The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
Last week, Mollie raised an interesting point about what a Mitt Romney nomination means for the Republican Party. In the comments, I shared my concern concerning the lean-Republican independents who make up much of the Tea Party, and who prior to 2009 were mostly inactive in politics beyond regularly voting.
The Tea Party is a collection of people who felt compelled to transition from citizens to activists in favor of limited government and fiscal restraint. Many sacrifice time away from family, work, and life in a desperate attempt to save the nation they love, from their perspective. My concern is that the Tea Party will recoil from supporting a Republican Party that is headed by John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and Mitt Romney.
I spoke with one such Tea Partier, Rebecca from Florida, over the weekend. She's a retired detective turned young stay-at-home mom, who labels herself a "generic Tea Partier." What she had to say was fascinating and illuminating, and it should concern just about every smart Republican. She was gracious enough to let me publicize her thoughts here at Ricochet.
Here's what she had to share:
"I became politically engaged after the 2008 election," Rebecca told me. "I used to only vote in Presidential elections and local elections that were of interest to me. In January of 2008 I saw Barack Obama give a speech and I was really wowed. He is quite a gifted speaker." She admits that she "liked what he was saying, but some things were just a little off."
She started listening to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck again, wanting to hear what this Obama fellow was really about. But beyond that, she didn't engage in activism - she just showed up to vote for McCain, despite what she considered his "progressivism."
"Obama got elected. Then Obamacare was rammed through. I was appalled. I couldn't believe the shady way such important legislation was passed," Rebecca said. "I have some like-minded mommy friends and I got together with them. I joined our local 9/12 Project, and As A Mom and the TEA Party of Tampa Bay."
Via email and Twitter, Rebecca started sharing information, organizing, paying more attention to what was happening. She took early retirement in 2010 to stay home with her son (Benjamin - a great name, am I right?), and gave birth to another young son (Jameson) last May.
"You see, I now have *much* more to think about in regards to the future of our country," Rebecca said, and happily so. She redoubled her efforts, achieving a level of engagement in politics she'd never had before, and as you all know, Florida's Senate race was ground zero for this movement.
"Casting my vote for Marco Rubio in the primary and then again in the general gave me this amazing feeling of accomplishment," Rebecca said. "I felt like we had done it. First, when he beat Crist for the Republican nod. When he won the seat, I felt like I had finally been able to cast a vote for someone I *believed* in, instead of just choosing the least worst one."
"2010 was a real turning point for me. I watched the midterm election results as we won the House with some good, solid conservatives and I felt so proud and accomplished. I felt like we - the TEA Party, my mommy friends, ME - we had made a difference," Rebecca said. "We were helping to put our country back on the right path, and return to the ideals of our founders."
"Then came 2011," Rebecca says, and her mood clouds. "It felt like every time I turned around, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell were selling us out, hanging our Tea Party freshmen out to dry, and doing it for no apparent reason."
She's unsure why this is. "Are they idiots, or just the worst chess/poker players ever? Every time they have an opportunity to limit government, reduce taxes, etc. they blow it."
And all the while, President Obama is able to "look like he's trying, he's really trying, but the 'Republican Controlled Congress' keeps getting in the way. The debt ceiling increases. The lack of a budget. The 30-odd House passed bills that Harry Reid won't allow a vote on." Indeed, Rebecca is so infuriated with the Congress' inability to carry their message or push back, she thinks a third party might be needed.
"I almost feel as though there needs to be a new party, a truly conservative party, that really represents us. Sometimes I feel like the GOP is more interested in protecting their jobs than in promoting conservative ideals. At least, that's what Boehner and McConnell make me think," Rebecca said. "Why can't we have a party full of Rubios - candidates who believe in American exceptionalism and limited government, and do so unapologetically? Why do we have to have so many squishes?"
The Republican presidential stakes kicked in, and Rebecca engaged. Her hopes rise with Rick Perry's entrance, but then "he gets hammered for stupid things, and drops." She thought about Herman Cain, "but his lack of campaign management was disconcerting." She never really thought Bachmann would make it to Florida, and says "Erick Erickson has educated me too much to cast a vote for Rick Santorum." She considers Ron Paul's views right on a number of accounts, but thinks his foreign policy is "crazy."
