Press Release
6/9/2010
Media Contact
Kurt Feigel
Lynchburg Tea Party
Communications Vice Chair
news@lynchburgteaparty.com
Lynchburg, Virginia
June 9th, 2010 – With the close of the GOP Primary race, the Lynchburg Tea Party is drawing a line in the sand. “We congratulate Robert Hurt on his recent victory. However, we cannot and will not endorse a candidate that does not align with our core principles,” said Kurt Feigel the LTP Communications Vice Chair.
Being an organization that stands on a set of principles forces the Lynchburg Tea Party to look long and hard at this race. “ More than anything, our membership is hard set against Tom Perriello, but as an organization, that does not mean we will compromise our core principles and values in exchange for pragmatism” said Dana Hale, LTP Logistics Vice Chair
For some, this will raise the question of how determined the Tea Party in the 5th is in defeating Tom Perriello, Nancy Pelosi and Obama. Some point to this split as evidence of division within the tea party. On the contrary, standing firmly upon our core principles shows evidence of solidarity and strength within the organization.
“If the other tea party groups in the fifth district are not serious about standing on principle, then as Samuel Adams famously said, ‘Let your chains set lightly upon you, and let posterity forget you were ever our countrymen.’” said Feigel “This is bigger than one man. If we don’t take a stand now, then when exactly do we plan to do it?”
Mark Lloyd, the LTP Chairman said, “The LTP encourages individual members to get involved in the process to unseat Tom Perriello from Congress. We encourage our members to support the candidate they believe will best accomplish this goal in keeping with our core values which are limited government, fiscal responsibility, free and fair markets, personal liberty based on personal responsibility, and Constitutional governance.” He went on to explain that all LTP members must, “…choose for themselves, the right candidate for that role.” For some, it is clear there is going to be a struggle between pragmatism and principle. “At this point, as a Tea Party organization, I don’t foresee the endorsement of any candidates during this election cycle.”
“The leadership of the Lynchburg Tea Party believes the ignorance and apathy of so many who call themselves Americans has led the nation and the 5th district to where it is. It is time we educate citizens to their duty. It is quite a sad situation that less than 10% of voters made the decision for the rest of the district…this has got to stop,” said Feigel.
The LTP will begin seminars and movie screenings starting in July that will facilitate this educational process.
The lack of a candidate endorsement this election cycle does not mean the LTP and it’s members are not going to be actively following this race. All candidates are invited, and welcome to visit, including Tom Perriello. However, the Lynchburg Tea Party will dictate the forum. Any candidate that chooses to accept our invitation will be treated with respect, allowed time to make prepared remarks, but required to spend time answering direct questions from the members in attendance.
“It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.” — Daniel Webster
Here we are in Goodlatte’s area. All the TP’s have to be careful and bold as they move forward on unmarked roads. With too many running in this race, the party was watered down. If you can hold together and grow so will the control and impact. Do not be disuaded just help put Tom “terrific” in the carpetbagger disposal shoot back to his law practice and out of our area!
OK, so we agree that Hurt is not what we really wanted.
He still got less than 50% in the primary. He knows that we are here. He knows that we have taken control of the 5th District GOP party structure. He knows that he needs us to survive. Now is the time to “dicker” with him. Leaders of the 5th District Tea Parties are in the “cat-bird’s seat”. I highly recommend that those leaders get together, and approach Hurt in a unified way to get some firm commitments from him. They need not be made public, but perhaps be required for Tea Party support. We have earned some leverage, let’s put it to the most effective use. This does not mean an official endorsement from the Tea Parties, just support as warranted by Hurt’s commitments.
I will Remember in November and for the rest of my life this press release, and this moment when I realized a sickening and sad truth, that your purity of principle contaminated the potency of an entire movement.
I will Remember in November and for the rest of my life this press release and the sickening moment of visceral reaction to your hubris..your abject arrogance and all of the character defects that come with false pride. While you write about dictating a debate on your terms, the rest of us will take on the emergent work of fighting the real enemy. We know who he is. You apparently do not.
SamAdams25 is correct to an extent. Rather than leave Hurt out to dry, now is the time to work with him and use some leverage to further the cause and make us stronger. Fracturing and dividing the conservative vote will do but one thing. It will ensure victory for Periello in the fall. The people that believe it is better to lose while trying to take the whole pie instead of winning while taking 3/4 of the pie are the very reason Bill Clinton was twice elected President. Learn from your mistakes or be destined to repeat them.
