Tea Parties nationwide have helped swing the race in New York’s District 23 and Republicans will be denied a seat they have held since 1871 all because they thought the political center was too far left. Last week we sent you a CallToAction article describing this race and at the time of that message, Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman was in third place. Five days of Tea Party action, and the Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava was losing support so fast (at or below 20%) that today she decided to drop out of the race realizing that she could not win. Hoffman and the Democratic nominee, Bill Owens are neck and neck at 35% and 36% respectively. Scozzafava would not have dropped out without discussions with the Republican Leadership and the question is whether she made this decision alone or with their “assistance.”

The Associated Press posted a story about this today. In part it reads:

“The race has pitted conservative and moderate wings of the Republican Party against each other in a battle of ideology. The special election in New York’s rural north has received national attention as big-name Republicans including Sarah Palin, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson have thrown their support behind Hoffman. Money poured into Hoffman’s campaign from all over the country.“

Scozzafava dropping out makes this a two-way race instead of a three-way and with both remaining candidates neck and neck, the race can now be called a referendum on liberal policies in Washington, whereas before it was a fight for the heart and soul of the Republican Party. Newt’s idea that party supercedes principle has been proven a false choice and one wonders what long-term effect Gingrich’s comments on this race will have on his standing within Conservative circles.

Regardless, there are still two full days before the people in NY-23 vote and Hoffman can still use help. Visit his website today and help him if you can! The Tea Party movement will only gain respect if they win and then force change from the inside. Protests and marches will only get us so far. This is the first skirmish of the 2010 elections and a win out of the gate will help Republicans remember who really has skin in the game and who will really come out to vote. As we stated in our last notice on this race “As long as Republicans keep sending us RINO’s and we’ll keep sending Republicans home.”

Health Care Lock-Out

Pelosi showed her preference to lock uninvited guests to the unveiling of her 1,900 page version of Health Care Reform. But apparently, either her or someone else has decided to lock-out opposing viewpoints where ever possible. On Oct 27, Grassfire.org members were barred from delivering petitions to Congressmen and Senators. They were told that they could not deliver the petitions because “of post 9-11 concerns about anthrax.” Seems strange that other petitions delivered that day got through. It’s time we dust off those lists of Congressional telephone numbers and start calling Washington again. Perhaps, if petitions can’t get the message through, shutting down the switchboards will. You can get the Mississippi Delegation telephone numbers at www.MeridianTeaParty.com.

Here’s a video of the Grassfire.org folks telling the story of their attempt to deliver the petitions to Congress. It’s worth a look and a few telephone calls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPXTZ0ZVNUE

When you receive “A Call To Action” email, please take the time to act on the information, but then forward the message to your friends and relatives even if they live in different states. Anyone can contact their elected representatives by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or by visiting the searchable directory here: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt

Our government will only hear us if we combine our voices and let them know we are paying attention.

Visit our website at MeridianTeaParty.com to learn more.

MeridianTeaParty.com: It’s Not A Protest, It’s A Cause!

This past week, the Meridian City Council once again had a packed crowd for their regular board meeting. That’s a good thing.

The bad part: right out of the gate, before any business could be done, officials voted to go behind closed doors and do the business of the public in private. At least this time they didn’t herd the crowd out into the hall. At least this time residents were able to keep their seats. Still, was yet another closed meeting necessary?

We publicly opposed Tuesday’s closed meeting on two grounds.

Read The Meridian Star editorial here.

Mayor Barry

While one opponent after another rose from their seat in chambers of the Meridian City Council Tuesday evening to passionately voice their opposition to Mayor Cheri Barry’s pick to replace Benny DuBose with former Petal Police Department Chief Lee Shelbourn, Barry wrote on her notes, “Change is hard, trust me, with the future of Meridian.”

It is not clear to whom the note was intended for but what was made clear is that about half of the 50 or so in attendance did not agree with the council’s 3-2 vote to confirm Shelbourn to the position.

Read the article by Brian Livingston in The Meridian Star here.