Tea Party slate for governor

The climate and culture in Washington and the characters on Wall Street created a ‘condition’ for the Tea Party to sprout and grow like a plant that flourishes in one soil or climate and droops in another. It grew; it wasn’t manufactured.

Now some of the activists — in effect, leaders — of the Tea Party in Kentucky seem to think that condition also exists in Frankfort. They are putting together a gubernatorial slate to run in the governor’s race year. David Adams told Kentucky Roll Call today in an email that some Tea Party activists are “close to putting together a gubernatorial slate to ensure regular Kentuckians' voices are heard in the Commonwealth. … Details should be available soon."

Adams was replying to my inquiry to one of his fellow Tea Party activists, after I had gotten wind of the possible gubernatorial slate. Adams is chairman of Rand Paul’s campaign for the U.S. Senate. In a telephone interview with me following his email, Adams said his statement and details about the slate, which he will release soon, are from him as an “individual activist” in the Tea Party — and not in his capacity with the Paul campaign.

While we don’t know yet whether the so-called Tea Party slate would try to run under the Republican banner in the 2001 gubernatorial primary, that’s a reasonable expectation.

Adams said the Tea Party’s greatest strength “is its lack of formal organization.” So, how would they go about backing a gubernatorial slate? Apparently, they would do it the same way they got behind Rand Paul. Some of the Tea Party activists in the major cities, and a few other places, conferred and agreed to back Paul.

If the Tea Party remains as viable through next year’s primary election as it seems to be today, this could dramatically alter the governor’s race, especially in the GOP primary. Richie Farmer would not get the nod — he’s not philosophically driven. David Williams supported Rand Paul in the primary, and this could serious alter that relationship in the fall. And, given the media amplification, it could even have a much larger meaning, especially if Paul wins in November.