I disagree with the statement that the Tea Party has taken control of the 5th district GOP. Hurt won something like 4 times what the Tea Party endorsed candidate won. I would not consider that having control of anything. If the cause is right and just it will prevail.
I, too, have to disagree with this press release. The enemy is not Robert Hurt – the enemy is Tom Perriello and the socialists called the Democratic Party.
And while I don’t agree with SamAdams25 that the Tea Parties have taken over the VA-05 Republican Party, it should be the goal of every conservative who wants to replace Perriello to become a signed, dues-paying and participating member of their county Republican Party central committee. In this way, conservatives will actually take control of the VA-05 Republican Party, with its structure, its funding and resources from the State and national-level Republican Party organizations.
Hurt knows that he got only 48% of the vote on Tuesday, and therefore is not the choice of 52% of Tuesday’s voters. This will encourage him to tack right. If that 52% will join – and by joining, take over – the VA-05 Republican Party, Hurt will find the Party replacing him in 2012 if he has not been sufficiently focused on Constitutional, conservative principles.
Conservatives in VA-05 don’t seem to understand that a very few people are active in our region’s Republican Party. We can easily make the Party OUR Party, and be in total control for 2012.
Won’t it be a lot more satisfying to see OUR candidate nominated in 2012 (if Hurt’s ultimately not the right person), rather than griping about having to support (or maybe not) a candidate who isn’t “sufficiently” conservative, while watching Perriello re-elected to cause far more mischief than Hurt will cause?
I am proud of the LTP for taking a stand on principal. I find it sad that so many that spoke of LIBERTY and FREEDOM and REPRESENTATION are now willing to dust that aside and get behind anyone who is in opposition to Perriello. I thought the TEA Party was about taking our country back – not handing it over to another corrupt set of hands.
as one who is a conservative wife, business owner and mom of two adopted children, and has voted republican, it saddens me to watch those of you in the Lynchburg Tea Party movement act more like spoiled children than the grown ups you are.
Perriello, who won by less than 800 votes, is the one we should be going after. Let’s give Hurt an opportunity to prove he is a conservative. According to recent polls he was the only one that could beat perriello.
the tea party movement is not just republican, but from what I read on these posts, you are trying to take over and become the new republican party. you will be alienating a lot of folks if you continue down this path as not all members are republicans. some are democrats, independents and libertarians.
i support the movement in my own way but you do not speak for me. I don’t know if what you are saying about Robert Hurt is true or not. I do know that if our governor is behind him as is Virgil Goode then he must be an ok guy.
We may not agree on every issue and if he did support tax increases, he will be outnumbered in House of Reps.
those of you who choose not to vote in November will have no excuse to complain if perriello wins again.
I would suggest that you not think about your selfish desires and who you want or thought would be the better candidate and rally around the candidate who won the primary and can defeat Perriello.
For once put your country and state above party and help us eliminate the Socialists that are currently running and ruining our beloved America.
carolyn, If we don’t draw a line in the sand when will we do it? We are not saying don’t vote. But 92% of the voters stayed home on Tuesday. Now we are supposed to just roll over on our principles? No the organization will not do an endorsement this election cycle. Our members are smart and politically savvy. They can decide for themselves what course they will take in defeating Tom Perriello.
If there was ever a time to form a coalition with one goal: DEFEATING PERRIELLO, the time is now.
Isn’t this why the 5th Congressional Tea Party groups united behind Franklin County Patriots leader Bill Stanley and elected him GOP 5th Congressional District Chairman? Isnt this why the 5th Congressional Tea Party groups worked to elect some of its members to local GOP chairmanships too? Didnt the Tea Party decide affect the outcome of the primary and general election through the established republican party?
Why did you elect Bill Stanley from the Franklin Patriots to a GOP District Chairmanship if you didnt intend to do this? Its too bad the Tea Party preferred candidates didnt win the primary, but now that Mr. Stanley is running the GOP 5th Congressional District for you…you arent going to leave him hanging to dry, are you?
The tea party did many of those things. We did them because of establishmentism that had creeped it’s way into the GOP. Did it make a difference? We will see.
This is making no sense to me. Bill Stanley put his whole plan on Resistnet telling the TP to elect him to run the GOP in the 5th and those other guys who took over republican parties was part of it. So whats wrong? Im confused. Arent the TP and the repubican party the same thing in the 5th now? Whats all the griping about?
