Republican candidate for the 8th Congressional District Joe Walsh said that he planned to continue his campaign the way he did in the primary –as the “Tea Party candidate.”
Walsh backed it up by speaking Friday at the Tea Party convention in Nashville.
“Everybody has been asking me, ‘Are you going to be the Tea Party candidate in the general [election]?’” he said before delivering his speech. “My answer is yes, because this is not about party.”
Walsh said he did not believe that the Tea Party movement was fringe, as some contend.
“I’m convinced that the Tea Party movement is most Republicans, most independents, and some Democrats who are scared to death about the growth of government,” Walsh said.
Walsh emerged from a crowded field of six candidates for his party’s nomination, earning more than 30 percent of the votes. He will face incumbent Melissa Bean, a Democrat, in November.
“Melissa Bean is on the wrong side of this issue, of increasing government,” Walsh said. “You can look at her recent record. She voted for the health care bill, she voted for the stimulus program.”
Bean’s spokesman, Jonathan Lipman, said Bean was unavailable for comment.
“The congresswoman understands that the families and businesses of the 8th District expect her to stay focused on addressing the economic insecurities and on promoting economic growth, and she remains committed to doing just that,” he said.
Although he said the Tea Party movement wasn’t just one party, Walsh said he clearly was a Republican.
“I’ve been a Republican my whole life,” he said. “Back in the day, it was the smaller government party, and I think that’s what people want right now. I want to get my party back to that.”
When the economy began falling apart, many people’s first reactions might have been to use government spending to help, Walsh said.
“I would have said, ‘no, we don’t need government stimulus programs,’” Walsh said. “We need jobs, and the way to get jobs is to lower taxes, especially on businesses. Businesses are not hiring, and the reason they’re not hiring is because they are so uncertain about what the government is going to do.”
Walsh is a Winnetka resident who grew up North Barrington. He lives outside the district but said he planned to move into it.
Green Party candidate Bill Scheurer, who unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat in the 2004 primary, will also be on the Nov. 2 ballot. Bean, who was re-elected in 2006 and 2008, did not face a primary challenger.
By SARAH SUTSCHEK, [email protected]
Read the original article from the Northwest Herald.