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No one is going to get perfect in a general election candidate. That is why we think the Senate is a better place to focus.
FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe • Effectively saying that Tea Party groups plan to focus on the presidential election, and instead put their energies towards helping the GOP win back the U.S. Senate, which the Democrats control with a slight majority. The race totals favor the GOP winning more seats — 23 of the 33 seats up for grabs next year are in Democratic power, and at least a few of those seats up for grabs because Senators are retiring — most notably those of Jim Webb and Kent Conrad. Do you guys think the GOP has a chance at getting the Senate back in 2012, especially considering increased Tea Party focus? source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

At a time when Americans foremost wanted action on jobs and the economy, they were given an unconstitutional mandate that fundamentally expands the power of government. The real winners are insurance companies and big pharma.
FreedomWorks chairman Dick Armey • Regarding the problems he sees with the health care bill. Armey, one of dozens of voices in a chorus of political voices the New York Times put together after the vote, stands out because he ended his quote with this ominous statement: “This debate is far from over, and will be a critical issue come November.” Armey, by the way, is one of the leading behind-the-scene guys in the tea party movement, so his words should leave Democrats scared. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

The Tea Partiers are closer to the New Left. They don’t seek to form a counter-establishment because they don’t believe in establishments or in authority structures. They believe in the spontaneous uprising of participatory democracy. They believe in mass action and the politics of barricades, not in structure and organization.
New York Times columnist David Brooks (who really needs to update his stodgy column mug) • Regarding the similarities between the Tea Party movement and the New Left (i.e. the hippies). Both are populist uprisings (though one can argue that Dick Armey’s FreedomWorks is responsible for astroturfing the Tea Party movement). Both don’t align neatly with the political party in power. Both have been known to get together on the National Mall en masse. Neither have leadership in the traditional sense. And both are important movements. However, Brooks notes that the things that failed the New Left – “imprudence, self-righteousness and naïve radicalism” – will fail the Tea Party movement. Interesting take. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

I can’t figure out to save me what [Mr. Obama and the Democrats] are trying to accomplish, unless they want socialism.
Retired paper-mill worker Joseph Wright • One of the thousands of tea-partiers protesting Obama’s health-care plan (and just about everything else he represents). Tons of old white people people just like Wright descended upon Washington today to make themselves loudly heard. Good thing we’re out of town for the weekend. The event was put together by FreedomWorks, which we’re going to point out creates fake grassroots campaigns, also known as astroturfing. • source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

09 Oct 2011 11:47