No griping. The Tea Party is not some arm of the Republican party, though that is what the liberals would like you to believe. It is likely that many of our members will get behind Robert Hurt. The organization will not endorse him.
The liberals arent having this chat..the conservatives are. Going way back it was the way to do this was through the GOP which is why Mark Llyod bragged about getting 11 gop chairmanships and electing Bill Stanley the gop congressional district chair. SO…which is it? Maybe a 8% turn out means you arent as effective as you thought youd be, and want to blame the GOP, its district chair who came from the Franklin Tea Party and the 11 chairmans you elected.
You cant pout, drop your toys and go home just because an established republican is your nominee. You put your people into the established gop..what did you think was gunna happen?
Stoney, you need to go back and reread this release. We are not telling people to stay home. We as an organization are refusing to give an endorsement this election cycle. We are not an apparatus of the GOP.
If you don’t like that our organization stands on principle then maybe you should consider finding one that is more pragmatic. Maybe some single issue groups like NRA.
Or you could become a voting member and help us be more wishy washy so we can shill for the GOP just like the liberal left expects of us. Of course then we’d have NO credibility, but maybe that is your goal.
If we just roll over and like the boot of our “masters” they will keep kicking us in the head.
At least you didnt buy a bunch of robo calls for nothing like they did in hampton.
as laura ingraham just said the tea party movement is an American movement. you say 92 percent of voters stayed home. you must ask them why? perhaps many are holding on to the jobs they still have for now – others may have been on vacation.
a friend of mine asked on Tuesday who she should vote for
and not being in the district as I thought we were, i coudn’t recommend any candidate.
she mentioned that she had received a flyer attacking Hurt and there was no name on the flyer. then she received a flyer from mcelvey and it had the same picture of hurt as the one on the flyer sent anoymously.
perhaps voters are tired of scorched earth politics. I know I am.
I’m a Christian. The Bible tells me I’m to pray for our leaders. I have a hard time praying for Obama because I know he is not a true believer. I did not vote for him because he does not represent my views.
sometimes we have to do things we don’t like in order to get what we do.
if hurt turns out not to be a good representative, then in 2 years he will be voted out.
for right now though, it is imperative that perriosi gets defeated and if those in the tea party stay home, then you are only hurting yourselves and have no reason to complain when perriello gets re-elected because Hurt wasn’t your candidate.
We have an opportunity to defeat socialism and yet some of you will stay home because your guy is not conservative enough.
old saying goes better a half loaf than none at all.
please don’t put perriosi back in power.
Carolyn,
“many are holding on to the jobs they still have for now” By law an employer must provide opportunity to vote. It took less than 10 minutes. If they couldn’t be there they could have voted absentee. NO EXCUSE!
“if hurt turns out not to be a good representative, then in 2 years he will be voted out.” Tell that to the consituents of Harry Ried, Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Etc.
“We have an opportunity to defeat socialism and yet some of you will stay home because your guy is not conservative enough.” We NEVER encouraged people to stay home.
I find it strange that so many are throwing around accusations of childishness, tantrums and pouting. I am NOT a Republican, nor have I ever attended Republican functions to oust or replace anyone. I didn’t know that was a prerequisite to be a member of the TEA Party. I never said I wasn’t voting. I vote in every election. Nd while I will not be voting for Hurt/Perriello… I will still be there – pulling the lever for Jeff Clark.
Ummm… Carolyn. They are our REPRESENTATIVES – - not our leaders. Just sayin.
What a total waste of time the Tea Parties have become in Virginia. You have embarrassed the rest of the Tea Parties that have effectively worked with the Republicans and Conservative groups in the US.
The Lynchburg Tea Party Board should step down in shame. You said that your members were politically savvy. If they are, they should be members of the Republican Party to defeat Perriello.
Why did you get Bill Stanley elected into the GOP and then the Tea Party not support him. Waste of time.
Steve,
Have you ONCE ever offered to do anything FOR the tea party? You like many others shout and wave your demands upon us but do nothing outside of your keyboard patriotism. Are you a dues paying member of your local GOP unit? What have you done lately?
The Lynchburg Tea Party is not an arm of the GOP. We are not telling people not to vote for Robert Hurt. Is he such a pathetic candidate that he needs our organizations endorsement? Then we and he have much bigger problems.
We support the efforts of Bill Stanley to reform the 5th district GOP towards constitutional conservatism. This does not mean that we take our marching orders from him nor he from us. He understands this.
