Before getting to the main event, former RNC Chair Ken Mehlman announced that he was gay. I think I speak for most Americans when I say…shrug. Haley Barbour is Southern and Michael Steele is black. The news just never stops at the RNC.
My concerns about Mehlman were alleviated when I read that he was still Jewish and still Republican. Apparently his homosexuality has no bearing on his views to cut taxes and kill terrorists. Leftists complaining (redundant, I know) that he should have “acted sooner” should shut up and understand that he is a human being first and a politico second. His journey was most likely painful, and I wish him only happiness. I have met the man several times, and he is one of the good guys.
Now on to the main event.
Awhile back I wrote about the battle of “Republican vs Conservative.” I stated back then what I still feel today. I don’t care one bit about ideological purity. I care about winning elections and governing. I have voted for moderate and conservative Republicans, with zero regrets. Those who celebrated the “victory” in the primary in the NY 23rd special election forgot that winning the primary did not mean winning the general election.
Now the Republican Party is contending with the Tea Party movement.
Not every offshoot movement consists of crackpots. The Ron Paul supporters ranting and raving about (not sure exactly, nobody listens to them) are crackpots. They are also a small movement insisting they matter. The proof is in the votes. Ron Paul was an asterisk in the 2008 election, and his movement remains statistically insignificant.
(Before the Rupaul supporters inundate me with angry and incoherent emails, please remember that shouting does not equate into large numbers. Until you prove otherwise electorally, you don’t matter. If you mattered any less you would be Howard Dean, Ned Lamont, and Moveon.org supporters. 0% success is a good indicator.)
The Tea Party movement is mainly disaffected conservatives unhappy with the Republican Party. The movement is not about social issues. It’s main issue is the desire to reduce government spending before America goes bankrupt.
I have been to Tea Parties. I have spoken at them. I even headlined one on April 15th, spoke at another on July 4th, and will play a major role in one on 9/11. The people attending are good people, and their voices do matter. They are large in numbers, and they have clearly shown electoral prowess.
I give the Tea Party movement credit for going from a group of people holding rallies to actually fielding candidates. Several of these candidates have shocked the nation and the Republican “establishment” by winning primaries.
(Sadly enough, the best of the bunch was Chuck DeVore in California. He has a bright future ahead of him.)
One thing we have seen about the Tea Party movement is that Sarah Palin is every bit as powerful as Barack Obama is radioactive. No Democrats want Mr. Obama’s endorsement. The proverbial flyover from Air Force One is sufficient. As for Sarah Palin, every Republican wants her endorsement.
Nikki Haley was one of many Tea Party Candidates who have won their primary races. Palin rocketed Haley over the top. Palin’s intervention in the Alaska senate race (admittedly that contained an element of payback) turned the race upside down. Her endorsement of Carly Fiorina (baffling ideologically given DeVore, but she has been endorsing women) blew open a close race.
The left is obsessed with Palin because she is a threat. I have seen the results. When she endorses somebody, they rise dramatically in the polls.
Yet when I speak to groups, I am uncomfortable when I am asked about the Tea Party movement. I always give them my initial reaction, followed by an explanation.
My initial response about the Tea Party movement is simple. Ask me the day after the general election.
I have always been comfortable supporting establishments candidates. I am less enraged than others on the issues. The GOP lost its way on spending, but I felt they would go back to their roots if they won.
I do not always want to play it safe. In terms of policy, I support offering another Contract With America rather than using the 2006 Democrat playbook and standing for nothing. My option is the riskier one.
Yet with candidates, I am more cautious.
In Nevada, establishment candidate Sue Lowden and well known candidate Danny Tarkanian were routed by Sharron Angle, a Tea Party darling (I have done events with her, she is incredibly nice).
In Florida, long-time establishment candidate (and very good guy) Bill McCollum lost a stunner to Tea Party favorite Rick Scott.
In Utah, Bob Bennett lost his seat in a primary.
