No one doubts the boost the new grouping will give Republicans in November elections, writes Amy Gardner
FRESH from big primary wins in Delaware and Alaska, national “Tea Party” groups are redirecting the energy of the movement toward the November mid-term elections, raising millions of dollars, expanding their advocacy into dozens of congressional races and building voter turnout operations nationwide.
FreedomWorks, which is headquartered in Washington and endorsed 25 House and Senate candidates during the primary season, said it will expand that list to more than 80. The Tea Party Express, based in Sacramento, is planning its largest national bus tour at the end of October to get conservatives to the polls.
The goal is to keep alive the momentum the movement has generated, and target vulnerable Democratic candidates.
“People are starting to realise that the Tea Party represents a powerful get-out-the-vote machine,” said Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks.
“We’ve got the most energised voting constituency in the country. This movement has been organising since before April 2009, and all of that community is energising and driving public opinion. The establishment is taking us more seriously.
The new push illustrates the movement’s transformation since the primaries from a disorganised coalition of fiscally conservative activists to a measurable political force.
But the Tea Party’s rapid growth – along with the influx of cash and political professionals – has led some followers to worry that it risks losing its rebel spirit.
“Many of the grass-roots activists who started this movement 18 months ago, myself included, may look and ask the question ‘Dude, where’s my movement?’ ” said Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation. Equally uncertain is whether the movement’s success with activist primary voters will play as well with the broader electorate in November. Most polls show that at least as many registered voters view the Tea Party unfavourably as favourably.
Perhaps no group is more aware of the divisions within the movement than FreedomWorks, a Tea Party organiser headed by Dick Armey, a former corporate lobbyist and congressman from Texas who was once House majority leader. FreedomWorks has taken a politically pragmatic approach in deciding which candidates to endorse. In last week’s Senate primary in Delaware, Tea Party Express spent more than $200,000 (€152,000) on behalf of Christine O’Donnell, who was challenging Congressman Michael Castle, the establishment Republican choice. But FreedomWorks leaders declined to back O’Donnell because they didn’t think she could win the November election.
Yet FreedomWorks, which focuses primarily on training volunteers and helping them to organise phone banks, door-knocking campaigns and other voting-related efforts, is eager to take advantage of the momentum from O’Donnell’s victory – and also from that of Joe Miller, who beat incumbent Lisa Murkowksi in Alaska’s Republican Senate primary last month. FreedomWorks endorsed O’Donnell the day after her win, and, this week, the group plans to announce that it will back the Senate campaigns of Linda McMahon in Connecticut, Carly Fiorina in California and John Raese in West Virginia.
FreedomWorks and other Tea Party groups are expanding their lists of approved candidates to include more establishment- backed Republicans. The intention is to rally Tea Party activists behind all Republicans this fall, not just those who identify with the movement.
“We’ve gone through the primary process,” Kibbe said.
“I think the Tea Party has had a tremendous impact on the quality of the candidates coming out of the primaries. But here we are in the race to November 2nd, and November 2nd is all about holding Democrats accountable.”
Amy Kremer, chairman of the Tea Party Express, distanced her group from that strategy, noting the group identified its “heroes” and “targets” on April 15th, and would not change the list. “There may be some groups that need to re-evaluate where they are, but we’re not doing that,” she said.
Both national parties are struggling to adjust to the Tea Party’s prominence. Eric Schultz, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said the party welcomes the nomination of Tea-Party-backed candidates in Senate races. He noted that in most of the states holding those elections, notably Kentucky, Nevada and Delaware, those candidates have helped Democrats to remain competitive in races in which they were expected to struggle.
“We are more competitive in these races because they nominated candidates who are extremists,” Schultz said.
Still, Democrats must contend with perhaps the biggest strength of the Tea Party movement – its ability to get conservatives to vote.
Republican leaders bristle at the Tea Party’s willingness to overthrow establishment candidates, but no one doubts the boost the movement will give Republicans in November.
“That’s not a bad trade-off, considering that we have this tremendous energy and enthusiasm moving into the fall,” said Brian Walsh, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
"I would take any one of our candidates over a candidate on the Democratic side who voted for the stimulus bill, who voted for the healthcare bill, and whose message is 'If you vote for me, I'm going to vote for the status quo in Washington.' " – ( Washington Postservice)