Further, it is so sad that people can’t think for themselves at any level and expect to be told who to vote for. This further illustrates our point in the press release about the need for education. It is the citizens duty to get involved and to be informed. Anything less is an endorsement to further slavery of the American people.
This is the problem with the command & control establishment types. They don’t understand Liberty at the most basic level – individual self-determination (i.e. vote or back for whoever you wish) regardless of “the majority” position. It should be no surprise that those who fail to understand this, also fail to understand free markets (though they think they do).
Perhaps a “contract with the 5th” is in order? I’m not fan of Hurt, but perhaps a properly worded “contract” would motivate my support.
It’s amazing to me how standards can differ so vastly from one so-called conservative to another. I’m in the camp that the Tea Party would be a complete joke if they DID endorse Hurt, especially after months of railing on him for NOT being a Tea Party candidate. Do we really want a group to be a bunch of hypocrites, immediately going back on their word and folding when things heat up? I surely don’t.
I applaud the Lynchburg TP for making a tough and surely unpopular decision based on their founding principles. Thank you for staying neutral on a subject that surely you end up damned if you do and damned if you don’t. You can’t please everyone in this district, nor should you be trying to. Politics is a nasty game, and exactly what we DON’T need are a bunch of cowards who run behind the skirt of the GOP ready to take marching orders. Think for yourselves people. Your apathy has got us where it is today.
I’d love to know how many of these complainers were active in the TP prior to their melodramatic saga statements here. How many attended debates? How many volunteered time to campaigns or even to the TP? How many even VOTED on Tuesday? Kurt has it pegged exactly right: keyboard patriots. You are the people who should be ashamed of yourselves.
My goal? My goal is to defeat liberals. YOUR goal is to defeat those of us who are trying because you didnt get your way. You have pounded your chest and posted ad nauseum about your great take over of the GOP . You said Bill Stanley ousting Tucker for district chairman together with the 11 or so other chairmanships the Tea Party won would change the outcome. You bragged and blustered about changing the GOP. Well, how is that change working out for you? Did you abandon Bill Stanley or did he abandon the Tea Party?
Why do I think your press release would be another continuation of Tea Party back patting had your guy won?
Tell ya what..why dont you go get yourself a bucket of chicken, go home, and let the people who care get the real work done? You’ve created more schisms and problems among ourselves when we need to focus on the real opponent.
Bill Stanley understands the Tea Party? Well, I guess so! The Franklin Patriots is a Tea Party and thats where he come from…
Do you think we all fell off the back of a turnip truck Mark??
Since you are so principled..why dont you call for those chairman you got elected to run the GOP to resign? You dont want your own compromising their principles or yours do you?
Okay, so since we are all dumping on the TP about Bill Stanley and blah, blah, blah, you do realize that the damage was done BEFORE Stanley and any TP involvement, right? I know that with the rampant ADD we have in this country it’s hard to think back farther than what you had for breakfast, but the GOP, Tucker, Hurt and company (including Eric Cantor and his GOP bunch) had their plan set in motion culminating with the Appomattox vote (primary vs. convention). At that point, IT WAS DONE–Robert Hurt became the anointed one at that exact moment in time. It was AFTER the shenanigans in Appomattox that the TP got involved in GOP politics by helping replace 11 of the unit chairs and by getting behind Bill Stanley. So go ahead and blame the LTP all you want, but this was done before we had to chance to be of any real change, effect, or influence in the 5th. And it was after Dec 12 in Appomattox that the TP got involved in changing the face of 5th district GOP politics.
I don’t understand what type of influence or power you all think the TP holds, but good grief, it we DID have that type of power, we could get a LOT more done. Instead, we have to deal with infighting, arguing, and complaining from every direction when we do decide to make a principled decision.
And I’d like to know, what is it exactly you want the TP to do and why? Let’s hear it.
“Lets Hear It” with one caveat.
No ideas if your not willing to step up and get the job done.
Way to go LTP leadership! Keep standing strong…thank you.
Just the 5th? Is that all everyone cares about is the 5th district? I thought the City of Lynchburg was in the 6th district. You have a perfect opportunity there with a liberty-minded, conservative candidate (LP candidate Stuart Bain) throwing his hat in the ring against an entrenched, moderate Republican (Bob Goodlatte). What to do there? Who will you endorse? Will you stand on principle or put on the party blinders and maintain the status quo?
Darryl
We’ll be addressing that race soon.
Thanks for asking your question Darryl. I have been very disappointed that LTP is always about the 5th. You are correct than Lynchburg is in the 6th district. I am not sure about Stuart Bain, but I am concerned that Goodlatte has been in office for quite some time may be a career politician that our Founding Fathers warned you about.
