The recent unveiling of the Republican Legislative Agenda called “Pledge to America” represents the GOP’s morale and confidence that they will most likely defeat Democrats this Midterm polls. It is also a way for the party to convince the voters that the party is indeed serious in implementing reforms in the government and achieve the genuine change that was promised before but was ignored by then. But just like Republicans, Tea Party activists also have their own 10-point agenda called “Contract from America” which they want the next Congress to follow. With the popularity of the Tea Party soaring high, many candidates are strongly considering the support of the party as their ticket to a seat this November.
In Alabama, grassroots activists have expressed their anger and discontent towards Republican congressional candidate Mo Brooks. He reportedly signed and expressed his support towards the national Tea Party-backed agenda “Contract from America” on Sunday. But a day later, his name went missing from the list of supporters thus prompting activists to probe Brooks. According to Ryan Hecker, a Houston activist who’s behind the Tea Party agenda, Brooks wanted his name to be removed for the reason that he received pressure from his Democratic opponent for not supporting earmarks.
Alabama congressional candidate and Democrat Steve Raby strongly criticized Brooks for supporting the agenda showing his intentions to reject federal funding for the district. If we look closer at the Tea Party agenda, we can see a section there that calls for an end to earmarks until the federal budget is in balance. Brooks immediately explained his actions stating that the he didn’t treat the provision as a way to ban earmarks. In fact, he strongly supports them so that more dollars will be poured towards his district. He also uttered the following words ““He (Raby) is knowingly misrepresenting my view”.
Despite of this explanation, several Tea Party supporters were strongly criticizing the move of Brooks. On the “Contract from America” Facebook fan page, several users expressed their displeasure and anger. John Guill said “To ‘unsign’ the Contract is worse than not signing it”. He also added “Mr. Brooks apparently lacks the decisive leadership skills necessary to be a Congressman”. Another supporter, Dave Hatcher, wrote, “Vote him out next chance. Some folks need to have an example made of them”. Brooks won the GOP nomination over Rep. Parker Griffith with the help and support from local Tea Party activists. Now, he is under fire and criticism for turning them down.
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