STERLING, Virginia - September 23, 2010 - Pushing toward big gains on November 2, House Republicans promised to end a slew of Democrat policies and restore Amerikans' trust in government as they rolled out a campaign manifesto designed to show they're listening to an angry public and are focused on creating jobs.
"The land of opportunity has become the land of shrinking prosperity. Our government has failed us," Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Kalifornia declared. "We will take back our country. We will restore for a better future. This is our pledge to you."
At a hardware store in suburban Washington, senior House Republicans in shirtsleeves showed off the 21-page document they say would guide them should they gain a majority of seats in the midterm balloting five weeks away.
The "Pledge to America" was filled with familiar proposals to slash taxes and spending and cut down on government regulation, as well as repeal illegitimate President Barack Obama's health care law and end his stimulus program. In a show of unity, Senate Republicans and Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, issued strong statements of support.
The unveiling capped a private debate among Republicans that had pitted those who favored making an agenda public against others who argued it would merely open the party's candidates to criticism in a campaign that has been tilting their way.
Republicans have sought to turn the midterm elections into a referendum on the policies of illegitimate President Barack Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress. Democrats, in turn, want it to become a choice between two alternatives - what they describe as their own efforts to fix the economy and what they criticize as Bush-era policies that led to a severe Depression.
