Rand Paul, the Tea Partiers, incumbents

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter (D), a Senate fixture who switched parties a year ago, lost his bid for reelection Tuesday, while in Kentucky, ophthalmologist Rand Paul rode the anti-Washington energy of the tea party movement to an easy victory.

Dick Armey, chairman of FreedomWorks, a nationwide grassroots organization dedicated to fighting for lower taxes and less government, and former House Majority Leader, was online Wednesday, May 19, at 2 p.m. ET to discuss Tuesday's election results, the Tea party victory of Rand Paul and the fate of incumbents.

____________________

Arlington, Va.: Do you see anti-Washington sentiment growing more as we approach the November mid-terms?

Dick Armey: Howdy, y'all. Thanks for inviting me. It's nice to joining you from Dallas today.

When you look at the deficits and the failures on our borders, it's clear that Washington's solutions have failed. For all the touting of the stimulus, Americans still feel the pain of the recession, and there doesn't look to be any relief on the horizon.

So yes, this will be an anti-Washington year, as Senator Specter just found out.

_______________________

Cambridge, Mass.: How do you interpret last yesterday's election results? Is it a matter of voters "throwing the bums out" or is it unfair to generalize it that way?

Dick Armey: For conservatives, this shows that momentum from the Tea Party has moved from the streets to winning in Massachusetts, to winning in Utah, to winning in Kentucky. It also shows that the Tea Party is a true 50 state movement, and even places like solid blue California are in play.

For Democrats, it looks like their candidates are being pushed farther to the left. It looks like voters will have a clear choice this November.

Voters no longer need parties for political information and political organizing. They can do this on their own.

_______________________

Marietta, Ga.: How do you think you will win back a majority when you reject anyone who doesn't agree with you on everything? If the Tea Party movement intends to do anything, don't you need a majority? If liberals are the enemy, moderates and even conservative, are drummed out of the party, Hispanics are angered over immigration, African Americans are out too, then who do you form a majority with when you only have 25 percent of the people who agree with you on everything?

What is the point of the Tea Party? At a time when taxes are lowest in 50 years and the Republicans spent 8 years with the attitude that "Deficits don't matter," why the big fuss now, when we need both parties to work together?

Dick Armey: The conservative base is fired up. It is clear from election results in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Virginia that the independent-minded voter is receptive to the small government message. That's the winning coalition.

The Tea Party has a long term view as opposed to a short term parochial mindset. We know, as Milton Freidman said, that the real rate of taxation is the rate of government spending.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Did FreedomWorks have a hand in Rand Paul's victory yesterday?

Dick Armey: Yes, we endorsed him very early. Our activists turned out, but they were only a part of the larger picture.

_______________________

Baltimore, Md.: Do you think the Tea party will become an official third party in the American political landscape?

Dick Armey: Great question. The Tea Party is a movement, and not a political organization. We will be a lot more effective if we take over the Republican party than if we try to create a new one.

Remember, Ron Paul is the most successful Libertarian in history, and he is elected as a Republican.

_______________________

College Park, Md.: Do you think the immigration law in Arizona will somehow be rescinded?

Dick Armey: It appears to me that the Arizona law is nothing more than a restatement of what is already written at a Federal level. They are simply tired of waiting for Washington to take action.

The only way this I see this being rescinded is if Washington starts to take border security seriously. Just because the Federal government has chosen not to acknowledge the problem doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

_______________________

Chantilly, Va.: Why did Arlen Specter lose the election?

Dick Armey: Back in 2004, establishment Republicans disappointed the conservative base when George W. Bush endorsed Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey in the Republican primary. It was clear that it was all about Specter and not about the ideas.

He publicly stated that he could not win a Republican primary this election season. That was an astute observation on his behalf. My Democrat friends saw that this was all about him and not about what was best for the people of Pennsylvania.

President Obama will have a lot of explaining to do to the Democrats of Pennsylvania on his endorsement.

Anyone have a guess which country Ambassador Specter is heading off to?

_______________________

For Democrats, it looks like their candidates are being pushed farther to the left.: Really? The Democrat who won the Pennsylvania congressional special election moved right, not left and won. Sestak is basically identical to Specter on his views and he won. He didn't win because he was liberal, he won because he was an actual Democrat.

Do you want to try that spin again?

Dick Armey: Well, Rachel Maddox sure didn't seem happy last night about the results from Pennsylvania and Arkansas.

_______________________

Voters no longer need parties for political information and political organizing. They can do this on their own.: So why do they need you and your (corporately-funded) organization?

Dick Armey: We view ourselves at FreedomWorks as a service center for conservative activists. We provide organizing tools and up to date information about what is happening on Capitol Hill.

Unlike Social Security, an individual is free to choose to join or not join FreedomWorks. As for FreedomWorks funding, we had over 29k individual donors last year, and less than 10% of our budget comes from the business community.

