By Printus LeBlanc
On Friday, Sept. 1, a group of grassroots Republican activists fired the first shot across the bow of weak Republicans in Congress. The group held a rally in Allentown, Pa., the congressional district of Charlie Dent (R-Pa.). The speakers and attendees at the rally were a cross section of the American public. Every race, sex, and age group were represented at the rally and came together to send Charlie Dent a message with one voice, we have had it.
While the Freedom Caucus may get the press on Capitol Hill, there is another group that controls the agenda. Charlie Dent is the leader of the liberal Republican group known as the Tuesday Group. The group consists of about 50 members, mostly from the Northeast and California. The group does not put out a member list, but looking at various conservative and liberal group voting scores, it is not hard to figure out who they are. If a member scores lower with a conservative group than a liberal group, it is a safe bet where they stand.
The Tuesday Group has been no friend to conservatives or President Donald Trump. Charlie Dent even went so far as to brag about not voting for President Trump, looks like he preferred the liberal progressive Hillary Clinton.
The group routinely works with the Democrat party while ignoring other Republican groups. During the Obamacare repeal debate, the Tuesday Group refused to meet with the Freedom Caucus. Doesn’t sound very friendly or Republican
The Obamacare repeal debacle seems to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. The grassroots activists gathered to send a message to the Tuesday Group, and specifically the leader.
You could see the message on the hundreds of pro-Trump flags and signs and “Dump Dent” signs. Get on board with the President, or the district will get on board with another candidate.
“Our objective is to shine a light on the Tuesday Group itself and the obstructive role it’s been,” said Rick Manning, President of Americans for Limited Government. “This cabal of liberal Republicans are effectively obstructing the President’s agenda and turning the House over to Nancy Pelosi.”
The rally was important for one big reason, primaries. There is nothing scarier to a liberal Republican than hearing the words, “You’re going to get primaried.” Due to gerrymandering, only a handful of seats actually change party affiliation during national elections. The vast majority of changes on Capitol Hill come from primaries.
It only takes a few thousand votes to change the outcome of a primary. Often the turnout is less than half the turnout of the general election, therefore making the activists voting in primaries much more important.
Ed Martin, of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles, was one of the speakers. Martin did not mince words stating, “Charlie Dent and the Tuesday Group have been masquerading as Republicans, while running President Trump’s agenda straight into the ground,” Martin said. “It’s high time we called out these liberals in Pennsylvania and across the country for betraying their voters and capitulating to … the far left.”
Daphne Goggins, a Republican ward leader from Philadelphia made the trek to speak and was one of the highlights of the event stating of President Trump, “he fights against so many forces…. when I saw the Romneys, the Clintons, the Bushes all get together, I knew this country was in trouble.”
Both Manning and Martin have indicated the Allentown rally is only the beginning. There are plans to have several more rallies in the districts of the Tuesday Group. The goal is to keep up the pressure and force the group to vote on issues the same way Republicans ran nationally on the issues. If they cannot, there is a long line of people waiting to take their spot and a longer line of people wanting to help remove them from office. President Trump won states no Republican was supposed to win, and previous Republicans didn’t even try to win. Why is the Tuesday group turning their back on the message that won in 2016?
Printus LeBlanc is a contributing reporter for Americans for Limited Government.
