Tea Party group hawks ‘McBoehner’ shirts

A major Tea Party group is hawking “McBoehner” shirts meant to link House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to the man he is seeking to succeed, retiring Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

{mosads}The Tea Party Patriots are handing out the T-shirts, which show a tan cartoon figure who looks like Boehner holding a glass of red wine and a cigarette. An outline suggesting McCarty’s hairline surrounds the character’s head.

The group is distributing the shirts as House Republicans prepare to meet behind closed doors to elect a new Speaker. McCarthy is the front-runner.

“Once again, the Washington GOP establishment and their lobbyist allies on K Street are doing everything in their power to ensure John Boehner’s clone, Kevin McCarthy, is installed as the next Speaker of the House and business as usual continues in D.C.,” said Jenny Beth Martin, the organization’s CEO and co-founder, in an email to The Hill.

“Kevin ‘McBoehner’ has already telegraphed that that he won’t fight for conservative values, telling Sean Hannity he will only fight President Obama’s failed liberal agenda if there is a ‘winning’ strategy,” she said.

“By letting the world know he will only fight when he knows he will win, McBoehner is admitting he doesn’t have what it takes to win any fight,” Martin added.

“Conservatives in the House must fight for our shared values. If they are willing to stare down leadership and not blink, leadership will change.”

McCarthy is expected to win a large majority in Thursday’s vote, but faces a tougher challenge later this month when the full House, including Democrats, elects a Speaker.

Someone must win 218 ballots in that vote, and conservatives have threatened to withhold support from McCarthy in a bid to deny him that number.