Some will say that the GOP is getting back to its roots and throwing the bums out. Others are worried that the GOP are being cannibalized by extremists.
So which narrative is correct?
Again, ask me after the election.
I think Bill McCollum would have coasted in the general election. I think Rick Scott (and Sharron Angle) will be easier to demonize. It does not matter if the portrayals of them are truthful. Negative campaigning works.
If the Tea Party candidates win, then the Republican party will be revitalized. It will be more conservative, especially fiscally.
If the Tea Party candidates lose, there will be some serious GOP bloodletting.
There is bloodletting for the losing side after every election, but 2010 is even more serious.
The Republicans have been gift wrapped election success. There is absolute disgust with the Democrats. 2010 should be like 1994.
(I do not see the Republicans getting the senate. The numbers are not there. They would have to run the table and win 15 of 16 races. I see them winning 12 of 16 and still trailing 52-48. Also, Nobody knows what Charlie Crist would do if he won. However, the house is ripe for being retaken. The anger at the Pelosiraptor should carry the day.)
However, there is a chance that Harry Reid could survive. The same with Barbara Boxer (Carly Fiorina is not a Tea Party candidate, but she is an “outsider.” Ironically, Tea Party favorite DeVore was an assemblyman.) in California.
If Republicans lose races that they “should” have won, the Tea Party will be blamed.
If the Democrats retain both houses of congress, then the Tea Party movement will be as hated in the GOP as social conservatives were in 1992 when Pat Buchanan destroyed President George H.W. Bush.
Conservatives across the country could have played it safe. Instead we rolled the dice, pushed our chips to the center of the table, and went “all in.”
The Democrats are trying to lose this election. Yet Republicans may not want to win it.
Anybody on the right who feels that losing in November would be ok because they “made their point and had their voices heard” need to be smacked upside their spiteful heads.
The way to get a more conservative country is for conservative candidates to win.
Tea Party candidates won in primaries that cater to more conservative candidates. General elections require getting moderate voters.
I am supporting the Republican candidates. The day after primaries end, all right of center voters should be loyal soldiers and fall into line. Defeated right of center candidates should loudly endorse nominees who bested them, no matter how bitter the primary.
The goal is to take down the Democrats and rescue this country from the disasters of the Pelosiraptor and Barack Obama.
Republicans succeeding or failing in November in this endeavor is the only measuring stick I use.
Talk is cheap.
Win elections, and claim the mantle for governing.
The Tea Party people claim they are not gadflys in the Rupaul or Howard Dean tradition.
I believe the movement is legitimate.
Time to prove it. The options are electoral success, or the entire movement being dumped in the river.
10 weeks to go.
eric
Well, in a way I would like to see some Tea Party candidates win just so they can continue to make fools of themselves, further embarrassing the movement, and/or become absorbed by the establishment, disillusioning the movement. Historically, Nativist/Nationalist movements like the Tea Party tend to fizzle out quickly, and usually for the two reasons I point out above. The comparison to the Know Nothing Party should be pretty clear and obvious. Like the Know Nothings, the Tea Party should see some gains and growth in power before they collapse on themselves, as the gains and growth itself will only further expose them for what they are – a movement based soley on hate.
JMJ
” a movement based soley on hate.”
Ohhh, boo hoo. Isnt that terrible ? They hate being taxed up the a$$, monstrous government and people sneaking into our country.
They’re an abomination I tell you ! An abomination !
Besides, I think right now even a high school cheerleader team could successfully replace this administration, work 1 day a week and still do a better job.
