Tea Party Freshman Finds Voters Uneasy About Stance on Debt - Bloomberg [View All]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-25/-crazy-freshman-finds-his-tea-party-stance-on-debt-makes-backers-nervous.html

Illinois Representative Joe Walsh rode a wave of economic anxiety to an upset win last November. Now, he’s trying not to get pulled under as voters concerned about a debt default turn a skeptical eye toward his service.

At a July 22 town hall meeting in a community center gym just north of Chicago in Lindenhurst, the freshman Republican paced the room as he told the crowd of about 80 constituents that President Barack Obama has mishandled the economy and overstated the repercussions of a default on the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt. Not everyone was buying it.

“I disagree with you,” said Tom Weber, a Walsh supporter who watched his construction business decline during the recession. “I think not only the president doesn’t understand, I think Congress doesn’t understand,” he added, as the audience burst into applause.

National polling shows that Republicans are critical of their party’s role in the negotiations aimed at paving the way for a vote to increase the debt ceiling. Almost 6 in 10 said Republican leaders are too resistant to a deal, according to a July 19 Washington Post-ABC News poll.

How the role of the new House majority in the debt talks is ultimately judged by voters will be critical in the 2012 elections, when Walsh and 86 other House Republican freshmen will be up for re-election and control of the chamber will hinge on their collective fates.
Obama ‘Lying’

Walsh, who on a web-video and cable talk shows has accused --------SNIP