Dave Brat: Quit Calling Me ‘Dave The Tea Partier’

Republican 7th District congressional candidate Dave Brat gives thumbs-up as he speaks during a media briefing in front of his headquarters in Richmond, Va., Thursday, June 19, 2014. Brat did not take questions from ... Republican 7th District congressional candidate Dave Brat gives thumbs-up as he speaks during a media briefing in front of his headquarters in Richmond, Va., Thursday, June 19, 2014. Brat did not take questions from reporters. He has been keeping the media at a distance since his upset win against U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the 7th District's GOP primary last week. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) MORE LESS
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Dave Brat, the conservative who stunned Washington by beating House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) in the Republican primary earlier this month, doesn’t want to be stuck with the “tea party” label.

In an interview Wednesday with the Washington Examiner, Brat explained he feels his success in the primary proves he has a broader appeal.

“The national media is way too interested in trying to put people into little cubbyholes, and it looks like from the results of the vote I didn’t belong in a little cubbyhole,” Brat told he Examiner. “They’re trying to have their nice little jockeying, gamesmanship-type columns, ‘Dave the Tea Partier,’ but the evidence shows we surpassed our goals by a tremendous margin.”

Brat admitted he had strong tea party and grassroots support, but he said he ran on the “Republican creed.”

“I ran on Republican principles, and those principles are what matter,” he said.

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Notable Replies

  1. Fine Mr. Brat, then we’ll just start calling you “Dave the Tea Bagger.”

  2. In other words, please don’t call me tea party or I could lose this thing.

  3. Ok. I’ll call you Dave the just right of fucking crazy.

  4. I’m going with Dave the Execrable.

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