Various tea party groups are already amping up their efforts to keep Republicans in line as the new session of Congress kicks off, sending activists to D.C. to put pressure on newly sworn in Congressman as they take office on Wednesday.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Mark Meckler’s Tea Party Patriot group
plans to monitor the new class and fire up activists before key votes. Other tea-party-affiliated groups are planning regular meetings with lawmakers, salons to discuss favored legislation and online tools that will help voters follow their progress.
The goal is to keep the new members focused on the movement’s priorities — slashing federal spending, opposing all tax increases, repealing the healthcare bill and adhering to its interpretation of the Constitution — and out of the clutches of Washington.
Meckler told the LAT: “We don’t have unrealistic expectations. But we do expect people who got elected on the tea party platform to behave in a tea party manner.”
“We want them to know that we know our folks helped them get elected and we’re there for them,” he said.
Meckler was not so easy on the Republicans in the lame duck session of Congress, telling the New York Times that they’ve been a “disaster,” and that “they stood strong on some things, but the only reason they stood strong is because we stood behind them with a big stick.”
He appeared on Hardball Monday, where Chris Matthews asked him whether tea partiers trust Republicans leaders like John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and Kevin McCarthy. “Absolutely not,” Meckler replied. “We don’t trust anybody here in D.C. We know what happens when they come here and drink from the Potomac.”
Watch the Hardball appearance:
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Meckler was not immediately available for comment on this story.
Then there’s the Tea Party Express, which plans to hold a town hall meeting in D.C. to “make sure that the Tea Party members are on the same page with the people that are duly elected, you know, going forward for the next two years,” spokesman Levi Russell told CNN. “We all worked hard to get you guys into office,” he added.
Dick Armey, head of the tea party group Freedomworks, was more ominous about the tea party’s influence over the Republicans: “These guys know these are not people to be trifling with. They’re organized and effective.” He described to the LAT how the tea party and Republicans have an “inside-outside” relationship that helps keep the pressure on GOPers.
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Sound The Alarm! The ‘Code Red’ Tea Party]
Meanwhile, Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips is sounding the “drumbeat” when it comes to the debate over raising the debt ceiling. He wrote on his blog Sunday: “We need our Senators and Congressmen to hold firm on this one. The left will tell us it is the end of the world if the debt ceiling is not raised. There is something worse than defaulting on our debt. That is continued, uncontrolled spending and borrowing.”
Another group, “Bankrupting America,” has taken out an ad campaign at Reagan National Airport in Washington with messages for newly elected members of Congress. One sign says: “Newly elected member of Congress to-do list: 1. find office. 2. cut spending. Keep your promise.” Another reads: “Dear new member of Congress, we know you just got here, but have you cut spending yet?”
According to The Daily Caller, the group was founded by Gretchen Hamel, a former Hill staffer for the GOP.
Colin Hanna, founder of Let Freedom Ring, was on board with the campaign. He told The Daily Caller: “These signs are good reminders that when people run for office by making big promises and setting high goals, they will be held to high expectations. Frankly, I think that’s just the way one ought to run for office, but it does require harder work than merely taking a seat on the back bench.”
Hanna did not immediately return TPM’s request for comment.