"So here I am, supporting Newt Gingrich," Rebecca says. "I'm not in love with Newt, but I trust him more to stay true to conservative ideals. The guy pushed Clinton right, for goodness sake. I only trust Mitt to stay true to himself."
So, Rebecca, about Mitt: why not Romney this time?
"I don't trust him, and I don't think he can win. He is utterly unaware of how offensive his disconnect with the average American is. He drops $10K bets like it's nothing. He thinks $342,000 isn't very much to make in a year," Rebecca said. "I don't begrudge him his wealth - he worked for it and earned it and that is admirable. But I hate his lack of awareness of how super-wealthy he is. His flip-flops are legendary."
"Oh, and he invented Obamacare."
"I see a Romney nomination causing Tea Partiers like me to tune out. We are already disheartened by the congressional leadership. Romney will be the final nail in the coffin. He is completely uninspiring, and is everything we have been working so hard to defeat within the GOP," Rebecca said. "Don't even get me started on that Bain Capital picture. Ugh. There is no way he can win. And I don't want to have to defend him while he tries."
"What is the point in becoming educated on candidates and politics, arguing with my friends, taking the time away from my family - to end up with the guy McCain can't even look in the eye. Why bother?" Rebecca says. "Obviously the "establishment" has already decided it's Romney's turn, and to hell with what we want. I feel like I'm being patted on the head and told "Now go vote for Romney like a good little girl. We know what's best."... I don't even do that to my 3-year-old. It's insulting. It doesn't make me want to campaign for him."
"It honestly makes me want to skip the election, but Obama scares me too much to do that. I do think a Romney presidency will hurt the GOP brand though, and make it hard for a real conservative to have a shot," Rebecca said. "I feel like this is so similar to our 2010 Senate race. Romney is the Crist candidate, loved by many and backed by the establishment. But we have no Rubio. Crist would have been an easy win. He was a liked governor. Without Rubio, he would have easily won the seat. Just because we don't have a Rubio in this race doesn't mean we need to settle for a Crist."
Rebecca feels pressure, among more longstanding Republicans, to get on board the idea of Romney. But she says she's more likely to disengage. This is part of my overall concern: where cycles of political strife often include longtime activists bemoaning flawed nominees (as we saw in 2008 with McCain, and 1996 with Dole) and threatening to walk away, these are paid professionals who have been actively engaged in politics for decades. The Tea Party has a much shorter timeframe of engagement, which may indicate they are more likely to return to their previously disenfranchised state.
"It's like [Republicans] think because I don't eat, sleep and breathe politics, I can't make an informed decision - it must be emotional. My guy lost so I don't want your guy to win. When really I just don't think your guy is the best guy for the job," Rebecca said. "I can easily see a decreased Tea Party voter turn out if Romney is the nominee. I know political pundits may find this hard to believe, but not everyone's life revolves around elections. Are they important? Yes. Should people vote? Absolutely. But LIFE happens."
Rebecca tabulates her schedule for tomorrow, Florida's election day - a typical Tuesday for her household. She flies solo nearly all day, and she's never voted early. Husband's breakfast/lunch packed. Get her two boys up. Breakfast/lunch packed for them. Thirty minutes to Kindermusik, all morning there. Home early afternoon, already late for their naps. Errands, an abbreviated playtime. Dinner, baths, bed. Just voting, she says, is nearly impossible with two youngsters during the day lest naptimes and eating schedules be disrupted, and there's no way she can even attempt to get it done with both kids after about 5 because of the after-work crowds. But she'll still do it.
"I will be voting this Tuesday. I will make it fit into my schedule. I feel like my vote matters right now," Rebecca said. "But can you see how I might not make it a priority if I feel like either my vote doesn't matter, or if I don't feel like the candidate I'm voting for will be much different then what we have? Can you see how life may take precedence over casting an uninspired vote? I can't be alone in this thought process, and if enough people feel this way (and I think they will) it will be catastrophic for Romney and really very bad down-ticket as well."
Will the Tea Party remain engaged in a party led by Romney, Boehner, and McConnell? Rebecca thinks we are about to find out.
"I feel like the people who live politics just don't understand those of us who don't. I am a self-identified political junkie. I am enthralled this cycle with how things change so quickly, and I am trying to stay very informed. But I have to be honest, my time is limited. My family, my boys are my everything. Being informed takes time away from them," she says, whether it's engaging online, organizing activist responses, pushing back their naps to attend a rally.