I wonder if the Center for American Progress could say that.

_______________________

Reston, Va.: Mr. Armey, Mr. Paul said in an interview with NPR that regulation of industries such as "manufacturing and mining should be under the purview of state authorities."

"I think it's not always someone's fault. I think there are things that happen in nature, things that happen that are tragedies. I think the mining explosion was a great tragedy and I have great sympathy for those families out there, I've met a lot these miners, I've met their families and they're hard working people who do work in a risky environment, but I don't think that I see that there is some sort of evil business there that is trying to harm people. I think that sometimes we have tragedies and accidents. I think you may find with this oil rig explosion -- I'm not sure if there was someone at fault, or if they broke any rules, but I think we investigate them in a reasonable, non-emotional fashion and try to come up with answers."

Do you agree that when men dig a hole in the ground and something happens and the mechanisms put in place to protect the workers fails and kills them or the mechanisms put in place to prevent an oil spill aren't installed or maintained properly and don't work, that this qualifies as something that "happens in nature?"

Dick Armey: First of all, I'm going to have to let Congressman Paul speak for himself. Let's be clear, government has a proper role. I'm not an anarchist. I do believe that the genius of our Constitution is that it clearly defines limited government.

If an employer is negligent and careless with employee safety, they will have to be responsible for their actions. Conservatism is about responsibility and accountability.

_______________________

Taxes: I'm more than willing to pay taxes. Lower taxes is not what I'm after. I'm after "honest" taxes. I do not understand why there can't be transparency in what I pay and where my dollars go without the shape-shifting that often occurs in a budget. Do you know anything about this recent D.C. City Council effort to tax soda by the ounce? How on earth do I get people I've elected to stop the madness?

Dick Armey: This is why I'm for the Flat Tax. The purpose of a tax code is to pay for the essential functions of government, such as national defense, infrastructure, and a system of justice. What we have happening now are politicians attempting to social engineer society through wealth redistribution.

How do you get them to stop the madness? Join your local Tea Party. Hit them at the ballot box.

_______________________

Rand Paul Hype: How much trouble is Rand Paul in for November? Despite being the be-all, end-all media darling race yesterday, the Kentucky GOP candidates got a much lower number of votes than in the Democratic primary. If you look at the 2008 general election totals in Kentucky of about 1.8 million votes, the Democrats have to increase their turnout by around 50 percent and Republicans by way more than 100 percent. And this is before you consider any primary voter changing what party they supported. Can you really energize an already energized base by that much?

Dick Armey: Yes, Rand Paul is going to win in November, alongside Pat Toomey and Marco Rubio.

Senator DeMint, your cavalry is on the way.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: I think the right fringe of the conservatives is "fired up," but in the end the anti-Washington theme could lead to situations where a Republican newcomer goes up against a Democratic newcomer. In this contest, difficult to see who wins unless you look at the local politics. Don't you think the "anti-incumbent" equals "anti-Democrat" stuff is over simplified?

Dick Armey: Politics boils down to a debate between liberty and security. I always err on the side of liberty. This November, the voters will have a clear choice in philosophy, and that is a good debate for our country.

When Tip O'Neil said "all politics is local," he was talking to Democrat candidates. The conservative base is looking for a national vision. That is why they're concerned with issues such at the debt, and would rather forgo the local earmark in favor of fiscal responsibility.

In all my years in Congress, I never once requested or received and earmark, and the voters rewarded me for this.

_______________________

It appears to me that the Arizona law is nothing more than a restatement of what is already written at a Federal level.: So you and the Tea Party believe state governments have the right to usurp powers legally held by the federal government, because they don't think the federal government is doing a good job (even though illegal immigration appears to be declining)?

How does that fit in with your group's view of limited government?

Dick Armey: The government has Constitutional roles. A nation has a responsibility to its citizens to control its borders.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Why do you believe President Obama didn't campaign for Arlen Specter and other Democrats?

Dick Armey: President Obama is very concerned with his own reelection right now. He decided it was more politically expedient for him to be at a factory in Ohio than helping Arlen Specter.

Senator Specter is joining Reverend Wright under the Obama Express.

_______________________

Upper Marlboro, Md.: Do you miss Congress?

Dick Armey: Not one second. Any time away from my ranch counting cows is time misspent.

_______________________

Philadelphia, Pa.: What differences, if any, do you see between the philosophies of Ron Paul and Rand Paul, and is there any political significance in any of these differences?

Dick Armey: Yes. Rand is younger.

In all seriousness, I believe Ron is a representative of a movement in Congress, but Rand will make his impact as the next Barry Goldwater.

_______________________

Bel Air, Md.: What is FreedomWorks' position on President Obama's choice of Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court?

Dick Armey: Elena Kagan is a good reminder that elections have consequences.

_______________________

washingtonpost.com: This concludes our discussion with Dick Armey. Thank you for joining in.

_______________________

Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.