On Fox News today, anchor Uma Pemmaraju hosted a panel featuring Tea Party Express leader Amy Kremer and Tea Party Rep. Mick Mulvaney in which they debate whether the campaign rhetoric matched the voting records of the Tea Party Republicans. In that vein, Pemmaraju noted that among those voting more moderately was firebrand Rep. Allen West, and asked Kremer whether she thought he may be challenged from the right in his district.
Pemmaraju began by asking Kremer whether she was surprised at the rates at which Tea Party Republicans did not distinguish themselves from establishment Republicans in voting. “If you listen to what the mainstream media has been saying, and the left has been saying… is that the Tea Party movement and Tea Party Republicans were driving the country over the cliff,” she argued, “this proves that couldn’t be further from the truth.” She did note that she thought the lack of “strong fiscal conservatives” could make it more difficult for Republicans who affiliate with the Tea Party to vote further right.
