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Has the Tea Party been tamed?
The Hill's Ballot Box ^ | November 6, 2014 | Alexandra Jaffe and Ben Kamisar

Posted on 11/07/2014 11:02:38 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

Establishment Republicans are crowing that their resounding wins Tuesday night repudiated the Tea Party’s insistence that ideological purity is key to electoral success.

But don’t tell that to conservatives, who aren’t admitting defeat.

In fact, they’re claiming victory on the issues, if not for the candidates themselves, and pledging future fights to hold the GOP-led Senate accountable if senators stray from their campaign promises. “Every single Republican ran as a conservative,” Brent Bozell, chairman of ForAmerica, told The Hill. “Name me one moderate issue that won. Moderation was defeated everywhere.”

The numbers don’t bear that out. The national party made an early and aggressive play to neutralize conservative challenges and make sure the most electable candidates won the party’s nominations, to great effect.

"We said we were going to be the Nick Saban of recruiting, we were going to recruit the best candidates, put them in the right position," National Republican Senatorial Committee Political Director Ward Baker told reporters Thursday. "We decided we couldn't be Akin-ed anymore. No more witches, no more gaffes."

In the end, conservatives won just one of their competitive primary fights in the Nebraska Senate race, lost all of their incumbent challenges and worked with establishment Republicans to support less-than-ideal candidates to achieve the shared goal of taking back Senate control....

(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2014; gop; rinos; teaparty
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Had its leaders not allowed the Taxed EnoughAlready movement to be labeled by the enemies of freedom as a Tea Party, then the movement itself probably would have attracted and retained more ordinary citizens.

As it is, a new anti-"progressive" movement needs to emerge which will call youth to the Framers' Constitution and its enduring principles and limitations on coercive government power.

The ideas of liberty, as articulated by the Framers of that Constitution, are as revolutionary and exciting today as they were in 1776 and 1787!

Those who love freedom must not allow its enemies to define it, nor to redefine its terms to suit their own obsession with power over "the People."

21 posted on 11/07/2014 11:30:11 AM PST by loveliberty2
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Who is this Nick Saban?
22 posted on 11/07/2014 11:33:22 AM PST by JGT
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Nope - I just “put on my shoes” - in fact, they are Size 11 1/2 DD steel-reinforced liberal buttkickers. Bend over, I’ll show you how they function.


23 posted on 11/07/2014 11:34:54 AM PST by februus
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To: joshua c

The same as McInsain and the Romulan-—losers.


24 posted on 11/07/2014 11:34:54 AM PST by sarge83
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To: WilliamRobert

I think the message got through to the people, I just don’t think it got through to the politicians.


25 posted on 11/07/2014 11:35:08 AM PST by P-Marlowe (Saying that ISIL is not Islamic is like saying Obama is not an Idiot.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Has the Tea Party been tamed?

Semi-neutered. Now that they have won, the establishment will pat the Tea Party on the head and tell them to go away and not bother the adults. Why should they do otherwise? The establshment has proven that they can do whatever they want to in order to cram the candidate of their choice down the Tea Party's throat, and in the end the conservatives will still come out and vote for them.

26 posted on 11/07/2014 11:36:25 AM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: bergmeid

We MUST unite behind a CONSERVATIVE to ensure Jeb doesn’t get close.


27 posted on 11/07/2014 11:42:56 AM PST by G Larry (Amnesty imposes SLAVE WAGES on LEGAL immigrants & minorities)
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To: DoodleDawg

I don’t agree. Some establishment RINOs are gone in the HOR and US Senate. Particularly in the Senate, it does seem that Ted Cruz is going to have some more company. And in the HOR, there’s no need to compromise. It seems their stance led to increased numbers.


28 posted on 11/07/2014 11:51:07 AM PST by grania
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The tea party may have been tamed but I haven’t.

I doubt I’m alone.


29 posted on 11/07/2014 11:52:08 AM PST by Lorianne (fed pork, bailouts, gone taxmoney)
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To: loveliberty2

The only thing worse than tax and spend is spend and then tax. The Taxed Enough Already label doesn’t express this well enough for me.

More emphasis should be on the out-of control spending, which, realistically cannot be paid back by taxing ... making that a moot point. It will hurt us far more than taxes ever could.


30 posted on 11/07/2014 11:55:03 AM PST by Lorianne (fed pork, bailouts, gone taxmoney)
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To: InterceptPoint

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3224281/posts
“How did the Tea Party actually perform in the House (Updated for accuracy)”

More of us than ever!


31 posted on 11/07/2014 12:06:22 PM PST by mrsmith (Dumb sluts: Lifeblood of the Media, Backbone of the Democrat Party!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

LOL. Of the 20 Republicans who are not going to be in the next Congress, 12 of their replacements will be more conservative!


32 posted on 11/07/2014 12:06:48 PM PST by Viennacon
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Ha. For weeks we were hearing in the media how Brownback, LePage and Walker were all going to get blown out in their re-election bids and that would herald the end of the Tea Party.

Well not only did those guys win, they won big.

So the Tea Party ain’t going anywhere.


33 posted on 11/07/2014 12:12:06 PM PST by qam1 (There's been a huge party. All plates and the bottles are empty, all that's left is the bill to pay)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The Tea Party was a grassroots thing. No one asked any one of the Tea Party organizations to represent them, the Org founders just assumed their crowns.

When we real Tea Party folks are asked, we tell them no, they do not represent us.


34 posted on 11/07/2014 12:26:00 PM PST by X-spurt (CRUZ missile - armed and ready.)
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To: mrsmith

Perfect. Exactly what I was looking for. Much thanks.


35 posted on 11/07/2014 12:26:57 PM PST by InterceptPoint (Remember Mississippi)
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To: P-Marlowe

” We can’t compete with the chamber of commerce.”

FACT!


36 posted on 11/07/2014 12:27:33 PM PST by stephenjohnbanker (The only people in the world who fear Obama are American citizens.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Hell, even the Democrats ran as Conservatives!


37 posted on 11/07/2014 12:32:44 PM PST by griswold3 (I was born here in America. I will die here in a third world country. Obama succeeded.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
ideological purity is key to electoral success

^^^^ Author still has no idea what the Tea Party is about. It's not about purity. Never was. The GOPe does the strawman act just as much as Obama.

38 posted on 11/07/2014 12:36:09 PM PST by ilgipper
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The tea party is now just a mental construct. The Tea Party had one good gathering on the mall and then just ran out of steam.

The Tea Party has no charismatic leader or organization at present.

Conservative values are carried to the battle by various elected individuals bit they exist as the GOPc, the conservative wing of the Republican Party.


39 posted on 11/07/2014 12:38:26 PM PST by bert ((K.E.; N.P.; GOPc.;+12, 73, ..... Obama is public enemy #1)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Establishment Republicans are crowing that their resounding wins Tuesday night repudiated the Tea Party’s insistence that ideological purity is key to electoral success.

These words are coming out of the mouths of the "Establishment" Republicans, not the "Tea Party" members. The resounding wins were largely attributable to the common sense views of Tea Party voters.

Hopefully the misguided Establishment Republicans will repent and mend their ways, because there is no future for them without common sense views and votes that reflect the wishes of the electorate.

40 posted on 11/07/2014 12:39:03 PM PST by olezip (Time obliterates the fictions of opinion and confirms the decisions of nature. ~ Cicero)
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