Year of the Nutjob-Meet this election’s most, well, interesting candidates.

[babylonsister]

Year of the Nutjob
Meet this election’s most, well, interesting candidates.

*
James Downie

How does the class of 2010 stack up against its lunatic predecessor, of 1994? There are the well-known data points—Rand Paul’s alleged kidnapping of a college classmate; Sharron Angle’s assertion that there are “domestic enemies” in Congress—that suggest we’ve reached a new zenith of crazy, making Newt Gingrich’s bunch look like sensible establishmentarians by comparison. But Paul and Angle only begin to capture the strangeness of candidates out there who may soon be occupying your Capitol and governor’s mansion. Herewith, a guide to the truly special specimens.

TENTHER MADNESS
Tom Emmer
Gubernatorial Candidate, Minnesota

For most Tea Partiers, reining in the federal government is an article of faith. But state Representative Tom Emmer has taken the trouble to figure out the logistics. Emmer is a “Tenther”—that is, he believes the Tenth Amendment (which reserves powers not granted to Uncle Sam for the states) should be used to nullify numerous Democratic laws. He’s also proposed some roadblocks of his own—like a state constitutional amendment that would prohibit any federal law from being enforced in Minnesota unless it’s ratified by supermajorities of the state legislature. So wary is Emmer of excessive government intervention that he’s come out for laxer drunk-driving laws, although it’s conceivable this position was partly inspired by his two previous arrests for DWI.

THE SCHWINN CONSPIRACY
Dan Maes
Gubernatorial Candidate, Colorado

Dan Maes has seen the Leviathan state, and it comes in the form of shared bicycles. The local businessman and political novice made national headlines for his dire predictions that conservation measures promoted by his Democratic opponent, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, could “threaten our personal freedoms.” “At first, I thought, ‘Gosh, public transportation, what’s wrong with that, and what’s wrong with people parking their cars and riding their bikes?’” Maes said. “But if you do your homework ... you realize is part of a greater strategy to rein in American cities under a United Nations treaty.” Maes’s spokesperson explained his boss “was trying to say” that biking initiatives are a “gateway” to abortions.

THE WINKING EXTREMIST
Ken Buck
Senate Candidate, Colorado

Some Tea Partiers are born believers; others are recent converts to the cause. Buck, a Princeton educated district attorney and former Justice Department lawyer, has been dubbed “Colorado’s Sharron Angle” for his Tea Party-friendly views. But his sincerity was questioned when he was caught on tape calling birthers “dumbasses.” After Tom Tancredo called President Obama the biggest threat facing America, Buck was recorded remarking, “I can’t believe that guy opened his mouth.” He apologized, explaining that the greater peril was “the progressive liberal movement that is going on in this country.”

more...


http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/77630/republican-nutjobs-november-beyond-rand-paul-sharron-angle

[lunasun]

1. wow that article was loaded with truly mental ill types,,,,on ballots!!!~n/t