If Republicans regain a majority in Congress, grassroots conservatives will not let them go astray again, said former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, a leading figure in the 1994 Republican takeover of the House.
By FRED LUCAS
If Republicans regain a majority in Congress, grassroots conservatives will not let them go astray again, said former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, a leading figure in the 1994 Republican takeover of the House.
“What we did in ‘94 was an inside job,” Armey told CNSNews.com on Sunday at the 9/12 Taxpayers March on Washington.
“That was done at the initiative of half-a-dozen legislative entrepreneurs, and it didn’t have staying power. It kind of fell apart after a few years. What this is, is a grassroots, ground-up, across-the-country movement basically saying to the Republicans: If you want the privilege of governing, you’re going to have to govern as sincere, serious, able adults, and we’re not going to go away. We’re going to be watching you after you take the majority.”
That means tea parties and 9/12 rallies will not end if Republicans take power, Armey said.
“The thing I love about these folks is that they, first, held themselves accountable,” Armey said. They said our government has gone astray because we weren’t vigilant in keeping supervision over them. And now that they’ve held themselves accountable, they became active; they have the moral authority to make their elected representatives accountable.”
Armey, the chairman of FreedomWorks, a conservative activist group that organized Sunday’s march from the Washington Monument to the rally at the Capitol, is confident of a Republican victory in November.
“There is no doubt in my mind the Republicans will take the House of Representatives,” Armeny said.
“The only question we have is, will it be a conservative majority or an establishment majority? We think a conservative majority. We think there is a very, very, good chance they’ll take the Senate as well, certainly a far more conservative Senate Republican caucus than we’ve had before.”
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) agreed that the tea party activists and other grassroots groups across the country should continue to rally, to hold Republicans’ feet to the fire. He mentioned how the Republican Congress went from balancing the budget and reforming welfare to being the party of big spending and earmarks.
“It feels like Americans aren’t sure about Republicans, but they’re going to give us one more chance, and we better get it right this time because if we don’t, I don’t think we get the majority again in my lifetime,” Gohmert told CNSNews.com at the rally. “
We’ve got to get people who need to quit thinking in terms of what is politically the best thing to do and just do what’s the right thing to do. Then I think we will keep our majority.”
Gohmert also warned against Republicans presuming victory in the midterm election, despite pundits and polls that indicate a rising Republican tide. Gohmert said he is not hearing the GOP leadership talk about inevitability.
“That’s a very dangerous attitude, because Republicans have shown more than once that we can snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory,” Gohmert said. “
There are a lot of things that could happen. Republicans -- especially those who were driving the car when we went off the cliff in ’06 -- certainly cannot show any kind of arrogance or conceit that this is a done deal. I’m really not seeing that from the comments of our own leaders, but it’s a dangerous thing.”
Republicans will not take November for granted, said House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.).
“House Republicans know this is going to be a hard-fought campaign,” Pence said at the rally.
“And while the polls may be favorable at this moment, 51 days from Election Day, there’s only one poll that counts, and House Republicans are determined to make sure our candidate have the resources and the organization and the message to carry the day on Nov. 2.”
“Any American who cares about fiscal responsibility and restoring a conservative majority to Capitol Hill should take the view [that] this is a hard-fought campaign. Whatever they’ve done before, they need to do more to win this Congress back for common sense and common values of the American people.”
