists it will stay out of the race and let primary voters decide who will run against the Democrat Mr. Childers.

The feisty Ms. McGlowan is a force of nature, and a direct challenge to the GOP good ol' boy network. While not conversant with the details of all issues, she is a fast learner and clearly would have national fundraising ability. She also has a good chance of winning the GOP primary. There is a third candidate in the race, former Eupora mayor Henry Ross, and if the contest goes to a runoff she would have the advantage of nationwide attention in that faceoff.

When it comes to the general election, Mr. Childers is well-funded and has been careful to oppose unpopular Democratic measures on health care and cap-and-trade. But in an anti-government year, any Democrat can expect to struggle to win re-election in a district that John McCain carried with 62% of the vote. Were Ms. McGlowan the GOP nominee, she would perhaps lose some votes on the basis of her race. But she would also gain some, especially from the 27% of the district's population that is African-American, much of which is socially conservative.

This is not to say that Ms. McGlowan doesn't have challenges. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister and fellow Fox News contributor, is headlining a fundraiser for Mr. Nunnelee next week, an indication that Ms. McGlowan will have some competition in nailing down the votes of religiously-oriented conservatives.[/rquoter]

 

girl, if you're out there, make yourself seen.

 

Indeed.