Joe the Plumber

Joe 'The Plumber' Wurzelbacher, Phyllis Schlafly and tea partiers are coming together to oppose Proposition B, Talking Points Memo reports this morning.   In Wurzelbacker's not-at-all-misleading words, the real goal of the measure is to "get rid of ALL dog breeding in Missouri...These new regulations will put almost every breeder in Missouri out of business forcing the price of dogs to sky rocket and allowing pet ownership only for the very wealthy."

With Joe, Phyllis and the tea party on one side, it's not hard for me to figure out how I'll vote on this one.

The Chuck Purgason campaign has published a letter from Samuel Wurzelbacher outlining his complaints with Roy Blunt's Washington record: 

I AM surprised and disgusted that the same "conservatives" who have been shouting fiscal responsibility from the mountain tops are now throwing a true statesman under the bus instead of rallying to his side.

Chuck Purgason is a State Senator for a part of southern Missouri. He's worked his way up from the House to the Senate ever since his "Tea Party" moment in 1996. He has proven (the hard way) that you actually can be a man of integrity in a government full of wolves. When liberal U.S. Senator Kit Bond (R) decided to retire, he anointed RINO Congressman Roy Blunt (R) to be his heir apparent. After Roy Blunt's votes for the TARP Bailout, Cash for Clunkers, No Child Left Behind, taking the most lobbyist money, etc. (I really could go on and on and on...) Chuck said there was no way he was going to let Blunt represent Missouri or Republicans in the U.S. Senate. So, Chuck Purgason threw his hat into the race for U.S. Senate against mega power broker Roy Blunt.

"Missouri has a choice for U.S. Senate on August 3 between Washington insider Roy Blunt and a man with character, Chuck Purgason," says Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher.

This morning, about 200 people descended on the Capitol to yell and wave signs of anger about deficit spending in Washington at the Jefferson City Tea Party.  It was a far cry from the "thousands" predicted last week, but was a decent crowd for a cold morning at the Capitol.

I was really curious to see how the event would be set up to look like a "grassroots" movement, but was pleasantly surprised to see that lobbyist Carl Bearden didn't even bother with creating that illusion. Bearden orchestrated the whole event on behalf of Americans for Prosperity, and emceed the hour-long program -- it was his Tea Party, start to finish. 

Missourinet's Steve Walsh described the roster of speakers as "primarily Republicans" -- by which he means "entirely Republican" -- none of whom could credibly be called regular dudes.