Now A Former Congressman, Joe Walsh Vows To Fight
By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 10, 2013 9:20PM
Anyone hoping former Rep. Joe Walsh would fade into irrelevance after losing his November race against Tammy Duckworth has a rude awakening in store. Rather than, you know, look for a job like most unemployed people, Walsh told supporters at a South Loop rally Wednesday he has not yet begun to fight.
DNAInfo Chicago’s Ted Cox has the details.
He paraphrased Thomas Jefferson in saying, "We may have to shed blood every couple hundred years to preserve our freedoms."The one-term McHenry County congressman, who lost his re-election bid to Democrat Tammy Duckworth in November, openly contemplated breaking away from the Republican Party during a Wednesday rally at Blackie's, 755 S. Clark St.
And in the end of the rally he began organizing a statewide movement he said would "scare Republicans and Democrats."
"No rah rahs," he said as he kicked off his address with tough love. "We're losing."
Conservatives are losing to progressives, he said, because "our side doesn't understand we're at war."
We don’t envision the Republican Party trying to keep Walsh in the fold if he does make good on his threat to break away from the party. He also said people should engage in civil disobedience to protest the Affordable Care Act and any new gun legislation.
The one promise he is making good on is his continuing to be a thorn in the side of the two major political parties. Walsh told supporters he has no plan to run for future public office (although the 2014 gubernatorial race isn’t far away and he could change his mind) but will crisscross Illinois in the coming months to rally his base and asked each supporter at Wednesday’s rally to come back with two more—an indicator that he may indeed be looking to start a third party movement.
"By May, June, July, August, we're going to have a movement in this state that's going to scare Republicans and Democrats," Walsh said.
Or make them laugh.