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Monitor calls on "Tea Party Charlie" to tell the voters whether he truly supports the Tea Party's extremist agenda
Concord -- During his campaign announcement Charlie Bass praised the Tea Party saying he "loves 'em" and that their agenda is "exactly the same as mine."
Oh really?
The Tea Party has an extremist agenda that is out of touch with New Hampshire values. And today the Concord Monitor took "Tea Party Charlie" to task, calling on him to "let the voters know who they will be getting if they vote for him: Is it the Charlie Bass of the Main Street Republicans or Tea Party Charlie?"
The editorial posed a number of important questions including:
* "Does Bass believe, as some Tea Party members do, that global warming is a myth, or worse, a plot?
* "Does Bass really still believe that privatizing Social Security is a good idea?
* "Does he really believe... that the Obama administration is "coddling terrorists"?
Read the full editorial below.
Is Bass truly steeped in Tea Party agenda?
One of the basic rules of Republican politics is "run to the right" in the primary and "move to the middle" for the general election. But Charlie Bass, our Charlie Bass, a tea-partier? You gotta be kidding.
In announcing his run for Congress this month, Bass summed up the Tea Party members like this: "I love them. God bless every single one of them. Their agenda is exactly the same as mine."
It's impossible to characterize Tea Party members accurately, since the ad hoc party has no real platform, at least one all its incarnations agree with. Many of its members appear to believe, however, that the country is going to Hell in a handbasket and some sort of revolution is called for. Does Charlie? Who knows?
Bass was once a moderate Republican in the Walter Peterson, Susan McLane mold, but what is Charlie now? Like Bass, plenty of people in both parties are interested in eliminating wasteful spending and reducing deficits. But does Bass believe, as some Tea Party members do, that global warming is a myth, or worse, a plot? Does he really believe, as he claims on his website, that the Obama administration is "coddling terrorists"? Or, as he claimed in his announcement speech, that the stimulus program - which has helped keep New Hampshire and lots of other states afloat - was a failure?
Does Bass, a onetime head of the moderate Main Street Republicans in Congress - a group that later backed the bailout of Wall Street and big banks - truly believe that cutting taxes is the right response to a deficit caused in good measure by cutting taxes? And after the stock market halved the retirement funds of seniors who panicked and took their money out at or near the bottom, does Bass really still believe that privatizing Social Security is a good idea?
It can't be easy for Bass to move to the right of his primary opponents, radio talk show host Jennifer Horn and former state representative Bob Guida. Both have talked a more conservative game. But that appears to be his plan. If he succeeds, it will take such a long way back to the middle that he'd better pack a lunch.
Bass needs to let voters know who they will be getting if they vote for him: Is it the Charlie Bass of the Main Street Republicans or Tea Party Charlie?
(http://www.concordmonitor.com)
(Posted by Harrell Kirstein, deputy press secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party)
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