The problem comes when Republicans take them seriously, following their advice and their lead over the cliff and into the political abyss.”
Rubin is an idiot. The Tea party activists/Conservatives gave Republicans the majority in the House and in many states as well while Mushers like Romney lost to the likes of Obama.
"I would just say it's been mischaracterized all along," said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., a House freshman and former small-business owner whose North Carolina district, once held by Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler, is 91 percent white and includes some of the state's most conservative communities.
"There are a lot of guys here who have nothing to do with the Tea Party that are supporting this effort because people back home are asking them to do that," Meadows told the Washington Examiner.
Democrats and many Republicans see Meadows as a primary architect of the GOP's fight against any government spending bill that funds Obamacare.
It was Meadows who in August circulated a letter to fellow Republicans asking them to join him in demanding that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., "affirmatively defund" the health care law in any spending measure, even a short-term, temporary bill aimed at preventing a government shutdown.
Eighty House Republicans signed on, forming the core of the group that influenced Boehner and his leadership team to dig in and insist that the health care law be limited or delayed in the budget bill. To pressure their leaders, the group simply refused to support any spending bill that didn't limit Obamacare in some way.
The group has also been influenced heavily by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, who are leading the opposition to Obamacare in the Senate and who have pressured conservative House GOP members to stand firm............................"