The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
That's the topline info from this New York Times report:
The Tea Party is very much alive in the drive for Republican control of the Senate, portending a potential shake-up in the mind-set of the chamber. The easy Republican primary victory in Texas on Tuesday of Ted Cruz, the 41-year-old Sarah Palin-blessed upstart, virtually assured the latest Tea Party candidate a seat in the chamber next year. And he will not be alone when it comes to those backed by the movement, which propelled Republicans to control of the House in 2010.
We're told that more than half of the Republicans in contested Senate races are of the Tea Party variety and that this could lead to some awesome showdowns with liberal Republicans:
Even if Democrats maintain control, newcomers like Mr. Cruz are likely to coalesce quickly with veteran conservatives like Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina and freshmen like Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, enlarging the ranks of members who stand well to the right of their party’s central platform.
As a result, the group could also present the sort of added aggravations for Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, that befell the House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio, as he sought to draft difficult deals with Democrats and the White House at a time of a complex fiscal mess.
Should Republicans gain control of the Senate — as they have a fair shot of doing — Mr. McConnell could find himself having to balance the demands of Republicans like Mr. Cruz against those of remaining centrists like Senator Susan Collins of Maine.
I'll take it. And do Republicans really have a fair shot of gaining control of the Senate?
Either way, Mitch McConnell is trying to reach out to Tea Party types. Good. And the story goes on to explain that Democrats, who aren't as keen about the Tea Party, are trying to use Tea Party affiliations against Republican candidates:
Republicans say, good luck with that. “This will probably come as a newsflash to the liberal Democratic establishment in Washington,” said Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, “but in states like Missouri, Indiana, Nebraska and Arizona, what voters think is extreme is Obamacare, massive tax hikes on small businesses and $8 trillion in new debt over the last five years. So attacks like this simply show how out-of-touch Democrats in Washington are these days and it’s a very serious problem for their fellow liberal candidates across the country.”
I know the media will probably write another couple dozen "Tea Party is dead" stories in the ensuing months, but if this movement can accomplish change in the Senate, what a victory that would be.
And while moderate enthusiasm for the top candidate isn't generally great, I wonder if it might help people focus on the important Senate and House races in their states.
(Bonus link: Watch Tom Coburn school MSNBC on enumerated powers.)
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Jun '10
Re: The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
Remember all those Tea Party rallies? Well, those people exchanged Facebook information, and got on email lists. So now, they don't have to go to rallies. They can just go to Facebook.
Aug '11
Re: The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.:
(Bonus link: Watch Tom Coburn school MSNBC on enumerated powers.)
Oh, that was uncomfortable. I almost felt sorry for Jonathan Capehart.
Almost.
His stumbling "Article 1, section 8? I should know this but what's . . ." was amusing for the deer-in-the-headlights look. (It seemed the real question in his eyes was "the constitution has articles? Like a magazine? I don't get it.")
Mercifully, the camera looked away.
Someone could probably put together a lengthy film featuring clips of MSNBC talking heads being instructed on the finer points of the constitution. I would watch it with a big bowl of popcorn.
Edited on August 2, 2012 at 4:55pmDec '10
Re: The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.: That's the topline info from this New York Times report:
And while moderate enthusiasm for the top candidate isn't generally great, I wonder if it might help people focus on the important Senate and House races in their states. ...
Tea Party candidates extend coattails to Mitt Romney. A Hitchcock quality irony, Sarah Pallin gins up Tea Party and conservative votes for Romney. If Romney and his campaign team are smart, Pallin will be at the GOP convention with a prime time speaking slot, Romney needs her and he needs her to be at the top of her game ... are you listening Dick Cheney?
Jan '11
Re: The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
Scorn is their only defense. Facts didn't work.
Feb '12
Re: The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
You may be right, but I suspect the narrative will be that "the Tea Party is back, and it's worse than you ever imagined it to be". Democratic candidates from the top of the ticket on down are in desperate need of a motivated base. This will be another attempt in that direction. I don't think it will succeed.
