There is a quote I want to pull from my syndicated column this week (“Michelle Obama Keeps Her Promise”). I asked Ryan Hecker, a Houston tea partier who helped organized the Contract from America, about the GOP House pledge. He told me: “November 3 is when the real job of the Tea Party movement begins. We need to continue to press politicians and publicly hold them accountable if they falter. The Pledge to America has set real benchmarks that the tea party movement can now effectively use to hold Republicans to their word.”
He added: “We also need to stress to Republican leaders that we only consider the Pledge to America a first step. They need to adopt the Contract from America as well and other bolder economic conservative policies in the coming weeks and months.”
I think the tea party, such that it is, has a verify-but-trust position when it comes to conservatives in D.C. But there is some willingness to work together. But the bar is high.