Former GOP Candidate Endorses Taylor
Joe Tegerdine, who made a spirited but unsuccessful bid for the GOP nomination in the Fourth District earlier this year, broke a four plus month period of silence to endorse Gene Taylor- the man he hoped to be facing off against.
In a concession-like blog post, Tegerdine said he would not publicly endorse a candidate (that blog post is no longer available but we have the cached version), but decided to do so because “so many people asked for my opinion.”
So what all does this mean? After all, Tegerdine put up a respectable showing in the primary winning something like 42 percent of the vote. Among that group is a loyal, but small following (who was out in force before the primary and still pops ups today) that never warmed up to Steven Palazzo so they weren’t planning on voting for him anyway.
But as polls have shown, Palazzo is doing pretty well at winning over most Republican voters.
Whether you have noticed or not there is certainly an orchestrated movement to smear Palazzo. As you would imagine, it has picked up steam as Palazzo’s campaign picked up steam in the polls. The Tegerdine endorsement- one week before Election Day- just may be the culmination of this effort.
I have talked with Republican sources on the Coast and they seem to indicate that Taylor’s forces are behind most of the attacks. I am not sold. After all, Tegerdine’s post-primary blog post read less like a concession speech and more like a 2012 campaign kickoff. Over the summer it looked like Tegerdine would have another shot at the seat as Palazzo was going to be just the next Republican to lose to Taylor. Of course, that has since changed. Should Palazzo win; there would be no chance for Tegerdine in two years (or at least any realistic shot).
My first reaction was Tegerdine is just trying to help Taylor so he can get another shot in two years. But by doing this, Tegerdine ruined any chance he had of ever getting elected as a Republican in the state of Mississippi. Therefore, this endorsement wasn’t so much about his own political career, but a selfishness and bitterness that never went away.
Update: Here is a response from Taylor on the endorsement: “Well, I think you need to read his letter. I think he spells it out that he felt like even though we disagree on some things, that I am a straight shooter, that my concerns have been for a balanced budget all along, and that in 21 years I have shot straight with people every time.” Palazzo didn’t directly respond to the endorsement, but he obviously can’t say the things we can.
Some highlights from that earlier Tegerdine blog post are here.
Hey Oregon Joe Tegerdine –
You are pathetic and should be ashamed of the poor sportsmanship you are showing your children. You must have never learned the meaning of integrity. I guess you decided to move to some other state to run for Congress, but this pathetic decision will follow you the rest of your life.
Amatuer, silly boy this Tegerdine and I hope he finds another home soon. What a loser!
So glad he lost and lost big in the primary. Yankee, go home.
I have way of knowing why Joe Tegerdine put out an endoresment for Gene Taylor. But having worked on the Tegerdine campaign, I truly believe him to be a person of unswerving principle and love for Country and Constitution.
Steve Palazzo may win here. But do not think this is a candidate without serious issues. Emminent domain, psuedophedrine, D’Iberville Restaurant tax. Steve has a history of going one way and talking another. Maybe in DC he will be the staunch conservative he is talking like. But we have been down this road before so many times. Character really really counts when you get to the big time in DC. Steve has not shown it yet. If he wins I pray he will be what he talks about. I think Joe may be betting that he won’t. Time will tell.
Joe I supported you, I am very dispointed in you. What kind of person are you to say the things about Gene Taylor they turn on a Fellow Conv. You should leave Ms. and go back to Org. You are coward and Liberal just as Gene Taylor. You and some of the Tea Parties in Ms. are like little kids. You can’t have it your way, you turn on what you say you believe in and show your true colors. Cowards and liberals. Just as Gene Tayor you are a lair and cheat. You cheated people like me out of my time and money to support you. Gene Tayor voted for Obamacare they tells everyone he did not. Here is the way he did. When it came out of Committee he should have vote no that would have help kill the bill. But he voted yes that was a vote for Obamacare. Also he is a baby killer for you can’t vote for a baby killer like Pelosi and not support the laws she passes. She is one of the biggest baby killers in the world. And Gene Taylor supports her, making him a baby killer. Going to Churh does not make you a Christian and more than walking out in the rain makes you a raindrop. If you support sin then you are a sinner. You suppoing Gene Taylor makes you a baby killer and a supporter of N. Pelosi and Obama which swore to me you would never do. So that mkaes you one of them. I hope you can live with be a sinner, Baby kiler, and Pelosi supporter.
