Is Blunt Brave Enough to Attend Tea Party Candidate Forum?
Yesterday, St. Louis Tea Party Coalition leader Bill Hennessy announced the organization's support for the U.S. Senate Primary Candidate Forum spearheaded by the Franklin County Patriots. In an email initiation to supporters, Campaign for Liberty activist Laura Hausladen explained that the March 20 event is intended to address the "great deal of restlessness and discord over the apparent anointment of [Roy] Blunt."
Each of the Republican Party candidates -- except for Blunt -- have confirmed that they will be attending.
Given his long record in Washington, Blunt has had a hard time warming up to the tea party crowd. He was the #3 House leader in Washington as Republicans grew government spending and deficits, never figured out a way to pay for huge government programs like the Medicare Part D benefit, and was the leader of the House GOP efforts to pass the TARP legislation last year. And Blunt didn't just vote for the TARP legislation -- he was one of the key GOP leaders begging his colleagues to change their votes.
You may also recall that Blunt:
- Skipped the April rally at the state Capitol, even though he was in Jefferson City that day,
- Was not allowed to speak to the July 4th Tea Party in Washington, MO,
- Was not invited to the Springfield Tea Party; organizer and radio host Vincent David Jericho said "we’re only inviting conservative politicians,"
- Has been criticized openly at previous tea party rallies, and
- Has been the target of intermittent ire by St. Louis area tea partiers like Dana Loesch, who have "called for the old-school Republican guard, the ones intent on enslaving us in the tunnel of Democrat-lite, to go conservative or get out of the way."
Nevertheless, spokesman Rich Chrismer says with a straight face that Blunt "has tried to distinguish himself from inside-the-Beltway politicians by keeping close tabs on the Tea Party." I guess we'll see.
