The Tea Party movement continues to shake things up in the
Republican Party, as contested primaries provide opportunities
for grassroots activists to show their strength against the GOP
establishment.
A crucial test will come in Tuesday's Illinois primary, where
political newcomer Adam Andrzejewski has gotten a surge of
support, with a
Tea Party event yesterday in Chicago where the temperature
was 7 degrees:
Despite the frigid weather, the Tea Partiers and other
self-described "true" conservatives made their way to Federal
Plaza Friday afternoon. There, they welcomed their newest hero,
Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski.
"New ideas are required by new people. Real reform requires a
new generation of leadership," said Andrzejewski.
Andrzejewski, a Hinsdale businessman who made millions selling
telephone books, vows not to raise taxes and to cut, cut, cut
spending, as he says. His rhetoric has resonated with the
Republican right.
"We need more people to step up to the plate for hard-working
Americans who have the morals and can go in and get our country
back," said Kathy Hurst, Tea Party member.
Lech Walesa's appearance yesterday with Andrzejewski helped
generate extensive
media coverage. One Illinois source reports that the campaign
is sending out a mailer featuring the former Polish president's
endorsement that will go to a list of more than 200,000
Polish-American voters in the state.
Like many other GOP candidates in this year of populist unrest,
Andrzejewski's campaign has stressed his regular-guy status - an
outsider and businessman untainted by the legendary corruption in
Illinois - and
John Fund's profile of Scott Brown notes how important that
theme was in the Massachusetts Senate campaign:
On the day we meet, the Boston Globe has a lengthy article on
the meaning of the brown leather "barn coat" he wore on the
campaign trail. And then there is the pickup truck he drove
around the state, which has become a symbol of his authenticity
and "Everyman" origins as a kid who grew up on the wrong side
of the tracks and was scared straight by a judge after he was
caught shoplifting as a 12-year-old. . . .
"People out there are disgusted," he says, shaking his head.
"Especially with any one party dominating government and
talking down to them. They want straight talk, no BS. A focus
on jobs and what really creates them. They want problem solvers
in office, and it helped me that I was able to show I could
work with Democrats in the legislature."
One of the volunteers on Brown's campaign is now running for
Congress in Alabama, and emulating the "straight talk, no BS"
theme. Rick Barber,
a small businessman and ex-Marine, is challenging Democrat Rep.
Bobby Bright in Alabama's 2nd Congressional District
and was featured in an ABC "Good
Morning America" segment on the impact of the Brown campaign.
"If there ever was a time in our political landscape that really
an everyday guy like myself could get into Washington at the
congressional level, this would be the year to do it," Barber
told ABC.
Many others see the same opportunity and, as the
Associated Press notes, this has resulted in a crowded field
of contested primaries nationwide. Barber's "everyday guy"
campaign in Alabama pits him in a primary battle against
Montgomery City Councilwoman
Martha Roby, who declared her candidacy last May and has
built strong support within the state GOP. There are also reports
that state school board member
Stephanie Bell is considering entering the Republican primary
- a development that some observers say would benefit Barber,
positioning him as the "un-politician" in a three-way fight.
Meanwhile, in Illinois, Andrzejewski is one of seven candidates
in the Republican gubernatorial primary Tuesday. The
most recent poll shows him as one of five contenders within
eight percentage points of each other, in a contest where a
30-percent plurality would be an unexpected landslide.
The embattled front-runner in the primary, state Sen. Kirk
Dillard, has lost conservative support because of his association
with Barack Obama, for whom he appeared in a 2008 presidential
campaign ad. As Illinois political blogger
Rich Miller notes, Obama probably didn't help Dillard at
Friday's House GOP retreat when the president remarked that the
moderate Republican legislator is taking heat for "saying
nice things about me . . . Poor guy."