"If I don't feel like I'm making a difference, where is my incentive to take that time from them?" Rebecca asks.
How Republicans answer her, and the concerns of those like her, may decide their future as a party in 2012 and beyond.
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Comments:
Mar '11
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
wmartin said: "It's just that tea partiers are showing that they're still rookies at politics, both in the two senate races I mentioned and in their support of Newt Gingrich."
And how have the pros at politics been working out for us as opposed to us rookies? Political pros dominate Europe's governments too, don't they?
Aug '11
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
Where is the viable Tea Party candidate? Two years ago, voters in Florida were able to vote for Rubio over Crist, because Rubio was on the ballot. Some members of the Tea Party may prefer Gingrich over Romney, but Newt is far from the ideal Tea Party candidate. I would like to have a better choice, but for various reasons the possible preferable candidates chose not to run. I believe that there was a massive failure at the grassroots level not to encourage a stronger more conservative candidate to enter the race.
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
BlueAnt:
And Ben, for a Florida voter like myself, that picture of Romney getting cozy with former governor Charlie Crist is the most effective argument against Romney you could make. The guy went from having Romney levels of lukewarm support, to being the poster boy for GOP leftward drift, to abandoning the Republican party when they nominated Marco Rubio, to doing personal injury lawyer ads.
All Newt needs to do to win FL is show up and say "Folks, Mitt Romney is a carbon copy of Charlie Crist". The resulting landslide would confuse every GOP pundit who doesn't live here. · 4 hours ago
Newt has said that, and was condemned for it by several, including Rubio. In fairness, it's a picture from 2008 (included because of Rebecca's comparison between the two) - Romney endorsed Rubio in 2010.
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
wmartin
Stuart Creque
Problem #3: Without the TEA Party, "we" would have ZERO Houses of Congress. It's pretty myopic to blame the TEA Party for not managing to get ten seats in the Senate while failing to credit it for gaining 63 seats in the House. · 11 minutes ago
I fully acknowledge that tea party energy got us the House. It's just that tea partiers are showing that they're still rookies at politics, both in the two senate races I mentioned and in their support of Newt Gingrich. They think 2010 means much more than it does, and they don't quite seem to understand just how different the composition of the electorate is in a Presidential election. · 56 minutes ago
All the more reason, wmartin, to think that they are likely to become depressed and bolt. Rookies tend to be far more willing to cast aside political activity than veterans.
Apr '11
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
Ben Domenech
wmartin
All the more reason, wmartin, to think that they are likely to become depressed and bolt. Rookies tend to be far more willing to cast aside political activity than veterans. · 1 minute ago
Ben, in that case, I think we're just screwed. The best candidates chose not to run. Going with Newt may pacify tea partiers while repelling almost everything else. I like Rick Santorum a lot, but he has too many social issue positions that would greatly displease anyone not in the conservative base. Mitt has his issues, as we have gone over here at Ricochet ad infinitum...
Feb '11
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
Duane Oyen: My advice to all of us is to grow up. Good grief.
If this person can't tell the difference between Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell, between Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner, and between Barack Obama and even Mitt Romney, she should have her kids taken away by Child Protective Services as too spacey to be a fit parent.
In other words, shut up and do what you're told, you stupid Tea Partier.
It's this kind of dismissive attitude towards the voters who happen to notice and complain about the relentless failure of the GOP that is driving the party into oblivion.
Succeed, and these sort of complaints from voters will stop.
Dec '10
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
A stronger, more conservative candidate like Rick Perry? They succeeded at getting him into the race. He failed -- mainly because anyone who hasn't planned out and laid the groundwork for a Presidential campaign at least a year in advance is pretty much bound to fail.
Apr '11
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
Romney’s endorsement came quite late
"In an apparent response to claims made by Newt Gingrich and Gingrich’s Florida campaign manager Jose Mallea that the primary was shaping up to be a replay of the 2010 Rubio-Crist race, with Gingrich playing the Rubio part, Rubio told reporters that “Romney is a conservative, and he was one of the first national Republican leaders to endorse me.”
But a source close to Rubio’s 2010 campaign tells Newsmax that his memory of Romney’s involvement is a “bit faulty.”
Romney was not “one of the first” Republican leaders to back Rubio’s senate bid.