Your threat comes from whithin Jersey. The right just has to sit back and watch as everything weve ever said becomes apparent to even those on the left who voted for and are coming after this Idiot in Chief
Micky, when I talk about the Tea Party being a hate-based movement, I’m not referring to taxes. Now, of course, there is the anti-immigrant sentiments. And that is just plain ol’ racism on the face of it. These Tea Party geniuses claim to be all-knowledgable capitalists, yet they seem oblivious to the private sector market forces that attract all that “illegal” labor. I don’t see Tea Partiers rallying against Free Trade, or against international corporations who abuse labor in foreign lands, or against employers here in the USA employing “illegal” aliens. No. They can only speak out against the immigrant labor itself. It’s just more proof of the racism ubiquitous in the Tea Party movement.
And your comment about “monstrous government” only reinforces my opinion of the Tea Party. Where were these shmucks when the Bush/GOP One-Party State virtually doubled the national debt? No. These shmucks – these racist shmucks – decided the time to rise up against this “monstrous government” was after the Dems and Obama took control. Yet more proof.
You are absolutely right that the Left is very unhappy with Obama et al. We are definitely and decided not happy with the “moderate,” “conciliatory,” and “bi-partisan” leanings of the Obama administration and the leadership, in particular in the senate, of the Democrats. A lot of the bad numbers coming from the polls regarding Obama and the Dems on the Hill is coming from the Left. Ironically, if the Left was appeased, the Dems numbers would be better, contrary to the notion that America is a “center-right” nation. Obama remains very popular compared with the Hill and local and state governments. That’s very telling. We on the Left want him to succeed, but we want him to succeed in moving the country more to the Left. We don’t really care if the Right is won over or not. F them. Their nice enough folks, but they’re wrong, they’re hurting the country, and we need now, more than ever, to debate them, rhetorically defeat them, and get this country back to it’s original promise rather than this New World order of military and economic empire. Empires always die hard in the end. We on the Left do not want to see that happen.
JMJ
“Micky, when I talk about the Tea Party being a hate-based movement, I’m not referring to taxes. ”
YEAH. I KNOW
As I said before this bullsht race crap you morons keep throwing out is meaningless already because y’all use it every freeking time your argument sucks. And recently the majority of your arguments suck because you cant defend ineptness without calling people racists.
Its really getting old and boring and crying wolf all the time is coming to bite you in the a$$ come November and 2012.
“I don’t see Tea Partiers rallying against Free Trade, or against international corporations who abuse labor in foreign lands,”
Thats because you’re not as informed as you think you are.
Tea partiers have consistantly called for our workforce to remain at home.
Its not the rights fault or the Tea Parties fault that you guys have atttracted all the minorities. Consequently and conveniently for those who choose to race bait it only appears that were attacking minorities.
Its you jerks who bought and paid for all of them with entitelments to hang out in your camp.
New world order of military imperialism…
Keep it up morons, no one is buying that kind of crap anymore.
You all said Obama had what it took to make those changes you so innacurately said we needed.
And all your ideology has done is bring us as close as weve ever come to being as third world country since the 30s.
“Where were these shmucks when the Bush/GOP One-Party State virtually doubled the national debt?’
That debt was mostly due to 2 wars we believe till this day, as did the majority of the country and the dems who voted for them, was the right thing todo.
This administration is now taking credit for something they say they were for before they were against it.
Juxtapose to Obamas pi$$ing away twice that much in less than one fourth the time and getting absolutely no results other than worse.
You say they “had” to spend that money ?
Thats equivalent to saying you had to smack your wife. It didnt work and just made you look like the hapless reactionary dingalings you are.
“Had to” implies that it would of or could of worked.
No, you didnt have to stick your noses into anything that turned a buck just to appear as if you were coming to the rescue of what were really fear mongered farce crisis’s that needed taking advantage of and end up creating jobs only whithin the fed and state governments thereby expodentially increasing the size of government with only depleating the private sector workforce.
Myself and many said all you’re doing is repeating the same mistakes that caused a recession in the 30s to turn into the worst depression ever.
If you look at charts in comparison to the 30s our housing market, gdp, stock exchange, unemployment figures, dollar value and the government interjections are all mirrored today
Micky, thpoint I was making about the Tea Party and taxes is that 1) most of them don’t pay much tax and 2) those of them that should be paying more taxes easily could.
