RedState's Erick Erickson has a post up on "The Most Important Fight For Conservatives in America" plugging Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., over Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., for Vice Chairman of the Republican Conference. More interesting than Erickson's choice is how he chooses to defend it:
The election was to be held in January. The only declared candidate was Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin (HAFA Score 91%). But then Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri (HAFA Score 64%) announced this week he wanted the job too.
What is "HAFA"? Erickson never tells us. But the fact that he doesn't feel he needs to, is telling. HAFA is Heritage Action for America, the 501c4 lobbying arm of the storied Heritage Foundation.
Earlier this year, HAFA released its first ever scorecard, much like the American Conservative Union (ACU) has been doing for years. Both the HAFA and ACU ratings our scored on a 1 to 100 scale, but many conservatives have recently complained that the ACU ratings were a little too lenient. For example, the latest ACU ratings give Blunt a 100 while HAFA has him at 64.
The tougher scoring has not sat well with everyone in the Republican caucus. Politico and National Review have both done stories on Republicans pushing back against HAFA's grading.
HAFA Chief Operating Officer Tim Chapman tells The Examiner: "Our scorecard is certainly tough. But we believe it is fair and just as important, very revealing with respect to how members vote on issues both big and small. Our objective is to continue to provide constructive pressure from the right in order to promote conservative ideas."
