Angle, Miller And O’Donnell Just The Tip Of The Tea Party Iceberg

By William K. Wolfrum

While the proudly ignorant like Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, Joe Miller and Christine O’Donnell make the biggest headlines, the Tea Party and far-right Movements of the GOP have a host of other candidates that make Macchiavelli look like Michael Dukakis.

And while Tea Party candidates have wildly different opinions on numerous issues, there are nearly three dozen of them in competitive Congressional and Gubernatorial races around the country, as well as countless others in smaller races. And they all bring their own brand of crazy. Here’s a look at just a few far-right Republicans running around the country:

Steven Hintz: Running for Ventura Treasurer (Ventura County has a larger population than all of Alaska) with the backing of the Tea Party and a big advantage in funds, the former judge faces one problem: his Republican Don Facciano says he has proof the former judge helped a pedophile escape incarceration. The pedophile in question was a friend of the Hintz family.

Vicky Hartzler: Running for a House seat in Missouri, Hartzler opposes gay marriage, hate-crimes laws, and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. And she’s not just anti-Gay as a hobby. It’s pretty much her main focus.

Jesse Kelly: Working to get the endorsement of ALIPAC (which “is backed by white supremacists, neo-Nazis and anti-Semites,” according to a McCain spokesman, Kelly has already signed a pledge to impeach Obama if he doesn’t capitulate to Right-wing extremists.

Dan Maes: The GOP Candidate in Colorado’s Gubernatorial race, Maes called Denver’s bike-sharing program a socialist plot organized by the U.N. With Tom Tancredo in the race as a third-party candidate, the craziness is off the hook in the Rocky Mountains.

Bill Randall: Running for North Carolina’s 13th district U.S. House seat, Randall floated the idea that the BP Oil Disaster was concocted by the U.S. Government and British Petroleum.

Ken Buck: Running for a U.S. Senate seat in Colorado, Buck has taken the madness to a whole new level. Global Warming? A hoax. Abortion? Never, even in cases of rape or incest. Homosexuality? It’s like being an alcoholic. Of course, the scariest thing about Buck? He’s leading.

To see more Tea Party Candidates around the U.S., take a look at the New York Times Interactive map.

By: William K. Wolfrum

I'm a journalist, columnist, humorist, satirist, Dogist and Husbandist