Tweetahrt’s Trouble

Politics is a pretty dirty business, and as a personal rule I usually like to keep the spouses, children, and other family members out of my critical attacks. It’s difficult enough when these people have to see their husbands, wives, parents, and children take heat for trying to serve their country in a way they see best, but to attack spouses and children is classless.


But I’m going to make an exception today.


Mr. Tiahrt’s wife, Vicki, has recently been put on the national stage by The Hill for a virtual rampage of Republican bad-mouthing on her Twitter account. Calling her a “loose cannon,” The Hill compiles many of Mrs. Tiahrt’s Twitter posts including attacks on U.S. Senators McCain, Coburn, Thune, and DeMint; U.S. Congressional candidate and current Kansas State Senator Tim Huelskamp; and the largest interest group for fiscal restraint, The Club for Growth.


The list is practically a who’s who of people that haven’t endorsed Tiahrt for his Senate bid, so let’s break down Mrs. Tiahrt’s attacks one-by-one (using more than the paltry 140 character limit).


1. It’s hard to imagine a scenario that’s beneficial for the Tiahrts to attack sitting Republican US. Senators. Assuming their plan is to win this senate race, wouldn’t attacking future colleagues not only breed hostility, but also decrease Mr. Tiahrt’s clout and effectiveness should he win? These tweets show an utter lack of statesmanship from the Tiahrts, and would make the meetings of the Senate Spouses club very awkward for Mrs. Tiahrt (seeing how much she loves the D.C. lifestyle).


2. Assuming Mr. Tiahrt wins the primary (which is not at all a given, seeing as he is currently behind in the polls) these criticisms would highly reduce the chance that he gets the fundraising support of these GOP heavyweights for the general election (as well as any future campaigns for any office).


3. It’s highly amusing that she would attack State Senator Tim Huelskamp for being endorsed by a highly regarded conservative PAC considering that Huelskamp is seen by many Kansans as the most conservative candidate in the 1st District race. Are the Tiahrt’s trying to align themselves with the conservative wing of Congress, or are they trying to attack that wing?


4. Why would she bemoan the Club for Growth? Attacking the conservative PAC makes little sense for a candidate that is trying to position himself as the most conservative option. I assume she just wanted to take away legitimacy from the organization that recently rated her husband as a measly 29% against earmarks. If the Tiahrt’s really think they have a conservative argument against the Club for Growth, maybe they should make that argument using a medium where you don’t have to use numbers such as 2 and 4 in place of actual English words.


While I do hate to criticize spouses, Mrs. Tiahrt is continuing to throw herself into the conversation, meaning stories like these will most likely continue in the future.


Twittingly yours,


Publius