Tagged: Louisville Tea Party

The Louisville Tea Party will hold a forum featuring several local candidates running for Congress, Metro Council and the Jefferson County school board, but the group’s leader is criticizing Democratic Congressman John Yarmuth for not attending.

The forum is being moderated by 84 WHAS radio host Mandy Connell on Thursday, and is expected to draw more than 100 people.

Candidates running for the Kentucky General Assembly are also invited to the forum, and Louisville Tea Party President Sarah Durand says the event will question those candidates on issues that other groups and the mainstream media have overlooked.

"We plan on asking the state Representative and state Senate candidates about pension reform, which we have not heard enough about in the media," she says. "With the school board, I haven’t seen anybody asking them about raising our taxes every single year. We plan to ask the school board candidates how they feel about that and how they would deal with budget shortfalls if they’re not in favor of raising our taxes every year."

The Tea Party appears stronger than ever with Republican primary victories for Senate in Missouri, Texas and Indiana most recently.

It is a movement that has been successful in defeating establishment incumbents, pulling GOP leaders further to the right and gaining a seat at the table. This week it was announced that Tea Party favorite Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has a keynote speech at the Republican National Convention.

But Tea Party groups and activists have been criticized for their views and blamed for the current gridlock in Congress.

I spoke with Louisville Tea Party President Sarah Durand about compromise, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and what it’s like leading such a forceful—and controversial—group.

The Louisville Tea Party and Kentucky MoveOn.org organizers are teaming up to discuss ways to find solutions on divisive political issues.

The two groups will host a debate Tuesday on issues including the national debt and campaign finance reform, with participants seeking to find common ground. It will feature former Republican congressional candidate Larry Hausman, who served on the local Tea Party board, and Kentucky MoveOn organizer Keith Rouda.

Louisville Tea Party President Sarah Durand says the two groups don’t agree on much, but the country’s political dialogue needs to improve.

"It doesn’t have to be all about screaming and getting angry, and you can disagree in a way that’s still very respectful to the other person. And you have a much better chance at coming up with some compromises and some solutions," she says.