Liberty Central, a radical right Tea Party group, supported 150 candidates for House and Senate in yesterday’s mid-term elections, with almost 60% winning their seats.
Liberty Central is a newly created and richly endowed lobbying group founded by Virginia Thomas, a Washington lobbyist and consultant to the Heritage Foundation. Liberty Central’s online forums showcase conversations on topics such as “banning Islam” and “Marxist Obama,” and the group ardently supports Republican insurgent candidates like Rand Paul and Christine O’Donnell, both winners on Tuesday.
Liberty Central’s slate of candidates also includes Lou Barletta, Mayor of Hazelton, Pennsylvania, which as a city is a near no-go zone for immigrants, and Joe Miller, a Republican from California and a member of the new Reclaim American Jobs Caucus in the House. Reclaim American Jobs has intricate ties to NumbersUSA, a proverbial coal bed of anti-immigrant rhetoric and organizing.
In a recent appearance before 2,000 activists, Thomas lambasted what she dubbed the leftist “tyranny” of President Obama and Democrats in Congress. Recently, Liberty Central drew criticism for declaring on their website that the Healthcare bill is unconstitutional. The group later recanted its statement.
While Barletta and Paul won, O’Donnell and Miller failed. In his acceptance speech Rand Paul boasted, “There’s a tea-party tidal wave, and we’re sending a message.”
While the tidal wave was weaker than projected, the tea party message was sent—they will fight until America embraces xenophobia and thusly turns its back on working Americans, immigrants, and people of color. Those of us who believe in a multi-racial, truly democratic America must fight, too.
Liberty Central PAC has a Mixed Night
Liberty Central, a radical right Tea Party group, supported 150 candidates for House and Senate in yesterday’s mid-term elections, with almost 60% winning their seats.
Liberty Central is a newly created and richly endowed lobbying group founded by Virginia Thomas, a Washington lobbyist and consultant to the Heritage Foundation. Liberty Central’s online forums showcase conversations on topics such as “banning Islam” and “Marxist Obama,” and the group ardently supports Republican insurgent candidates like Rand Paul and Christine O’Donnell, both winners on Tuesday.
Liberty Central’s slate of candidates also includes Lou Barletta, Mayor of Hazelton, Pennsylvania, which as a city is a near no-go zone for immigrants, and Joe Miller, a Republican from California and a member of the new Reclaim American Jobs Caucus in the House. Reclaim American Jobs has intricate ties to NumbersUSA, a proverbial coal bed of anti-immigrant rhetoric and organizing.
In a recent appearance before 2,000 activists, Thomas lambasted what she dubbed the leftist “tyranny” of both President Obama and Democrats in Congress. Recently, Liberty Central drew criticism for declaring on their website that the Healthcare bill is unconstitutional. The group later recanted its statement.
While Barletta and Paul won, O’Donnell and Miller failed. In his acceptance speech Rand Paul boasted, “There’s a tea-party tidal wave, and we’re sending a message.”
While the tidal wave was weaker than projected, the tea party message was sent—they will fight until America embraces xenophobia and thusly turns its back on working Americans, immigrants, and people of color. Those of us who believe in a multi-racial, truly democratic America must fight, too.