Indiana GOP's primary mission is to 'defeat' agenda of Democratic Party

Republican Rep. Mike Pence, who's seeking to become leader of the House Republicans when Democrats take control in January, said his party's primary mission in Congress' next two sessions will be "to defeat the agenda of the Democratic Party."\nPence, R-Ind., released a document Friday containing a five-point vision in which he declared that "our primary task these next two years: to expose, dismantle and defeat the 'principles to which we have been forced to succumb.'"\nThe document repeats Pence's call to the GOP to unite behind conservative goals of small government and lower taxes and goes on to urge fellow House Republicans to dedicate themselves to using their "talents and expertise to dismantle Democratic arguments and expose their liberal, big government agenda at every turn."\nJennifer Wagner, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Democratic Party, said Saturday that she was surprised by the tone of Pence's statement, calling it pessimistic and antagonistic.\n"I think if we learned one thing from Tuesday, it's that people in this country want Republicans and Democrats to work together in Congress," she said.\n"The tone of his statement is such that it's just a little surprising that he wouldn't want to work with Democrats, as opposed to starting out the gates with such pessimism and antagonism."\nAfter Democrats regained control of both the U.S. House and Senate in Tuesday's election, Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., announced he would not run for party leader when the new Congress convenes under Democratic control.\nThat left Ohio Rep. John Boehner, the current majority leader, and Pence, a prominent conservative elected Tuesday to his fourth term in Congress, as rivals for the post. Rep. Joe Barton of Texas is another potential contender.\nIn announcing his bid to lead the new GOP minority, Pence issued an appeal for a renewed commitment to the restrained federal spending and limited government that swept his party into power in 1994.\nIn an interview with The Republic of Columbus, Ind., Pence said he believed he is "uniquely suited" to lead Republicans back to the majority in Congress in 2008.