L.A. TIMES: Conservatives Draw up a New ‘Contract’

A series of manifestoes, from Republicans and ‘tea party’ activists, harks back to the GOP’s victorious 1994 ‘Contract with America’ campaign.

By Kathleen Hennessey

Although “tea party” activists and other conservatives claim kinship with the founding fathers and the Spirit of ‘76, their emerging strategy for the November elections has more in common with the Spirit of ‘94 — the year Republicans ended 40 years of Democratic dominance on Capitol Hill.

Conservative strategists centered the 1994 Republican campaign on a “Contract with America.” This year, GOP leaders in the House have pledged to issue their own, updated version of that agenda, which is widely credited with having helped Republicans focus their message and win a historic victory.

But this time, the declaration of principles that House Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio has promised will have to play in a crowded field.

A version of the tea party-backed “Contract From America” was unveiled last week at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the annual showcase of leaders and activists on the right. The unveiling came a day after another group — including many of the elders of conservatism — announced their own manifesto, dubbed the Mount Vernon statement after its signing at a library near George Washington’s estate.

Newt Gingrich, chief architect of the 1994 Contract with America, also has weighed in, publishing his version of a new contract in this month’s Newsmax magazine.

The plethora of manifestoes reflects a heightened energy among Republicans, and also shows the work the GOP has to do in uniting the party.

Reflecting that lack of unity, former Republican House leader Dick Armey, now a leading voice of the limited-government, anti-tax tea party movement, said the tea party contract wouldn’t be necessary “if Republicans had the credibility to do it themselves. They don’t.”

Armey’s Washington-based advocacy group, FreedomWorks, has endorsed the “Contract From America,” which bills itself as culled from the collective wisdom of Internet activists. Its organizer, Houston attorney Ryan Hecker, has been soliciting policy ideas through a website for months and has selected 22 that will be narrowed to 10 through an online vote.

Many of the original suggestions on Hecker’s site, contractfromamerica.com, might be difficult for mainstream Republicans and moderate voters to swallow: abolishing the Department of Education, dismantling the IRS and establishing an official U.S. language.

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