Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine today will announce a new party initiative aimed at defining the Republicans who want to win control of Congress as tea partiers who want to repeal everything and abolish federal agencies.
A Democratic official offering TPM an early preview of what Kaine would say during an 11 a.m. press conference today with members of Congress framed the push as “a preemptive strike” against the Republican plans to roll out a new “contract” with America for the fall elections.
The Democratic official insisted it’s “not a gimmick or just a creative way to mock Republican ideas.” The official said the point is to teach voters “what Republicans really believe and what their blueprint for governing is.”
Given the new Tea Party Caucus — and with House leaders Rep. Pete Sessions and Rep. Mike Pence on the membership roster — the Democrats will claim that “the Tea Party is now an institutionalized part of the Republican party. They are one and the same.”
The “Republican-Tea Party Contract With America” will be presented on a new DNC-run Web site with a 10-point blueprint for how the “Republican-Tea Party” would govern. Here it is:
Repeal the Affordable Care Act (Health insurance Reform)Privatize Social Security or phase it out altogether
End Medicare as it presently exists
Extend the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy and big oil
Repeal Wall Street Reform
Protect those responsible for the oil spill and future environmental catastrophes
Abolish the Department of education
Abolish the Department of energy
Abolish the environmental protection agency
Repeal the 17th Amendment which provides for the direct election of senators
Of course, the Republican-Tea Party Contract on America is based on things Republican incumbents and candidates have proposed.
Watch the debut Web ad featuring their “one and the same” message. The Democrats may put this or something similar on television:
Late Update: Republicans getting wind of the new push this morning said it suggests the Democrats are “desperate” and have nothing but negative campaigning in their toolbox.
“Instead of offering voters a positive vision for the future, the Democrats’ latest campaign gimmick reflects an increasingly desperate strategy that remains ignorant of exactly why independent voters are fleeing them in droves and why the president’s approval rating is tanking in key battleground states,” said Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.. Walsh said voters are looking for answers on jobs and the economy and the Democratic strategy is “a reminder that Democratic Party leaders learned nothing from their recent losses in New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts, and why they are set to receive another wake-up call this November.”
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