Paul this election was and always should be about integrity and the issues not the letter behind the name. To you it’s about something else completely (I would guess it’s access). People like you with your panty boy Mississippi love it or leave it attitude are why the south is able to be laughed at by the stinky liberal media. I moved here like Joe because it’s a great place to be. Palazzo was born here and I suspect you were hatched here, but it wasn’t a decision for either of you. It was for Joe and for me.
Catty I’m rubber you’re glue bounces off us and sticks to you. LOL You never dissapoint.
Honesthank…all I can say to you is SYNTAX ERROR and SHORT CIRCUIT. LMAO
This election as I started out to say should have been the one time when the game playing ended for good. The local Republicans didn’t want to take a shot at a win against Taylor until the Scott Brown win. Palazzo had been asked by Joe if he wanted to run. He said ‘No.’ The Tea Party had picked Joe to run and he did. He and a lot of other people softened the target up (Taylor) with some serious beatings and the local Republicans decided to seize the momentum they hadn’t earned. Unfortunately the guy they decided to put out there is a dork and really not the sharpest tool in the drawer. Palazzo was rolled out at the last minute. They of course waited until the Tea Party had turned in the signatures needed for their voter ID petition. You stabbed a lot of people in the back and I’m sure you’re upset because you’ve now discovered what’s it like to meet an open and defiant adversary. It’s called we the people.
Your hand picked genius missed a debate claiming it was a scheduling error and took full repsonsibility for missing the debate. One of his peeps said it was a family emergency. WDAM caught him in the lie.
http://www.wdam.com/Global/story.asp?S=13392519
Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Truly stupid.
You keep saying people are bitter. You’re about to find out what that really is.
Once again it was and always should be about principles. Try to learn from your mistakes. I’m starting to think some of you burnt your finger down to a stub on the same candle we learned from the first time.
Thanks, Joe.
Looks like it’s the left wing repukes who get to be sore losers this time doesn’t it? LMAO
Not much from Tegerdine is a surprise. The typical Tegerdine folks will come out the woodwork and do their best to bring Palazzo down over the last 7 days but they are as insignifigant as Tegerdine.
Wouldn’t it have been neat if you’d gone to school where they could teach you how to spell insignificant? That would have been really neat.
If Joe was worried about a future in politics he’d of endorsed Palazzo. Instead he endorsed Taylor, cause he thinks Taylor is actually the better choice.
And there’s no doubt that’s true. If this was a different candidate like John McKay I couldn’t say that. But this is Palazzo and he’s well earned his nasty reputation and he’s only been a politician for three years.
Brett knows what I’m talking about and so do the folks that really know the Palazzo’s.
It’s about MONEY to them. Principles to others, money for them.
For other these other folks their just caught up in this fire Pelosi deal. Though I completely understand that… it does us no good to replace Taylor with someone even worse.
You guys know what I’m talking about if you’d just calm down and think about it.
Best regards folks…
Do you think it’s about principles for Gene Taylor?
Good riddance. It’s one thing to be a bitter old man. It’s another thing to be what 35 or 40 and bitter…
As with anything a small group can make a lot of noise. In this case it’s the bitter as hell Tegerdine supporters. They wouldn’t stop running their mouth during the primary and haven’t let up especially as they get more desperate.
Maybe Joe can call Al Gore, they have a lot in common!
Desperate for what Joe? Joe won’t be trying for office not after what he just did. You pseudo conservatives just don’t get it. It’s about ideals and integrity. Stuff you just don’t seem to understand. Each and everytime one votes if one has a lick of sense they’re holding their nose just a little bit. I’ll hold my nose again when I vote for Taylor. If I’d decided to vote for Palazzo they’d have hauled me out of the polling place due apparent seisures. I would have been gagging that bad. Watch Palazzo will find a way to get out of the debate he’s supposed to do on Friday night. He won’t be honest about why either. But integrity doesn’t seem to matter to a lot of you.
“Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and it only annoys the pig.” Mark Twain
If Joe thought enough of Gene Taylor to endorse him, then why in the hell did he move to MS and a few months later run against him?
I think Joe is missing the spotlight, and endorsed Taylor so people would not forget about the squirrelly pointed nose mid-westerner who thinks he’s smarter than regular folks.
