Tim Crawford, Tea Party Democrat, Struggles To Explain His Candidacy (VIDEO)
Last month, the Washington Post's Dave Weigel introduced us to young Tim Crawford, a "Tea Party" conservative who managed to win the Democratic primary in Indiana's 5th District and, thus, the right to challenge incumbent Representative Dan Burton (R-Ind.).
That was where Crawford basically peaked. Since then, it's been a rough ride. In late May, Crawford put in some face time with the Hamilton County Democratic Women and spent the whole time being harangued for his policy positions and political philosophy, which can basically be described as "openly hostile to the basic tenets of the Democratic party platform." He was urged at that meeting to step aside and give the field to a credible Democrat, and for a brief mad moment, he actually agreed to do this. Twenty-four hours later, however, he released a long and rambling letter, describing how he was staying in the race to help his cancer-stricken mother.
Since then, Talking Points Memo obtained video of this tete-a-tete between Crawford and the Hamilton County group, and, well... wow. Just: wow.
In the videos, Crawford is visibly uncomfortable with direct questions about his policy positions. He calls himself a "student of life" to defend his lack of a college degree, and can't answer simple questions about how a bill becomes a law.
There's also some weird stuff about genetics and state's rights, but the overarching story is a guy who just wilts with awkwardness in this generic meeting with constituents. We recommend the originals, especially if you are a public speaking teacher looking for an example of what not to do. But if you've only got a few minutes to spare, our own Ben Craw has cut it down into a handy five-minute version:
Video produced by HuffPost's Ben Craw
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First Posted: 06/02/10 01:34 PM ET Updated: 05/25/11 05:40 PM ET