Salon.com > Club For Growth

Club for Growth intensifies GOP civil war

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:40:00 +0000

Club for Growth, the anti-tax group, wants to boost conservatives in the 2014 elections. And it doesn't care if it has to target Republicans to do it. "Our job is not to elect Republicans, that's not what we do," said Chris Chocola, the head of the group.

From Reuters:

The confrontational strategy flies in the face of post-election Republican efforts to become a more accommodating and less ideological party, and is certain to deepen the rift between the party's conservative warriors and more pragmatic establishment wing.

It also is certain to cement the Club's reputation, earned over more than a decade of sometimes brutal primary battles, as the outside group most likely to frustrate party bosses.

Club For Growth hunts for “RINO” challengers

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 22:53:00 +0000

The conservative advocacy group Club For Growth is targeting moderates that they've labelled as "RINOs," or "Republicans In Name Only," and calling for conservative candidates to mount challenges to them in the primaries.

Club For Growth launched the initiative through a website, "Primary My Congressman!", which will regularly feature Congressmen with low ratings from the group. The idea is to target moderates in districts that are safely Republican, so conservative primary challengers will have a good shot at winning in the general election.

The first batch members targeted by Club For Growth are Reps. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Rick Crawford, R-Ark., Frank Lucas, R-Okla., Steve Palazzo, R-Miss., Martha Roby, R-Ala., Larry Bucshon, R-Ind., Renee Elmers, R-N.C., and Aaron Schock, R-Ill.

“Big government liberals inhabit the Democratic Party, but they are far too common within the Republican Party as well,” Chris Chocola, Club For Growth's president, said in a statement.

Tea Party unhappy about Karl Rove’s war on the Tea Party

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 14:38:00 +0000

Karl Rove is backing a new effort to stop the Tea Party in its tracks. The Tea Party is, predictably, not pleased.

The New York Times reported over the weekend that Rove's super PAC American Crossroads is backing a new group, the Conservative Victory Project, which will enlist big-money GOP donors to fight back against Tea Party groups that are looking to oust Republican establishment candidates in the 2014 primaries. The idea is to prevent any more Todd Akins or Richard Mourdocks from making it through to the national stage.

From the Times:

House GOP’s “Plan B” proposal does not have much support

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:27:00 +0000

The House may be preparing to vote on John Boehner's "Plan B" to resolve the "fiscal cliff," but it appears that the proposal does not have much support.

For one thing, according to a whip count by The Hill, the proposal already has 25 likely defections by Republicans. If all Democrats vote against the proposal, Republicans can't get more that 24 defections in order for it to pass.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said earlier that Republicans have the votes to pass the proposal, which would partially avoid the fiscal cliff by allowing taxes to increase only for those making over $1 million a year.

But a number of conservative groups have lined up against it as well.

The Tea Party group Freedomworks, which had previously said it tentatively supported the plan, just now flipped and said they oppose it. “After review of the Boehner Plan B legislation, pending in the House today, FreedomWorks has found it must oppose the legislation, and will be urging House members to vote NO on the bill,” the group said in a statement. “We will post our formal opposition letter on our site, soon.”