GOP Presidential Candidates Will Be Held Accountable For Bowing To The Most Extreme Wing Of The Republican Party
Steve King’s Iowa Freedom Summit tomorrow will be replete with GOP presidential candidates courting his favor — Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Rick Santorum, Ted Cruz, Rick Perry, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson and more are slated to attend. It goes to show just how sharply the party has moved to the right that its most serious presidential hopefuls are spending their weekend hoping to flatter the most notoriously anti-immigrant member of Congress, not to mention palling around with the likes of Donald Trump and Sarah Palin.
But their desperate attempts to endear themselves to the conservative base will not come without consequences, namely because general election voters also happen to have eyes and ears. American Bridge is holding these candidates accountable for their lunges to the far right.
This morning, we released a new video highlighting Steve King’s offensive views and the support he’s received from top tier Republicans joining him at the summit:
We are also launching targeted Spanish language Twitter ads in the home states of Christie, Walker and Santorum, and American Bridge President Brad Woodhouse will join Progress Iowa and partners for a press call at 1:30 CST this afternoon to discuss key questions for summit attendees. An example Twitter ad and the press call information can be found below.
And needless to say, we’ll have trackers on the ground in the event that any speakers veer into unsavory territory, which, let’s be honest, seems like a pretty likely scenario.
Today: 2016 Watch: National, Local Experts To Preview Steve King’s Iowa ‘Freedom Summit’
Experts from eight states to provide background on potential 2016 Presidential candidates attending summit
Des Moines, Iowa — Today, national and local experts will preview the Freedom Summit being held on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa. Potential Presidential candidates will attend and speak at the summit, in an attempt to gain favor with Congressman Steve King and Iowa’s extreme conservatives in advance of the 2016 Iowa caucus. The Summit is hosted by King and the group Citizens United.
“It’s terrifying that the Congressman who compared immigrants to dogs, doesn’t expect to find gay people in heaven, and believes God will use the next Republican President to ‘restore the soul of America’ will play the role of Presidential kingmaker this weekend,” said Matt Sinovic, executive director of Progress Iowa.
Local leaders from Iowa, California, Texas, New Hampshire, Georgia, Wisconsin, Utah, and Pennsylvania will provide background information and research about the speakers attending Saturday’s summit. Governors Rick Perry, Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, and Senators Rick Santorum, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, are all expected to attend, among others.
WHAT: Preview of Steve King’s Iowa ‘Freedom Summit’ by national and local experts
WHEN: TODAY, Friday, January 23rd, 1:30 PM CST
WHERE: Mickle Center Conference Room
1620 Pleasant St, Des Moines, IA
Via Teleconference:
Reply to [email protected] to RSVP
WHO: Matt Sinovic, Executive Director, Progress Iowa
Sue Dinsdale, Executive Director, Iowa Citizen Action Network
Brad Woodhouse, President, American Bridge 21st Century
Eddie Kurtz, Executive Director, Courage Campaign
Ed Espinoza, Executive Director, Progress Texas
Zandra Rice Hawkins, Executive Director, Granite State Progress
Bryan Long, Executive Director, Better Georgia
Scot Ross, Executive Director, One Wisconsin Now
Maryann Martindale, Executive Director, Alliance for a Better Utah
John Neurohr, Communications Director, Keystone Progress
Giancarlo Eduardo Tello and Alejandro Alfaro Santiz, DREAMers from Iowa and New Jersey
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Published: Jan 23, 2015