Utah Congressman Rob Bishop believes many of the issues near and dear to his mission in Congress dovetail nicely with the Tea Party movement.
That's one of the reasons he signed on this week with the Tea Party Caucus in Congress, the District 1 representative said.
"There are lots of ideas the Tea Party has I think most people would like to see initiated, especially those that are conservative in Congress," said Bishop, who is running for re-election in a district that includes the Top of Utah.
But his Democratic opponent in the race, Morgan Bowen, believes Bishop is being an opportunist when it comes to formally associating with the loosely organized grass roots movement.
"I think the Tea Party movement ought to examine his record as he tries to embrace them," said Bowen, a Hyde Park resident.
So far, more than 50 House representatives joined with caucus chairwoman Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., to form the group.
Bachmann, writing on her congressional website, believes members need to listen to the "cries of everyday Americans who are calling for fiscal responsibility, adherence to the Constitution, and limited government."
Bishop said the agenda of the people who call themselves Tea Party members isn't all that clear.
"Very seldom do people come to me with a 'Tea Party' agenda. But a lot of the items I care about are the same things they care about," said Bishop on Wednesday.
The former school teacher said states' rights, restoring federalism and lowering taxes -- all items part of a common refrain among Tea Party activists -- also are the tenets of his political life.
Bishop believes his leadership in the Congressional 10th Amendment Task Force, a group that just last month promoted the decentralization of federal power, is an example of those tenets in motion.
He believes Congress will possibly become a vehicle for the changes wanted by Tea Party members, so he sees having openly supportive members in Congress as a way to help move the ideas forward.
"If the movement is nothing more than a permanent complaining society, then it has no value to it. We have to put it into action, build coalitions," he said.
But Bowen believes that some of Bishop's other stances, on the war, and the congressman's record on earmarks, will not sit well with some in the movement.
There also has been an anti-incumbency bent to some Tea Party activists as well.
Bowen cites, as an example of that bent, the recent ouster of Sen. Robert Bennett in his bid for re-election to his Utah Senate seat.
"I'm shocked the movement did not go after (Bishop) as they did Bennett," said Bowen.
The Congressional Tea Party Caucus already has met as a group. Federal representatives are heading into their summer break.
Bowen wonders if the congressman should even get a party invitation. Yet Bishop believes he is prepared to offer help with functional changes to the federal government, if that opportunity comes along.
Comments