The Tea Party’s Rebel Yell!
TPM has a story up about how the Tea Party looks at what happened yesterday.
For a certain block of House conservatives, the ones who drove Speaker John Boehner toward a government shutdown and near-default against his will, the lesson of the last few weeks isn’t that they overreached. Not that they made unachievable demands, put their leadership in an impossible position, damaged their party’s position with the public and left a deep uncertainty about whether the GOP conference can recover and legislate.
No, what they’re taking away from the 2013 crisis is: They didn’t go far enough.
Like we couldn’t have seen that one coming. It is, after all, the same thing they said after losing the last two Presidential elections. It wasn’t their policies; it was that they weren’t conservative enough.
But that isn’t really the Tea Party’s rebel yell. Their rebel yell is: “We’re gonna primary you!”
This threat of primarying a politician who goes against the Tea Party’s issues is serious. Why? Because primarying candidates is all the Tea Party knows how to do. And make no mistake, they are really good at it. It’s the equivalent of burning the house down, and has absolutely nothing to do with governing – something they have no idea how to do.
And all this talk about how the Tea Party, and Cruz, etc., have peaked, have learned their lesson, is nonsense. Take a look at the House vote from yesterday: The House voted 285-144, with the entirety of the opposition coming from Republicans. So much for the mantra that it was only a small, radical group of Republicans holding the government and debt ceiling hostage. I don’t doubt that some of the 144 wanted to end the government shut down and avoid default… they didn’t want it enough to cast their vote for it. That would have been political suicide.
And while I don’t doubt that many of those 144 Republicans votes for default and keeping the government closed were cast in fear of a primary, let’s stop pretending that “most” Republicans are appalled by the Ted Cruz coup.
They may hate Cruz personally (who doesn’t?), but they agree with him 100%. And the reason they hate him is because he says clearly what 99% of them believe. Establishment Republicans don’t want him to change his message – they merely want him to change his tactics and speak in code, because he makes them look bad by comparison.
So, this idea that Republicans have “learned their lesson” and won’t employ these tactics again is nonsense. They will keep this up as long as the majority of their base demands it from them.
Know why? Because that 24% of the population that still approves of the GOP is their Tea Party base. Good luck casting them aside and winning a primary. They’re all the Republicans have left, and the Tea Party has no interest in “rebranding” or expanding the party. It’s a purity contest with them, and that means they’ll keep ousting people until the time comes to crown the one, true Tea Party King.
Tags: National Republicans, Tea Party
“…let’s stop pretending that “most” Republicans are appalled by the Ted Cruz coup.”
Also – “Both sides have radicals” (as if the occupy movement is somehow equivalent to the teabags) is another media myth that never dies. It is like a zombie computer script that just keeps playing over and over.
Because primarying candidates is all the Tea Party knows how to do.
Progressives need to learn how to do this. And I think that the trick is mostly around funding.
Can you imagine Kucinich wielding the power of the Occupy movement? It would be like… Hmmmm.
Actually, that’s not at all impressive. Never mind.
Cassandra –
Tea partiers win because they focus on grassroots organizing – something that mainstream Rs do very little of and something the GOP mega-rich donors care little for. A phone call is 3x more effective than a mailer; a door knock is 10x more effective.
Deluca spent six figures in a race where only 2,000 people turned out to vote. $100 on each person that voted for him. That’s ludicrous. Comparatively, Townsend spent a quarter as much in an uphill battle against an incumbent and won. Only two other D state senate candidates spent north of 100k in 2012, and both of them lost. If you’re wondering whether to spend time fundraising/donating, or knocking on doors with your candidates, it’s clear which is the better option.
Mail doesn’t matter. Yard signs don’t matter. Money doesn’t matter. It’s about neighbors talking to each other.
The Tea Party “wins” (to the extent the word can be used) because of their very own gerrymandering. Let’s level-set ourselves here. The Tea Party wins ELECTIONS because there are many jigsaw puzzle House districts packed with lunatics and dipshits. Hence they can challenge Republicans on the right. The Tetley set will never win a moderate district. For example, we’d elect Mike Castle not Christine O’Donnell.
This is about the maximum number of right wing extremist we are likely to see in the House. Especially considering their stellar political track record of doing nothing. When they win a big match or get a victory on a big occasion wake me. Winning the Mississippi Podunk 5th is of no real consequence…
…and yet, since the wingnut media has gone full Teabag, and the independent expenditure shops are pure teabag, the few elected teabags have a leverage beyond their raw numbers.
That leverage will keep “moderates” in line and you’ll continue to have the events of the past month play out over and over again until something breaks.
How can you talk politics to your neighbor when they watch FOX or CNN, and you don’t even share the same basic set of facts?
I’ve noticed that with Default Trutherism. Trying to discuss the facts of default is like trying to explain the color blue to someone who has been blind since birth.
I feel like this fiasco has been a wake-up call; its time to fix citizens united, get campaign finance reform and strengthen the voting rights act. Help me, Delaware Liberal. How do we effectively get our three C’s to get this issue front and center, so that when the Dems pick up more congressional seats in 2014, they can move quickly to amend these laws? Carney, Coons and Carper have nothing to fear in their re-election bids and should be howling and screaming about this.
And here we go:
I’m sure if the Koch brothers were bankrolling the Occupy movement, it would be as strong as the Tea Party. No one on the left can afford to run TV ads against Carper, and anyone who could afford it is rich enough to be well pleased with Carper’s fealty to big businesses and the wealthy CEOs who run them. Those that protect the rich at the expense of the poor will always be better funded than those who defend the poor.
I’ve just returned from a short visit to the deep south (FOX Country where the stoopid is as big as the hair!) and it seems to me that the Tea Party isn’t the Elephant in the middle of the room, but the rat in the corner and the majority are standing on chairs, scared death to call it out for what it is, then treat it as such. And if anyone hasn’t already noticed, rats can spread nasty diseases…some even deadly.
Just my two-cents. Plain.