What a PUNK! When I began to call out joe t and his peps, I never imagined he would scoop so low. His remarks sounded like he was paid some cash by Taylor.
I knew this time last year he was a total liar and never believed the things he said. I meet Joe t twice each time his hand was cold and sweety and each time I caught him in a lie. I started to investigate his position on the issues. I realized that joe t supported and made money off shipping jobs to China. I then knew this guy was not good for South Mississippi or the Tea Party.
What is really funny about all this is that you have people saying they will have to hold their nose to vote for Taylor instead of Palazzo when in all actuality they could go into the booth and just choose not to vote for anybody. Same goes for Tegerdine he does not have to vote for anybody in that race, but he is choosing to vote for Taylor when he could simply leave it blank. It tells you a great deal about Joe and those who come on here to bash Palazzo and say they have no other choice, but to vote for Taylor because they hate Palazzo so much. Don’t be fooled they don’t have to vote for Taylor or Palazzo or anybody for that matter, but they are choosing to vote for Taylor. Just something to think about.
I thought Joe was constitutional patriot. I am disappointed that he has endorsed a 20 year incumbent that belongs to a party that has fully shown its socialist colors. I’m not going to try to defend Palazzo on some of the issues that have been raised about him. Because, having met Joe Tegerdine, if someone would have told me that he would endorse Gene “pelosi” Taylor I would have defended him. Boy, would I have had egg on my face. Palazzo may be a selfish, money and power hungry politician that some people say he is. I hope those people are wrong. However with the USA spiraling down hill. I do have sense enough to know that a change across the board is my patriotic duty. Hell, if ya’ll can’t stand Palazzo and Taylor is your only other choice, then write your own name in. That would be better than voting for Taylor.
Taylor will be less damaging to my personal rights and to the nation in general than Palazzo would be. You don’t vote for people you vote for government. BTW voting for change got us ObamaB you’ve obviously learned nothing at all and haven’t looked at Palazzos voting record.
You don’t have to vote for either of them so why not just leave the ballot for that race blank when you go to vote?
I want one of you Gene Taylor liberal supporters show me don’t lie don’t tell me show me in his records in 20 years in DC how many Bills he has gotten passed. What Committees he heads. What he has done to help Ms. Gene Taylor has gotten 5 bills passed in 20 years. They were to change the names of Gov. Buildings. go Taylor. what a hellva job in 20 years. He is no the head of any Committee in 20 years and can’t be appointed to lead any Committee. Once again go Taylor. What a waste of Money. lSo you are right princess66sophia the liberal with Gene Taylor has been in charge since Jan 2007 see most of you liberals can’t stand the truth and don’t really want to know as long as you can hide from that truth. Well here it is. Gene Taylor and the rest of the Liberals’ did not need one Rep. vote to pass anything. So as liberal do they blame anyone they can. George Bush did not control any money. All the money comes out of the LOUSE OF REPS. which you little golden boy Gene Taylor is part of. Yes this last years buget was Gene Taylor and the liberals not George Bush’s for he had not control of any money. They could have stopped Obama at anytime by cutting off the money. As late as Jun. you little lair Taylor said he would support Pelosi but now she is in trouble hc lies about that also. You little golden boy lied about voting for Obama’s health care. As he lied this morning on TV about voting wth Pelosi only 2% of the time. Just look at this lairs record. As of June it was with Pelosi 84% Frank, 84% Charlie Rangle that scramb from NY that has cheated lied 86% of time. so why not get you facts stright before talking about anyone else. As for Joe T. I was on his Camp. committee I know him very well. He lied to me, stole my money, and time then stabbed me in the back. He swore to me that he would never support Obama are Pelosi and the things he said behind closed doors about Gene Taylor then do this is lower than Taylor, Obama, Pelosi are Reid.
It’s unfortunate that our electorate has been dumbed down to the point of not seeing the GOP kick them in the teeth right in broad daylight. They are no better than the Dems when it comes to party politics and are, in many cases, worse. You who do not know how to use spell check…listen and learn from someone who can run circles around you when it comes to what’s really going on as very few of you are even close to having a clue.
