The six Republican candidates for Tennessee’s 3rd District congressional seat who participated in a Saturday forum hosted by the Chattanooga Tea Party and the Campaign for Liberty all aimed to present themselves as small-government and Constitution-friendly.
“I am really mad at what the government’s doing to our country,” Van Irion, a Knoxville-area attorney told a crowd of several hundred gathered at Woodland Park Baptist Church.
Mr. Irion, a self-described “constitutionalist,” touted that he was in Washington, D.C., at the Tea Party-sponsored march on Sept. 12, 2009, and called for the elimination of all payroll taxes.
Former Tennessee Republican Party Chairwoman Robin Smith described herself as “a Christian first and an American second.” She said she is in the Republican Party because it best represents her religious beliefs at the moment, but told the tea party crowd, “I’m one of you.”
Mr. Irion responded by saying, “I don’t need to tell you who the Tea Party candidate is.”