Posted on 08/06/2012 11:53:44 AM PDT by Da Bilge Troll
Republicans wouldn’t dare fail to confirm Holder.
That would be racist......
Yep, that's the strength of the Tea Party. Its amorphousness (and civility in behaviour) has left a lotta liberals gnashing their teeth :)
The trouble is, that strength comes at a cost. True, its leaderless distributed structure makes it impossible to co-opt. But, its free-form structure also makes it impossible to lead.
The Tea Party is a collection of disparate individuals who are bonded together by a common ideal. In Weberite terms, there's only one kind of person who can unite the Tea party: a charismatic leader.
The trouble is, political parties are not organized to accomodate charismatic leaders. To continue with the Weberism, they're far more rational-legal entities. To put it less charitably, they have more than their share of operators. People like that think a charismatic leader is a mere come-on.
I'm sure that ideological differences had something to do with Sarah Palin being sabotaged in '08, but a lot of it had to do with she being sized up by the operators as an unpredictable loose cannon. Rational-legal people hate that; they prefer predictability. For them, she "going rogue" was not a strength; it was a weakness.
Part of their hostility was rooted in that unpredictability, which will diminish over time. As they get used to her, they'll be less hostile; perhaps, the hostility will disappear entirely.
Still, the trouble with being leaderless is that different parts of the Tea Party will sign up with different leaders. When you consider the leaderlessness, the circular firing squad wasn't that surprising.
I have to admit that Mitt Romney was a pretty sharp organizer. It's almost as if he knew in advance that the circular firing squad would erupt and eliminate all his rivals. That said, his success can be taken as a lesson learned. Charismatic movements have to be formalized in order to mesh with the rational-legal organization of a political party.
Conclusion: The Tea Party's leaderless growth has turned from a vitally needed strength into a block. Tea Partiers can't take over the Republican party unless they make their peace with more formal methods of organization. That'll take some doing, but time is on their side. Once the surprise factor is gone, Republican operators (who are still needed to win) will be far less prone to go "Eek!" when someone like Sarah Palin does her thing.
I wouldn't be quite so sure. I think that train has left the station. I think Americans, even black Americans have grown a bit weary of the race card being played so much during Obamas reign.
I would have to agree. Due to over-use, the term "racist" no longer has much sting for ordinary Americans. We've learned to ignore it...or greet it with derision.
But it still strikes mortal fear into the hearts of Republicans in Washington...
As from any street leper with his hacking, tubercular cough, or a $4 hooker with her multi-strain hepatitis, or a mack-daddy pimp with multiple STD's.
With the Senate in conservative Republican hands, I see an impeachment and removal from office in Barky's future, followed by prosecution, conviction, and imprisonment in a supermax facility (to prevent bustout attempts, of course).
In a cell right next to Bill Krinton's.
The mistake we made after Reagan was assuming the war was won. It will never be won.
The mistake Reagan made was his pick for V.P. We're still living with the effects of that.
Your analysis is very good but the point you're missing is exemplified in the above quote.
"The Tea Party" cannot take over the Republican Party -- but "Tea Partiers" can. And we are doing exactly that by "infiltrating" the formal organization.
With Romney we have learned a valuable lesson - getting your favorite nominated for President takes more time, effort and money than the Tea Party was prepared for this time. We are building the new Republican Party from the ground up and there will be a Tea Party president eventually.
Thanks for the correction.
With Romney we have learned a valuable lesson - getting your favorite nominated for President takes more time, effort and money than the Tea Party was prepared for this time. We are building the new Republican Party from the ground up and there will be a Tea Party president eventually.
Yes, the fix is in. Tea Partiers haven't won all the time, but they've racked up enough primary and electoral victories to make them a force.
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