Barney Frank Touts Shea-Porter, Bashes Tea Party

Barney Frank is helping fellow Democrat Carol Shea-Porter raise campaign cash, lending his name to an end-of-month fund-raising email.

The Massachusetts congressman's stated goal is to raise $10,000 by Tuesday at midnight. Frank, in the pitch to Shea-Porter's email list, writes:

"The Tea Party extremists have essentially taken over the Republican Party, and the right wing majority on the Supreme Court has guaranteed that these extremists will have virtually unlimited fat cat money being spent on their behalf. Since their substantive record is indefensible, they have gone on the attack, and Democratic candidates face a barrage of twisted, demagogic attacks."

Shea-Porter, a former congresswoman for New Hampshire's 1st District, lost re-election in 2010 to former Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta. Guinta faces a couple of candidates in his Republican primary, but Election 2012 is shaping up as a Guinta-Shea-Porter rematch.

The Barney Frank email does not mention Frank Guinta by name.

Guinta, as incumbent, has a cash advantage at this point. Guinta has raised $1,217,629 to Shea-Porter's $608,924, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.