Tea Party Patriots want Joe Visconti, gun-slinging third-party governor hopeful, to withdraw

joevisSensing that he would draw support away from Republican Tom Foley and help Gov. Dannel P. Malloy win re-election, Connecticut’s Tea Party Patriots have called on Joe Visconti, the West Hartford contractor, to withdraw his wild-card third-party campaign for governor.

Tea Party Patriots this morning released an “Open Letter” asking for the move.“You need to withdraw from the race,” the letter states. “As your friends and fellow conservatives, we implore you to listen to us and heed our advice.” Those signing the letter include Tanya Bachand, founder of the New Haven Tea Party who nominated Visconti for governor at the Republican convention in May; Bob MacGuffie, founder of Right Principles; Jen Ezzell, long-time grassroots leader in Eastern Connecticut; and Duffy Dauphinais, Chairman, of the Quiet Corner Tea party in northeastern Connecticut.“The recent RealClearPolitics poll places Foley four points ahead of Malloy,” they state. “The seven percent you are polling solidifies your role as spoiler, not winner. With less than two months to go, you cannot possibly hope to gain enough name recognition and support to garner more than that.” The Patriots warn that a Malloy reelection would include “further restrictions on Second Amendment rights and accelerated implementation of Common Core, two principle concerns of Tea Party members.”

The letter comes the day after Visconti paid homage to those same Tea Party leaders in a campaign ad. http://