As for Free Trade and such, you guys seem to be obfusgating. I have seen NO talk about Free Trade, NAFTA, GATT, etc, from the same shmucks complaining baout “illegal” immigration. All this talk about the size of government and debt would be moot if we just accepted the workforce we need in this nation. The most striking and obvious disconnect I see in today’s polity is from those who simply refuse to grasp the implications of interational capitalism.
Get with the times man.
JMJ
‘Micky, thpoint I was making about the Tea Party and taxes is that 1) most of them don’t pay much tax and 2) those of them that should be paying more taxes easily could.’
Nice try. “TAXES” ?
But I could of sworn the first thing outta yer yap was that they’re racists.
“Micky, when I talk about the Tea Party being a hate-based movement, I’m not referring to taxes. ”
Yup, right there. You specifically said you werent referring to taxes.
Now, of course, there is the anti-immigrant sentiments. And that is just plain ol’ racism on the face of it.”
Mmmhmm…try again buddy
” if we just accepted the workforce we need in this nation”
Yeah, a bunch of illegals who have no right to be here ?
I dont think I want to “get with your times” seems pretty full o sht
” if we just accepted the workforce we need in this nation. ”
Yeah, its called the private sector.
The goverment produces nothing
Micky, your response to my point about illegal immigration is the same sort of pointless, disjointed clap-trap that comes from the Tea Party. When are people going to realize that you can’t have a free flow of goods and capital without a free flow of labor? If you don’t like illegal immigration you must be critical of Free Trade, otherwise you are not addressing the illegal immigration issue at all.
JMJ
‘When are people going to realize that you can’t have a free flow of goods and capital without a free flow of labor? If you don’t like illegal immigration you must be critical of Free Trade, otherwise you are not addressing the illegal immigration issue at all.
Aww BS Jersey !
Our problems with illegal immigration stem from our failure to legally handle the demand for the free movement of individuals. To me, border control should be about security and documentation and not some ridiculous means to slave labor and to supplement a democrats voting base.
We can have free flow and legal immigration. Any blooming idiot knows that
yeah, the free trade of coke, meth, and heroin…
and humans
I do not favor third parties, most of the time.
However, I like to think of myself as a moderate Republican with
an Independent bent.
No one has me in their pocket, not your typical Jew (US born, both parents). I have no doubt as to my “Jewishness”, having been reminded that there are Jews in the work force almost every week.
That is another story for another time however.
Or as one co-worker once told me, “You Jews all look alike”. Frankly
I don’t look Jewish, more Irish or German. But that also is for another day.
To win, the Republicans must get Independent votes..to overcome the
larger Democratic bases. Its just that simple.
And how do you widen the umbrella I ask?
You must do what Meg Whitman is doing in California, appeal
to non-Democrats or those straddling the fence. How do you do it?
You don’t take extreme positions guys. You point to the major problem
here in California, jobs, jobs and more jobs.
Young college graduates need jobs. High schoolers going to trade schools need jobs. People cannot live on unemployment forever, or food stamps
forever.
The older work force, when attrited do to technical advancements, need
training for other jobs. People need upward mobility..thus more jobs to
advance to.
It’s all about jobs.
However, in California, as we know, Hispanics are upset at anyone
who favors enforcing laws against illegals, or being too harsh on these
same illegals. This seems paradoxial to me. Yet this is the reality.
On other wedge issues, gay marriages and rights..its pretty much 50-50, across party lines.
The Tea Party movement, must align itself with the party it believes is rightg, the Republican.
It cannot afford the luxury of extremism, which is appauling to most of US.
Also, her alienating civil service employees to grab a few more votes, seems counterproductive to me.
Some civil service people actually vote Republican…and believe
all that feather bedding should be stopped..as well as being paid
for achievement.