NASHVILLE, Tennessee – A group of grassroots activists of Heritage Action, known as Sentinels, have been active and growing for some time in Rutherford County and have reached the point of spawning a new group in Nashville/Davidson County.
Heritage Action is the grassroots activist sister organization to Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank founded in 1973. Heritage’s more than 100 researchers perform timely and accurate research on critical policy issues and shares the findings with key stakeholders including elected and appointed policy makers, the media and the public, including Heritage Action and the Sentinel community.
Heritage Action came into being in 2010 when Heritage Foundation’s research on The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, needed to be taken to a level beyond information into activism.
In 2014, Heritage Foundation launched The Daily Signal, a conservative electronic publication that combines news and research that can be republished, as done by The Tennessee Star.
Heritage Action, with the mission of holding Congress accountable to conservative principles, may be best known for its Scorecard which measures votes, bill sponsorships and legislative activities to gauge a member’s conservatism.
Long-time grassroots activists Katherine Hudgins and Jackie Archer founded the Rutherford County Heritage Sentinels and have continued to grow and nurture the group through regular meetings, activities and interaction with their U.S. Representative Scott DesJarlais. Interaction with federal legislators is the foundation of Heritage Action Sentinel activities, to ensure the advancement of conservative policy.
Tennessee native, Ed Smith, a member of the Rutherford County Sentinels, has initiated an expansion of the Sentinel network into his home county of Davidson. Last week, the group embarked on its first official activity, which was a visit to U.S. Sen. Bob Corker’s Nashville office by about 12 new members.
The Sentinels, well-informed and well-prepared, crowded into a room not designed for as many visitors and asked questions of Corker’s State Director Brent Wiles and Legislative Director Rob Strayer, who, based in the Washington D.C. office, joined in via conference call.
For more than an hour, and going over the allotted meeting time, the Sentinels’ inquiries covered a range of topics from the repeal of Obamacare to the Senator’s role in the Iran deal to the repeal of Dodd-Frank, to illegal immigration, all of which were fielded deftly by the Senator’s two capable and accommodating directors.
During the post-meeting discussion at a local restaurant, the Sentinels’ expressed their perception that Sen. Corker’s positions may need to be more conservative and that they had a desire for greater depth to the discussion, which will likely result in a request for a follow-up meeting.