Joe Tegerdine remains one of the most principled conservatives I have ever or will ever meet. His decision to endorse Gene Taylor came from a depth of character most of you will never experience because you are too shallow and too easily persuaded by the crumbs the GOP throws at you. I, too, was once ignorant, but after having gone through the fire, now understand much more about the evil that is politics and the quagmire that is Washington and the lords of the ring that we call the GOP.
First lesson: The GOP is a political machine. It’s the Good Ole Boy network. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. It has one goal. Self-preservation. The driving forces are power and money. They are completely at home with the global elitists, the socialists, the unions and the crooks. Think they are the white knight come to save you from the evil liberals. Foolish child. Pay attention. The GOP is not conservative and they could care less about your conservative values.
Consider this. The most powerful man in politics is…you guessed it…Haley Babour. As former head of the Republican Governor’s Association and the NRCC, he controls more money than any of us will ever see. Yes, he did a great job after Katrina. I applaud him for that, but look closer and you will see that while he is a conservative at home (well, except for the green movement he’s pushing through via green jobs, Van Jones style, in the Mississippi Development Authority). Seems that federal money is just too good to turn down. The only problem is that after we send our money to Washington, it comes back to us with conditions. He also donated millions to a gubernatorial candidate in Massachusetts who marched in the LGBT parade. The article I read noted that while Barbour is conservative while at home in Mississippi, this is not true once he crosses the state line.
He’s a Progressive who is for big government and that’s why he VETOED the Eminent Domain Reform law passed by the House and the Senate and which he got Steven Palazzo to vote against it twice. It’s obvious that the GOP LIKE SOCIALISTS! Otherwise, they might have spent some of the hundreds of thousands recklessly spent to support liberal Republicans and to unseat conservative Democrats on unseating an avowed COMMUNIST LIKE BENNIE THOMPSON! Hello!!
But this is about Joe Tegerdine. He has more guts than any of you who have so viciously labeled him and those of us who support him as insignificant sour grapes. I share his realization that Gene Taylor has more character and integrity than Steven Palazzo. In 22 years, he has not been caught in a lie or a scandal. A bad decision, yes, to vote for Nancy Pelosi, but even that he did at the risk of ruining his own reputation to try to help the people of the Gulf Coast who had lost everything they had ever worked for when Katrina devastated the land. The insurance companies turned out to be dishonest and greedy, refusing to pay claims even though they’d received premiums from these people who had lost it all. Gene called on Nancy Pelosi in desperation to try to get wind damage added to national flood insurance. This was a bad decision. Not an evil one. He should have gone about getting support for this bill through legitimate channels rather than by selling his vote to someone who double-crossed him. I believe he has learned that lesson.
As one of the most conservative and independent Democrats in the state, he has brought more good to the state and to our nation’s defense than he is given credit for. We beat Gene Taylor up for over a year, not knowing at the time, that the Republican party was also our enemy.
Now we know. It’s time to pick the better, more qualified and immeasurably more intelligent and more honest candidate for MS04. That man is Gene Taylor. I hope all who read this will consider my words.
Guts? Tegerdine? Please. He deserves everything people say about him. He was bitter. He was mad the voters chose someone else beside him so like a spoiled 10 year old that doesn’t get their way he tries to retaliate. I don’t know if Palazzo will win next week, but I know this won’t have made one bit of difference.
Hope all the Tegerdine backers on here weren’t mad with Mike Castle, Charlie Crist or Lisa Murkowski after their primary loses and the way they acted (or before the primary in Crist’s case).
Paranoid much? Are you really trying to tell me that Gene Taylor voted for Pelosi to help with Katrina relief? You can sit here and mock everyone and claim to be an intellectual elitist, which by the way sounds awful familiar to a certain President, but if you really believe that is why Taylor voted for her you completely discredit yourself and look like an idiot.
“I, too, was once ignorant.” Are you sure about that?
Did you really include these two statements in the same rant?
“Seems that federal money is just too good to turn down. The only problem is that after we send our money to Washington, it comes back to us with conditions.”
“to vote for Nancy Pelosi, but even that he did at the risk of ruining his own reputation to try to help the people of the Gulf Coast who had lost everything they had ever worked for when Katrina devastated the land.”
So let me get this straight.
1. Taking of federal money robs us of our freedoms.
2. It’s okay to take federal money as long as you have a disaster to justify it.
Savvy Southerner –
Sounds like you got a princess sophia in your eye blocking you from seeing the truth, and Joe probably has one in him too. Idiots.
