Posted on 08/01/2012 2:10:00 PM PDT by xzins
The stunning Texas victory of Ted Cruz, a young Tea Party-backed Republican over an establishment candidate vying for a Senate seat, has already so emboldened the insurgent conservative movement that activists are warning Mitt Romney he had better get on board.
"These guys [newly elected Tea Party candidates]" are going to force Romney to the right," said Andrea Shell, a spokeswoman for Tea Party group Freedom Works. "That is our entire mission."
His victory is the latest in a string of Tea Party candidates to tap into anti-establishment frustration within the Republican Party and overcome the steep odds and deep pockets of more mainstream candidates.
Riding a wave of recent successes in the House and now also the Senate, Tea Party groups are eyeing the possible control of both chambers, a prospect, they say, would force Romney, were he to win the presidential election in November, "to move to the right."
"If we can elect a really conservative House and Senate that will force Romney to go along with our bold conservative agenda," Shell said. "He's going to have to really, really go to the right. He'll be working with guys in the House and Senate. He won't be able to get away with too many middle of the road policies, especially on things like the deficit."
Capitol Hill observers note that many newly elected and Tea Party-backed legislators want to remove the taint of Republican-back government spending during the Bush administration. So dedicated are they to the goals of cutting spending, shrinking the deficit and keeping government small, that they are motivated by ideology and not party loyalty.
"It's not going to be a Romney driven presidency," Norman Orenstein, a researcher at the conservative think tank AEI recently told ABC News.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Bold acknowledgement by the grass roots that they are responsible for controlling Romney's leftist tendencies.
The spin-meisters say otherwise, but they are playing the "team player" game.
It almost seems a visceral realization that Romney needs to be controlled.
Now if only the Senate were conservative and would hold him responsible for his judicial appointments.
So, the Tea Party wants Myth Romney to move to the right... THIS WEEK!..
Running the inventor of Romney-care versus the inventor of Obama-care in this election...
IS... of course............ A CARTOON...
This election is a cartoon... Yeah I said it..
Hold your “beep beeps” till the end....
What a cartoon this primary was.. republicans must generally be like children..
I’m surprised the inventor of Romney-care was not LAUGHED off the stage..
Ron Paul was the Road Runner and Myth was Wiley E. Coyote..
All other candidates were ignored or slept thru...
(ok make your bird sounds)..
Romney needs to be pushed. He is too wishy washy, or better still a fence sitter. We have one hell of a lot of King Obama reversals to begin with.
Lots o’ luck! But maybe there will be enough determination among some of the incoming legislature (if the Tea Party candidates win) to keep him at least slightly in check.
Still, on a lot of major issues, he has said nothing at all or made such vague statements they could be taken any way at all, and I think he may not reveal his true intent until after the election (if he wins).
Typical pot-stirring article from ABC. Romney should move right but this article makes it sound like those extremist Tea Partiers are going to try to force Romney to be “extreme.” No thanks ABC. I’m not falling for your BS.
Well, tea party is just a sideline business to Freedom Works.
There main agenda is collecting email address and raising money. Oh and taking credit for all tea party successes!
I just got an email from them saying how they got Cruz elected, and asked me for money. They even call me by name!
When they spearheaded the giant tea party gathering in DC in 2009, they charged tea party groups and individuials thousands of dollars to get on “their” stage
They had a difference with the Tea Party Express a while back, split from working with them, and protested one of their tea parties!
Funny how the tea party is “emboldened” while the RINOs are merely “concerned” for the future of the party.
Or what?
They’ll vote for Obama?
They’ll sit on their hands and let Obama win?
Moving to the Right will probably gain him no votes at this point. Most of those who refuse to vote for him will not trust a move to the Right. If he moves too far to the Left, however, it would likely cost him even more votes.
Butbutbutbut... The Tea Party is dead, gone, finished. How could this happen?!?? (/sarc)
Get rid of the IRS. A national sales tax would be the best as “everyone” would feel it instantly when they buy something. And it should be on everything and no-one is exempt.
You don't have to be "conservative" to believe you've been Taxed Enough Already. The Tea Party movement is inclusive in that sense: Republicans, Democrats, people never political.
Why bother, he’s already hemmed and hawed his way out of my vote, and a lot of others.
Why bother, he’s already hemmed and hawed his way out of my vote, and a lot of others.
You think that the tea party is at odds with freerepublic's agenda, not in tune with it?
And the best move to the right would be to get Palin on the ticket.
“Mitt Romney Better Move to Right, Says Emboldened Tea Party”
Or else....what? Willard got nominated and if he is elected, it will be in spite of what conservatives think.
It’s also a safe bet that if willard were to support opening abortion clinics in schools on monday, demand seizures of firearms on tuesday, and propose an increase in the income tax rate to 95% on wednesday, the “conservative” abo crowd would still be insisting that willard is vastly better than hussein on thursday.
Willard has no compelling reason to move to the right. So he won’t. It’s just as simple as that.
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