The Hill News

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) expressed confidence that he could fend off a Tea Party challenger in a primary when he runs for reelection in 2012. 



Corker, a first-term senator who would be seeking his second term, was listed as a target for a possible primary challenge by Erick Erickson, the editor of conservative blog RedState.



“I’ve been through this before,” Corker told constituents, as reported by the Memphis Flyer. "This is a small group of people, Washington-centric, who don’t like the fact that I actually think about what I do, that I actually ask questions about bills, that I just don’t automatically jump up and say ‘yes’ when the electric shock hits the chair. OK? And that concerns some people."



Corker's struck a relatively conservative pose since joining the Senate, but had most notably sought to negotiate a Wall Street reform bill in a bipartisan way before talks between him and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) broke down. 



Corker had also been a lead negotiator in helping facilitate the initial aid to ailing automakers in late 2008, having urged unions to significantly restructure their benefits agreements with auto companies in exchange for federal aid. 



Erickson wrote in a blog post on Wednesday that he thought Corker, along with Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker (R), were "exciting prospects for the tea party movement."



Corker said he was privy to data showing that he enjoyed support with the Tea Party movement, and blamed "a handful of people" who, he said, had sought to manipulate the grassroots conservatives. 



"What happens is, you have a handful of people who try to manipulate movements like this, and that’s just the way it is," he said.

(H/T GOP12)