Apr '11
Re: The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
Reports from the lost colony of New York where they believe and write things like:
“I think it’s more of their problem than ours,” said Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Democrats involved in campaigns further insist that Tea Party candidates will be disadvantaged among the much-coveted independent voters come November."
From the Grey Lady who, as time passes, more and more resembles Miss Havisham.
Apr '11
Re: The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
Viator: Reports from the lost colony of New York where they believe and write things like:
“I think it’s more of their problem than ours,” said Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Democrats involved in campaigns further insist that Tea Party candidates will be disadvantaged among the much-coveted independent voters come November."
From the Grey Lady who, as time passes, more and more resembles Miss Havisham. · 3 minutes ago
Just like Scott Walker a short time ago. He certainly had a heck of a time getting independents on board, didn't he?
Mar '11
Re: The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
Re: Capeheart--Wow. Is it worse that he doesn't know what's in Article 1 Section 8 or that, even after a minute or so that Coburn has spent expounding on the problem, which itself occurs after Coburn stated once in the interview already that Art1 Sec8 lays out the enumerated powers (see 0:24 in), Capeheart still failed to connect the dots and made a fool out of himself by asking the question later on.
Re: Tea Party--Is the Tea Party the New Establishment, asks James Rosen at Fox.
May '11
Re: The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
If Republicans do take the Senate, most of the new members will be Tea Partiers. Will Mitch McConnell be elected majority leader or maybe Jim DeMint? Now there would be a signal that things are changing.
May '10
Re: The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
Democrats consider any Republican with values and a spine an extremist.
This is the way it's supposed to work. Don't try to convince politicians to your side. Replace them with better ones.
Apr '11
Re: The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
Aaron Miller: Democrats consider any Republican with values and a spine an extremist.
This is the way it's supposed to work. Don't try to convince politicians to your side. Replace them with better ones. · 46 minutes ago
I think it was Peggy Noonan who had an excellent analogy re your point. Imagine a ruler with Dems standing at one end and GOP standing on the 12" mark. A perfect compromise would mean a resolution somewhere at the 6" mark. But because one party is more powerful at any time and there are political implications to consider, resolutions end up somewhere in the 4"-8" region.
Unfortunately, for decades, the GOP has stared negotiations standing at the 8" mark, therefore when compromises are reached they inevitably land squarely on the Dem side of the ruler (even when the GOP is in power).
Now we have a group who is saying no more and wants to move the GOP back to the 12" mark as their starting point. Dems are very uncomfortable with this and see this as "extreme", and in their minds IT IS EXTREME based on the behavior of the GOP governing class these past few decades.
Oct '10
Re: The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
For an astro-turfed movement, that Tea Party movement sure has legs.
May '10
Re: The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
There were a bunch of people at Chick-Fil-A last night in Tea Party t-shirts and/or baseball caps. And at one point the Tea Partiers in the restaurant acted as cheerleaders, cheering CFA. I think that, around here, the whole CFA thing was at least as much a political First Amendment issue as it was anything else. It appears to me it's alive and well.
Jul '10
Re: The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
Dawn breaks over Marblehead. And as the Fat Lady, fueled by ever dwindling capital, sinks into the sunset the Tea Party continues to battle for liberty and the Constitution.
Dec '10
Re: The Tea Party Is Alive! Alive!
@ Pilli, perhaps, but I wouldn't be so sure. On the one hand, Sen. DeMint is giving up day-to-day leadership of the Senate Conservatives Fund, so he is clearing his dance card, but it may be for other leadership activity.
Personally, I would like Sen. McConnell to remain in the leadership role, as he has some great skills in the parlimentary area. Has he appeared to give too much away? It would appear so, but recall that the GOP has not had a fillibuster-proof majority that I can recall, plus it has always had many left-leaning and corruptible members that would become more influential in a GOP majority. Somebody has to be the strategic/parlimentarian/coalition-building leader and that is probably not DeMint's strength.
The left-leaning GOP senators will RUN towards the Democrats on every contested vote, if the GOP gets the majority. And the media will adore them for their integrity and wisdom.