Savvy Southerner,
You do not know your head from your rear. Gene Taylor was the one that voted against the first Gulf War ( on principle). When Stormen Norman was on the out skirts of Baghdad Gene Taylor stood up on the House Floor and demanded he withdraw. We could have solved the Iraq issue many years ago with ALL the Arab countries support. Then, Gene has the nerve to vote for the 2nd Gulf War when there was NO weapons of mass destruction. (He is on the Armed Sevices Comm;)
Gene Taylor has also been in office for the last 22 years and is responsible for the Growth of Government over the last 22 years. He has voted time and time again for the expansion of government. The government receives money approved by Congress. Gene could have stood on his principles. oh he did, the principle of Growth of Government.
The truth about this election is if we send a democrat to D.C. then we support what they are doing.
Robert since civics and political science isn’t your thing let’s try intergers. On a number line we have positive and negative numbers. Since we’re discussing Palazzo this discussion will be centering around the number zero. A vote for Pallazo would be a positive 1 not voting for Palazzo would be a good description of both Paul and Palazzo because it’s a zero. It’s the same thing as voting for someone who isn’t going to win. Now if I take that same vote and give it to Taylor who is a do nothing and after this election can’t vote for Pelosi I have a negative number against Palazzo. On that number line the impact is two not one.
Honesthank… Honestly? I knew what stream of concious writing looked like and now I know what stream of unconcious writing looks like.
Bret this is about a nation and it’s future. The two parties have sold out for votes causing them to look more and more alike. The amusing thing is that once Pelosi is replaced with a sane person it will really be obvious as to how similar they are. I’m not completely blaming the parties either, they’re sort of representing a populace that votes on “What’s in it for me”. Quite sadly they represent us well.
Paul read what I said to Bret. That’s you to a tee. I remember hearing you waste everyones time in a geter done meeting while you talked about how things should be. How things are is a symptom. You were always good at wasting everyones time and I can see it hasn’t stopped except for the recent sell out. Palazzo won’t be going to DC so I doubt he will be able to help you fill the vacancy he was planning on creating.
Thanks, but I am still not real sure what an interger is maybe you should ask Savvy Southerner for a spelling lesson because I think you meant integer, which I do know about. Your logic is still flawed if you truly hate both Taylor and Palazzo as you claim. You say that voting for Taylor gives Palazzo a -1, but at the same time you are giving Taylor a +1. Why give Taylor a positive if you hate him as well? I suggested you not vote for either giving both a 0 on your theoretical line. You still are confused because you think, “On that number line the impact is two not one.” In fact, your impact would be 2 vs. 0 not 2 vs. 1 as you claim. This is evidenced in the idea that a vote for neither candidate, as I suggested, would amount to a 0. A 1 would never come in to play in an election anyway since election votes would move in increments of 2. Apparently I am not the one who needs the math lesson today.
I’ll give you a civics and political science lesson since you want to be a smart-ass about that. You as a voter can go to the poll and have the right to not select a candidate for a race if you so choose. Your incessant arguing and pandering over this would lead me to believe that you are and have been a Gene Taylor supporter and you are making it very obvious to anyone who really examines the things you say in your comments.
Don’t come on here and preach Conservatism if you are going to support Gene Taylor who has a record of propping up liberals who support gun control, abortion and many other socialist ideas. Also, don’t try to give me a damn math lesson on something you don’t even know how to spell. Thank you and have a wonderful day.
You may now return to making calls at the Gene Taylor phone bank.
Comment of the year!
It is simple. Anyone who claims to support Joe’s endorsement of Taylor is either a Taylor supporter themselves our drank too much of the Tegerdine koolaid and is now as bitter as him. I am amazed some are actually trying to the rest of us conservatives to join Joe and vote for Taylor.
Really, Tony? And your excuse for supporting a liar is_____????
Yes, and all those things Joe said about Taylor when he was running in the primary, I guess he did not mean those. Or he did mean what he said then and thus does not mean what he says now. Sorry, cant have it both ways.
Seems like a lot of folks are trying to demonstrate their deep thinking abilities when it is quite simple….Obama is the worst president in our lifetime and needs a beatdown. I shall cast my vote for Palazzo, and in doing so will be voting against Obama and his agenda.