In addition to discontent with out-of-control spending and government expansion, the American Tea Party movement is motivated by a strong devotion to the right to life of the unborn – something that appears to have caught the pro-abortion establishment, including Planned Parenthood, off-guard.
In a Facebook post Monday, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America expressed frustration at the burgeoning popularity of thoroughly pro-life candidates who have shot to stardom thanks to Tea Party momentum.
“It’s easy to laugh at some of the crazy statements made by the newest Republican U.S. Senate candidate, Christine O’Donnell and others running on extreme anti-abortion platforms,” wrote the group. “But did you know that the day after O’Donnell’s primary victory in Delaware, she raised $1,000,000 online?”
The grassroots Tea Party movement, while largely dismissed by mainstream media and Democrat leaders early on – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi famously wrote off the movement as “astroturf” – has grabbed the attention of both parties after Tea Party senate candidates snatched the GOP nomination in seven states earlier this month.
The Republicans’ “Pledge to America,” a document released Thursday outlining a congressional agenda for the party, clearly aimed to please Tea Partiers. Party leaders, distancing themselves from “politicians in Washington,” promised to shrink government, reform Congress, and in general facilitate “listening to the American people and fielding their concerns and ideas for turning things around.”
In its statement, PPFA lamented that the Tea Party has ushered in “a groundswell of support across the country for these anti-choice candidates.” “They’re everywhere, raising money and support,” it said, and urged supporters to help the abortion giant “fight them, stop them, and defeat them.”
On Wednesday, the Washington Examiner noted that the Tea Party’s impact in the upcoming midterm elections will mean trouble for pro-choice incumbents, particularly those among the GOP.
Examiner columnist Timothy P. Carney noted that the four top casualties of Tea Party furor – Lisa Murkowski, Mike Castle, Charlie Crist and Arlen Specter – were all pro-choice members or former members of the Republican Party. In contrast, all of the successful Tea Party candidates for Senate are strongly pro-life.
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