Down with Debbie, and up with Adam.
That was the message at Friday’s Tea Party gathering in New Lenox, where more than 300 people showed up to rally against U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-11th) and support her Republican opponent in November, Adam Kinzinger.
Held at Gatto’s Restaurant, the event was sponsored by the New Lenox and Joliet Tea Party organizations. Both are part of the Will County Tea Party Alliance, which hosted candidate forums for congressional and governor candidates in the Feb. 2 primary election.
Halvorson, of Crete, drew the anger of local Tea Party members last year when she held town-hall-style meetings about the health care reform bill via teleconference rather than in public forms.
Kinzinger, who showed up about 15 minutes into the rally, was the keynote speaker. The 32-year-old Bloomington resident got the crowd worked up with a couple of quick questions.
“How many of you believe America is worth fighting for?” he said. “If you believe the same things I do, then you are done with Debbie.”
Kinzinger told the crowd about his background as an Air Force pilot and his willingness to serve his country after Sept. 11, 2001 – three times in Iraq and twice in Afghanistan.
While he acknowledged a need for health care reform, he said a government takeover wouldn’t solve the problem. Kinzinger called Halvorson “arrogant” for voting for the health care bill without reading it first.
Near the end of his speech, Kinzinger asked everyone who came out Friday night to volunteer for his campaign.
“I need an army of people behind me,” he said. “I want you to be that army.”
Kinzinger pledged that, if elected, he would help oust House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a claim that elicited big cheers from the conservative crowd.
Before Kinzinger took the stage, Joliet Tea Party chairman Tim Kraulidis spoke about the importance of the 11th District race. He got the crowd warmed up by playing over the public address system a radio interview that Chicago radio host Don Wade did with Halvorson on health care.
“Does that sound like someone who deserves to be your congressman?” Kraulidis asked the crowd, who greeted his request with a resounding, “No!”
When asked to comment on Friday night’s rally, Halvorson spokesman Ryan Vanderbilt said, “Congresswoman Halvorson is focused on her constituents’ priorities right now – creating jobs and fixing health care for families – not playing politics.”
Read the original article from SouthTown Star.
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