Meehan and Tea Party continue to hide how closely beliefs are tied

Springfield, PA – Pat Meehan’s latest attempt to keep his views about the Tea Party’s extreme agenda hidden from voters occurred at a Tea Party rally in Phoenixville on Friday night when an audience member videotaping his speech was forced to turn off his camera only moments after starting to tape.

The incident is part of Meehan’s ongoing effort to hide how strongly he supports extreme Tea Party beliefs, like eliminating Medicare, Social Security and the Department of Education. The secretive strategy got him in trouble with local press earlier in the week, and he was forced to back out of a closed-door, “off the record” Tea Party rally after a reporter from thePhiladelphia Daily News asked why journalists were barred from the meeting¹.

The secrecy is troubling because Meehan has been sending conflicting messages for months about how closely his beliefs align with the Tea Party, said Kevin McTigue, campaign manager for Bryan Lentz, the Democratic nominee for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7^th Congressional District. Meehan has appeared at numerous Tea Party rallies and closed meetings, and yet when questioned about the beliefs he shares with the group, downplays his connections, including during a debate on the Comcast Network in the beginning of August.

“Where does Pat Meehan stand on maintaining key elements of our nation’s safety net for Seniors, and the education of our children? We’ll never know as long as he tries to keep the Tea Party meetings he attends secret and hidden from public view,” McTigue said. “These are not issues that should be discussed in closed-door, off-the-record meetings by a candidate seeking elected office.”

At the same time that Pat Meehan is refusing to be open about where he stands on key issues, Bryan Lentz has been traveling around the District holding Town Hall forums open to the general public. The meetings have been attended by Democrats, Republicans, Independents and Tea Party members, and crowds have grown as large as 80 people

A former Airborne Ranger, criminal prosecutor and Iraq War veteran, Bryan Lentz currently serves in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Delaware County. He was awarded both the Bronze Star for Service and the War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for his military service. He lives in Swarthmore with his wife Jennifer and their son Thomas.