No Tea in this Tavern...

The Democrat's attempted hijacking of the Tea-Party continues.  For our next exhibit, I give to you Clinton County Tavern Owner, John Krupa.  In the past few months, Krupa has been a Republican, then a Constitutional Party Candidate, then a "no party affiliation" guy and now he is a self-declared "Tea Party Candidate" (despite the fact that there is no official party called the "Tea Party").  Most recently Mr. Krupa submitted paperwork to run for governor under a "tea party" label, despite the fact that most Tea-Party Leaders have never even heard of the guy.  Diana Reimer, state coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots, an organization of more than 2,600 groups nationally, said that she has absolutely no idea who this guy is, and that he is "representing himself as something he is not".  Yesterday, The Pittsburgh Tribune Review said the following:

Among those who gathered signatures [for John Krupa] are officers of building trades unions, whose statewide organization unanimously endorsed Onorato on June 9 — including several officers from a Pittsburgh union hall where Onorato announced his candidacy and celebrated his primary victory.  Another Krupa petition circulator, Heather Damron of Lehigh County, was paid $1,000 by Onorato's campaign for his petition drive four months earlier.

In other words - Onorato's cronies are doing all the legwork to put a "tea-party" candidate on the ballot in order to take votes away from Corbett.  

In their Opinion Section of this morning's paper, the editors of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review had the following piece.  I will cut and paste the entire thing, simply because it is so good.   After reading this, I think you'll agree:  you won't find any tea in the John Krupa Tavern. 

Pittsburgh Tribune Review, August 11, 2010

Dan Onorato must think Pennsylvania voters were born last night. Why else would his failing gubernatorial campaign deny culpability in a political stunt as old as the hills?
Mr. Onorato, the Allegheny County chief executive, is the Democrats' nominee for governor in the Nov. 2 election. He faces Republican nominee Tom Corbett, the state's attorney general. Onorato is trailing badly in the polls.
But surprise, surprise, there's now a third-party candidate on the fall ballot. John Krupa of Clinton County, a member of the Constitution Party who's aligned with the tea party movement. His candidacy could siphon votes from Mr. Corbett.
And a review of Mr. Krupa's nominating petitions, filed last week, shows that it's members of labor unions that have endorsed Onorato -- and even one of Onorato's campaign workers -- behind the petitions.
Smell a political rat? Or should we say an OnoRATo?
It's a laugh a minute to hear the union operatives stumble all over themselves when confronted. But it's a major knee-slapper to hear Onorato spokesman Brian Herman attempt to rationalize the nexus.
Dan Onorato would do anything to be elected governor of Pennsylvania. That means he'd do anything as governor. And that's the kind of governor this commonwealth cannot afford.