Darryl, I think you raise an excellent question. I’m not a member of the 6th district, and to be honest, we have not had many requests to be involved in 6th district politics–most likely because most of our members are Republican and would be fine seeing Mr. Goodlatte stay just where he is. Like Nathan, I have the same concerns about his tenure in office, but again, I’m a member of the 5th, so I haven’t been actively involved in your district.
I invite you to come get involved with our group and raise those questions at our next meeting. As a Libertarian, I have known Stuart Bain for a couple of years now and he is a regular guest at our local Libertarian meetings. I have blogged about Stuart on my personal blog (http://tinyurl.com/ykgkxo9) I have also invited him to attend the LTP meetings as well, even though they are scheduled the same as the Roanoke TP meetings. Have no fear, this race is not forgotten. I hope that in the near future Stuart will come and address our group, and that our membership can take a more active role in 6th district politics.
Thank you Dana. I will check him out.
I can’t believe some of the nonsense I’m hearing. “I realized a sickening and sad truth, that your purity of principle contaminated the potency of an entire movement.” Stoney D, wow, that is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard since last night. That is precisely the problem with the GOP today. It’s amazing to me how so many people are willing to abandon their principles for political expediency. When the tea party first started, it’s principles is what attracted so many of you to it’s cause. Now listen to yourselves! Didn’t most of you hold your nose in 2008 when you voted? Why do we always have to settle?
The tea party wasn’t started as a GOP front. The tea party, in a way, is the checks and balances that is missing from present day govt. We shouldn’t owe any allegiance to ANY party. We’ve been promised smaller govt for how long now? And here we are. The tea party is about smaller govt, lower taxes, liberty, and freedom. It’s about standing up for Constitutional principles.
I applaud the tea party for their stance. So for all of those who are going to just hold your nose in November, you deserve the govt you get.
I ask anyone who has a problem with Goodlatte to express that here. (Beyond what Dana said in his blog entry, above; thanks, Dana.) I’m in district 6, have written letters on this or that issue to Goodlatte in the past, and only once have I found a point of disagreement (Patriot Act). I’m willing to have my mind changed, but if we’re discussing him at an upcoming meeting, I want to know what the controversy is.
Goodlatte voted the right way on some things but not all. Medicare Part D passed the house by one vote. It was his vote! Isn’t the Tea Party against socialism?
Look closely at his anti-gambling bill. It has horse racing exception. Guess who threw thousands of dollars at him: horse racing lobby.
He also said he wouldn’t stay in office past two terms, but look at how long he has been in. Its time for him to go!
Goodlatte voted for $1.5 trillion in deficit spending, 2002-07. In twelve years on the majority in the House Agriculture Committee, he and the other Republicans jacked up agribusiness subsidies — in their twelve years running that committee, they spent $2100 per working American subsidizing agribusiness ($288 billion).
My main point of disagreement with Stuart Bain and with many (not all) Tea Partiers is the National Sales Tax, which I oppose. It would have to be around 35-40% in order to cover even a *reduced* Federal budget. (See the National Review Online, op-ed by R. Ponnuru in March 2010.)
(Another point of disagreement is that I would maintain a core version of Social Security and Medicare — our education system has failed about a quarter of our adult population who do not have basic math and literacy skills to provide for their more infirm years, in contrast to about three dozen other industrialized countries with much higher literacy rates, in some cases approaching 100%. One solution here should be more charter schools, right?)
Unlike anyone in Congress, and as far as I know unlike any Congressional candidate in this country, I have an actual detailed plan to balance the Federal budget, published on my website. It’s interactive — users can rewrite the Federal budget their own ways and observe the 30-year projected results.
I will be happy to speak to almost any group that invites me, from the NAACP to the Tea Party — including your Lynchburg and Roanoke chapters, and I am accepting the invitation to attend your statewide October event in Richmond. I am best contacted at my email address, domain jeffvanke.com, user name jeff .
“National Sales Tax”? Ponnuru”s op-ed about the FairTax was completely exposed and debunked for its innacuracy long ago. You may want to do your own research.
I looked at your website. Just a hint: tea party patriots don’t like socialists. We’re interested in liberty. From looking at your website, you aren’t. Sorry, but I just don’t see you getting any votes at all. Consider conceding and backing Stuart Bain since he’s the only one with a real shot at beating Goodlatte.