Tea Party Supporters Debate Movement’s Direction : NPR
Listen at the link. Maybe they’ll post a transcript later. Fischer wants to put the tea partiers in the same position the socons have put the Republicans in: If you don’t support our issues, our supporters will withdraw from your organization. Walker pushes back, gently.Morning Edition is taking a closer look at the groups that make up the Tea Party. Steve Inskeep talks to Toby Marie Walker, lead facilitator for the Waco Tea Party, and Bryan Fischer, of the American Family Association. Walker says the Tea Party’s issues need to remain strictly fiscal. Fischer says that if the Tea Party doesn’t incorporate social issues into its agenda, it runs the risk of dividing the conservative movement.
UPDATE: A transcript has been posted at the same link, the one at the top. Here’s some of what Fischer said:
Mr. FISCHER: When I look at the issue of life, for instance, you cannot be a constitutionalist, you cannot be committed to a constitutional view of political philosophy and not be committed to the sanctity of life. Now I appreciate Toby wanting to keep that 10 to 20 percent that maybe are libertarian on same-sex marriage, maybe they are libertarian on abortion. I understand their desire to keep those people in the fold, but if they don’t send a clear note on the culture of conservative issues, you know, they may save that 10 to 20 percent at the risk of losing the 80 to 90 percent.RTWT (That’s “Read The Whole Thing”, not “re-tweet”.)