NY-20: Gibson rallies the tea party

Guest post: was taken from DailyKos where it originally appeared. It is posted here with the permission of the author, blogger devtob.

For a career Army officer, Republican Chris Gibson, who easily won NY-20 in 2010, has become a pretty good politician.

Though he was recruited for NY-20 by the GOP establishment, Gibson knows he has to keep the tea party radicals happy, even if he occasionally upsets them on sideshow issues like NPR funding.

So Wednesday evening, Gibson did a tele-town hall with tea party types, and it was a love fest.


There is a podcast-like recording of the conference call , though it apparently has been edited to remove the first few questions and a probable Gibson colloquoy with Bircher/tea party leader Spyder (the weird cut happens around 17:05, just after the thing really starts).

I wonder what that's about.

After the cut, Gibson is asked about Ron Paul's bill to audit the Federal Reserve.

Gibson said he was a cosponsor, adding:

"Ron Paul's becoming a friend, he's had me over for dinner, I go to his office to chat."

Gibson is not a Bircher, but he knows his small audience here, which generally supports the Bircher candidate for the GOP presidential nomination -- Ron Paul.

There was no explicit discussion of how Gibson voted to end Medicare, after saying he opposed vouchers during the campaign. Presumably none of the Bircher/tea partiers cared that Gibson lied, because they think Medicare is unconstitutional.

But Medicare did come up implicitly in a brief discussion of the NY-26 debacle for the House GOP.

Gibson offered banal talking points, rallying the troops, and never mentioning Medicare (at 27 to 28):

"Let me just say this, don't lose heart about what happened in NY-26.

Do not take counsel of your fears, there's a myriad of explanations. But at the end of the day, we go forward.

We've got the right plan, the only plan out there that meets the vision, we've got the only plan that is pro-growth and fiscally responsible, that's gonna put America back to work and begin to move us back towards a balanced budget, that pays down the debt over time.

Join me at the barricade, and this country will go forward."

When Gibson said "pro-growth and fiscally responsible," he slowed down and almost whispered.

Like a pro.

The dog whistle in that word salad is that Gibson wholeheartedly supports the radical Ryan Republican budget, which would eliminate Medicare, decimate Medicaid, cut taxes even more for the wealthy and corporations, and do little to reduce the deficit, let alone pay back the debt, for 10 years.

Bircher/tea partiers on the call surely heard the dog whistle, and presumably lapped it up.

In his farewell, Gibson said he would remain true to working for "job creation, deficit reduction and protection of freedoms."

Of course, no one asked what he had done for job creation, other than what Republicans always do, to little real effect -- cut taxes for the rich even more, while decrying the deficit and the debt largely caused by tax cuts.

And, in this instance, Gibson's vote to help needy billionaires had ZERO effect, since the radical Ryan Republican budget will not be enacted in this Congress.

Naturally, Gibson told his far-right base that he looks "forward to interacting" with them "as we go forward."

IMHO, Gibson will be tough to beat next year, in whatever district he gets after redistricting.

Sure, he's lying about Medicare, and speaking in inoffensive GOP cliches that mask the real Republican platform -- lower taxes for the rich and fewer services/programs for the non-rich.

But he's become an accomplished political liar, repeating Boehner talking points with Boy Scout conviction, and I fear that act will convince too many voters.