Inside the Beltway

A MAN TO WATCH

While Republicans dither over party identity, one of their own has stepped forward and cut to the chase with a clear take on what matters and what works in a complicated political landscape.

“There is a better, more responsible way. It’s called the American way,” Ryan Frazier tells Inside the Beltway.

A city council member from Aurora, Colo., Mr. Frazier is running for U.S. Senate with a straightforward campaign.

“Fiscal responsibility, lower taxes, energy independence, education reform, affordable health care and strong national security,” he says. “I’m running because we owe our children a better America, where they are free to pursue their dreams, and everyone has an opportunity to make a life for themselves.”

He has been there, and done that.

Father of three, Navy veteran and a small-business owner, he was raised by his mother “to have faith in God and do what’s right” and is first to say he started out married life with wife, Kathy, with a Honda Civic, a 13-inch TV, a pillow, a blanket and their clothes.

“That’s it,” Mr. Frazier says. His children Sven, Elise and Jaren, he says, are “our diamonds.”

A former intelligence analyst in the Navy, he founded an information-technology business and Highpoint Academy - a public charter school. During his two-term tenure as city council member, Mr. Frazier worked on bipartisan projects to curb spending, eliminate personal property taxes and boost communications for law enforcement statewide.

“I do believe in the American way - based on our traditional can-do spirit of merit, hard work and innovation. It’s always made this country the greatest nation on the planet, and it will continue to do so,” Mr. Frazier says.

He faces a crowded primary next year. Should he win the nomination, he’ll face off against Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat. And yes, there are already whispers that Mr. Frazier could be “the Republican answer to Obama,” one source says.

TEA IS BREWING

There’s been a mighty hubbub about town hall meetings and tea parties. Critics better brace for impact, however. The coast-to-coast “Tea Party Express” tour will depart at the end of the month and visit 33 cities, culminating in a Sept. 12 rally at the U.S. Capitol.

The tour’s mission - set forth from a snappy looking campaign bus - is to “to encourage Americans to rise up and speak out” against spending, bailouts and socialized medicine.

“The rallies will focus on holding local policymakers accountable for destructive legislation and policy that reeks of socialism and threatens to permanently cripple the American economy,” say organizers, who have some muscle.

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