A Fake Republican Runs In Minnesota

[Valin]

Power Line

John Hinderaker

March 7, 2018

The GOP has an opportunity to pick up a Senate seat in Minnesota. After the Democrats forced Al Franken out of office, Governor Mark Dayton appointed his Lieutenant Governor, Tina Smith, to serve until the general election in November. Smith is a little-known and rather faceless office-holder. As an urban leftist with questionable ties, e.g. as a former senior executive of Planned Parenthood, she is vulnerable. The question for Republicans is whether we have a strong candidate. Tim Pawlenty chose to run for governor rather than senator, so the most credible candidate so far is Karin Housley, a state senator who may be best known as the wife of Phil Housley, perhaps the best hockey player Minnesota has produced.

Now a guy named Richard Painter has stepped into the perceived vacuum and thrown his hat into the ring. Who is Richard Painter? He is a classic fake Republican. At one time, he held an “ethics” position in the George W. Bush administration, and he has parlayed that brief tenure into a career of Republican-bashing. We all know the type: a nominal Republican who probably hasn’t voted for a GOP candidate in a long time, but who sucks up time on cable news, trading on his supposed status as a Republican to lend weight to his attacks on actual Republicans. It is, frankly, a despicable species.

Over the last fourteen months, Painter has devoted himself to unhinged attacks on President Trump. Paul wrote about Painter’s baseless claims against Trump here. A Republican activist in Minnesota–a real Republican, in other words–sent us these comments on Painter. Copious footnotes are omitted:

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