In fact, Romney’s endorsement came quite late, on April 21, 2010, just one week before Crist bolted from the Republican party to run as an independent.
By that time, polls showed Rubio with a significant lead over Crist and the likely winner.
Early national GOP endorsements for Rubio came more than a year before Romney’s endorsement and began with Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., in June of 2009, followed soon thereafter by conservative columnist George Will.
Romney Endorsed Rubio Late in 2010
Aug '11
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
Stuart Creque
A stronger, more conservative candidate like Rick Perry? They succeeded at getting him into the race. He failed -- mainly because anyone who hasn't planned out and laid the groundwork for a Presidential campaign at least a year in advance is pretty much bound to fail. · 27 minutes ago
Rick Perry was a more conservative, but not a stronger candidate. Perry was ill-prepared for the campaign. You say he didn't have enough time to lay the groundwork, but that is usually an issue of money and money wasn't an issue with the Perry campaign. Perry didn't fail because the GOP establishment conspired against him. He turned out to be a below average campaigner once he was out of his comfort zone in Texas. I find it hard to believe that someone like Mitch Daniels would have looked as ill-prepared in the debates as Perry did.
Apr '11
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
"Romney’s “Charlie Crist” problem is this: Romney’s chief campaign strategist and several of his most senior campaign staff were Crist’s top political advisers — the same ones who crafted Crist’s moderate, ignore-the-tea-party strategy epitomized in Crist’s famous “hug” of President Barack Obama. That strategy led Crist, once the most popular Republican governor in the nation, to defeat.
Crist’s erstwhile political team was led by controversial GOP strategist Stuart Stevens. Stevens and partner Russ Schriefer are the principals in the high-profile Stevens & Schriefer Group consultant firm and are playing the lead role in crafting Romney’s primary and national campaign strategy.
Other senior Crist political aides from his failed Senate campaign now hold key posts in Romney’s campaign. Amanda Henneberg, who had served as Crist’s press secretary, now is a spokeswoman with the Romney 2012 campaign. Likewise, Andrea Saul, who was Crist’s communications director, now is Romney’s press secretary."
Romney Campaign Run by Charlie Crist’s Political Aides
Edited on January 31, 2012 at 1:24amApr '11
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
Stuart Creque
Frozen Chosen
Really?
Because as a Governor, Romney and his State Legislature were both required under the State Constitution and State law to balance the budget. They had no choice.
President Clinton and the Congress in 1993 had no such constraints, and indeed showed no inclination toward balancing the Federal budget. It took Newt Gingrich leading the Republican takeover of Congress and becoming Speaker of the House to force Clinton to agree to "triangulate" to a balanced Federal budget. I note that no one since has managed to replicate the feat.
In my opinion, that puts Newt Gingrich way ahead of Romney on the proven fiscal responsibility score. ·
Have you seen the supposed Mass. balanced budget requirement? Here it is. LXXIII, section 2. It is short, easy to read, and not really a balanced budget requirement. The statutory provisions sometimes cited as being such are here, and likewise.
As I'm sure you know, Mitt inherited a large deficit and replaced it with a surplus, but Massachusetts nevertheless currently owes over $101 billion dollars. That debt required deficits to grow.
Edited on January 31, 2012 at 1:39amApr '11
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
Cont.
I wrote a post on much of this, but was solely focused on the spending there. Aside from the tech boom (and other advances in the private sector), the biggest reason Newt was able to balance the budget (or within the margin of accepted fraud) was by failing to defeat the tax hikes in 1990 and 1993. No one has replicated taxes on that scale since, true, but this is because of conservative victories. Gingrich's 4 surplus years were four years of taxes being ~20% of GDP. We're at ~15% now.
Apr '11
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
DrewInWisconsin
It doesn't have to be. Looks like Romney might win Florida. (He should, because he's spent millions there trashing Newt with multiple lies, and a lie goes halfway around the Gulf of Mexico while the truth is still putting on its pants.) But that's just Florida. There are 46 states left. Let's make sure Romney wins none of them.
I know some very conservative people who are prepared to vote for Obama if Romney becomes the nominee. They figure that's the only way that the GOP establishment will learn.
Personally, I think Mitt peaked last week, and it's all downhill from here. Nationally, Newt is still polling ahead of Mitt. ·
Do you really believe this? Even the suggestion that 46 states are in play? How do you rate the odds in Nevada, home of Newt's wallet, and the next race after Florida?
Apr '11
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
Viator: "Romney’s “Charlie Crist” problem is this: .....
Romney Campaign Run by Charlie Crist’s Political Aides ·
As the Weekly Standard notes, Rubio doesn't buy this line.
This is a much more detailed description of the issue.
Dec '10
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
The idea of Obama nominating two more Supreme Court justices is enough to unman me. If Romney is the nominee I will not vote for him; I will vote against Obama making these nominations.
It took slavery, an institution antithetical to the foundational principles of the nation, to inspire the creation of the Republican party. I foresee fiscal insanity as another such antithetical institution that could inspire the creation of a new party if the current parties can't get their [expletive] in one sock.
Aug '11
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
James Of England
Do you really believe this? Even the suggestion that 46 states are in play? How do you rate the odds in Nevada, home of Newt's wallet, and the next race after Florida?
Do I believe there are 46 states left to vote after Florida? Yes, I do. There are 1144 delegates to be assigned, and so far Newt is ahead. Is there some reason we should cancel all the other primaries and crown Mitt right now? When he's behind in the delegate count?
And here's how February is shaping up.
And here's how Super Tuesday is looking.
Stop now? Not a chance!
Edited on January 31, 2012 at 2:06amApr '11
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
Strategic Blunder
"The Republican Establishment is made up of the following: 1) many current and nearly all retired Republican national office holders whose livelihood and narcissistic demands depends upon fealty to Party and access to government largesse; 2) the majority of the conservative media, including pundits, editors, writers and television news personalities based in Washington and New York whose proximity to power and access is vital to their continued standard of living; 3) numerous think-tanks and members thereof who are waiting to latch on to the next Republican administration for employment and ego-gratification; and 4) the reliable deep pocket political contributors and political consultants whose future is irrevocably tied to the political machinery of the Party." (e.g. Stevens & Schriefer, lead consultant of Romney's campaign)
"The overriding interest of this cabal has been and continues to be: the accumulation of power through the control of the income, borrowing and spending by the Federal Government."
"this cabal that has given the nation Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole, George W. Bush and John McCain....and innumerable go-along to get-along members of Congress."
http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/01/the_republican_establishments_strategic_blunder.html#ixzz1kzduv3Xg
Apr '11
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
James Of England
Viator: "Romney’s “Charlie Crist” problem is this: .....
Romney Campaign Run by Charlie Crist’s Political Aides ·
This is a much more detailed description of the issue. · 11 minutes ago
A masterful article chock full of spin. As I show above Romney DID NOT endorse Rubio early, but rather late. Spin of course is the polite phrase for lying. Romney was certainly not "one of the first national Republican leaders to endorse me" (Rubio). Romney did it two days before Gingrich, at the endgame and almost one year after the first national figures endorsed Rubio.
Romney is up to his neck in Crist people.
"Stuart Stevens and his firm Stevens & Schriefer, had been consultants to Crist for almost a decade. The firm specializes in electing moderate and liberal Republicans in blue states."
Dec '10
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
James Of England
Have you seen the supposed Mass. balanced budget requirement? Here it is. LXXIII, section 2. It is short, easy to read, and not really a balanced budget requirement. The statutory provisions sometimes cited as being such are here, and likewise.
Looks like a mandatory balanced budget to me. From the website to which you linked:
Dec '10
Re: The Conversation With a Florida Tea Partier That Should Scare Every Republican
Howiefelt
Rick Perry was a more conservative, but not a stronger candidate. Perry was ill-prepared for the campaign. You say he didn't have enough time to lay the groundwork, but that is usually an issue of money and money wasn't an issue with the Perry campaign. Perry didn't fail because the GOP establishment conspired against him. He turned out to be a below average campaigner once he was out of his comfort zone in Texas. I find it hard to believe that someone like Mitch Daniels would have looked as ill-prepared in the debates as Perry did. · 1 hour ago
Everyone touted Perry as Rick the Romney-Killer before he got into the race: multiple terms as Texas governor, never lost a campaign, etc., etc. Only after he entered the race did his weakness show.
Why are you convinced that Mitch Daniels or Paul Ryan or any other hero would not likewise turn out to have feet of clay, especially if he had to be dragged into a Presidential campaign reluctantly and with no time to prepare? Isn't that what happened to Palin in 2008 as McCain's running mate?