Posted on 05/21/2014 6:12:30 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Extremes are called that for a reason. They are ideas that are on the far edges of reasonableness, and they are – rightly – destined to be tempered and reined in by more moderate ideas. That's what has just happened to the political party that holds sway in my home state.
Elections across the nation Tuesday showed that voters have rejected Tea Party extremism, with all of its concentration on hating President Obama and its suggestion that anyone who disagrees is less than patriotic.
These voters -- Republicans in states like Kentucky, Georgia and Idaho -- are definitely not tree-hugging, pot-smoking liberals. They're conservatives who want their party returned to them.
For them, it's not a matter of ideology; it's a matter of political survival. And as Alabama's own George Wallace noted so many times, political viability is the first and most necessary goal of every elected or would-be elected official.
Just as Wallace did more than 50 years ago, in recent years some Republicans in my state have run campaigns based on rhetoric that they had to know was downright silly. (Consider the current Public Service Commission candidate who's promising to "fight Obama," as though that's the job of a PSC member.)
In a race to the bottom, candidates have vied to hate Obama more, love guns best and pander most effectively to people who could be swayed by negative platitudes. That's a disservice and a distraction to the voters, not to mention an unworkable strategy for government and politics.
Last year's election of Baldwin County's own Bradley Byrne to Congress was a bellwether of how far some extremists are willing to go. When Byrne -- no wild-eyed liberal -- beat a conservative political consultant turned patriot/candidate, signs sprang up all over south Alabama.
Emblazoned with the "Don't Tread on Me" serpent and the words "Boycott Byrne," the signs were the height of the curious, self-destructive urges of some Tea Party Republicans. Byrne isn't a brand of soft drink to be boycotted; he's a U.S. representative from their own party.
Instead of indulging in unrealistic fantasies about what government ought to be, Tea Partiers would be better off not overplaying their hands and instead working in the political system that has gotten them all of this attention in the first place.
It's fitting that some branches of the Tea Party have adopted the serpent as their logo. Like the original rebellious founders of our nation, they mean to convey a message that says, "If you tread on what I see as my rights, you'll regret it." But the effective message in today's political climate is very different.
Everybody who's ever taken a walk in the woods knows snakes can bite. They also know that if you leave snakes alone, they'll usually slither away without harm.
Only a snake-chunking preacher with misplaced courage and a working refrigerator will try to handle a poisonous snake. He knows that when the serpent warms up and wakes up, it'll bite.
The Tea Party serpent has surely bitten the Republican Party.
Now the voters – and the Republican Party – have apparently learned that lesson. Political analysts say that nationwide, only 15 percent of voters favor the Tea Party today. That was reflected in Tuesday's primary results.
The flirtation with extremism has proven a big mistake for the Republican Party, just as Democrats' flirtation with extremism (remember their sojourn in the wilderness in the 1980s and the impact of the left-wing MoveOn.org in the late 1990s?) was a big mistake for them.
The voters' message – for those with ears to hear it -- is clear: Lead with reason, and with enough courage to turn away the false invective. The extremist elements of the Tea Party are a serpent the Republicans -- and the nation -- can do without.
^^^^^
Frances Coleman is a freelance writer living in Baldwin County. Email her at fcoleman1953@gmail.com and "like" her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/prfrances.
Was Editorial Page Editor of the Press-Register newspaper in Mobile 1995 to 2012. Now a freelance columnist, writer and editor.
Biography A native of Alexandria, La. Educated at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, with a degree in communication. Worked at the Palestine (Texas) Herald-Press and Alexandria Town Talk before moving to south Alabama in 1978. Served as editor of The Onlooker in Foley and The Islander in Gulf Shores before joining the Press-Register in 1984. Became editorial page editor in 1995; left in 2012 to become a freelance columnist, writer and editor.
...the only thing the Tea Party has done is give Obama everything he wants.
What a stupid airhead
Nope. I'm not a republican. Too many pro-abortion gun grabbers in that party.
/johnny
Frances Coleman is insane.
The TEA Party wants smaller, accountable government which adheres to the Constitution. This is extreme?
The only reason these establishment types.....the GOPe....prevail in the primaries is because they have the money advantage by a wide margin, name recognition, and support of the media.
I repeat myself....Frances Coleman is insane.
“Frances Coleman is a freelance writer living in Baldwin County. Email her at fcoleman1953@gmail.com and “like” her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/prfrances.”
there ya go, Freepers. Blast this braindead twit..
These people slept through last week’s primaries, apparently.
Destructive.
It destroys things.
Of course it does.
I vote once “bunk”.
Just going on record.
“Elections across the nation Tuesday showed that voters have rejected Tea Party extremism, with all of its concentration on hating President Obama and its suggestion that anyone who disagrees is less than patriotic. “
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA how did this walking brainless ditz get this job?
The question is, destructive of what?
Of the attempt at the basic transformation of a breathing working healthy economy?
Of the takeover of the Republic by ignorant middle-aged children?
Of overbearing dishonest and criminal manipulators bordering on tyrants?
Well, that reinforces my total support for Tea Party philosophy.
I call B.S., the TEA Party is not going away. We have votes.
Like the Republican establishment has had such success in recent elections....
On drive home from work, listened to Savage for a bit, even though, I can’t stand him at times. But this lady caller said she voted for McConnell not because she liked him but because Bevins was caught on tape at a pro cock-fighting rally telling them he thought it was illegal to ban cock-fighting.
She said, she voted holding her nose. That she hated seeing a Dem get the seat more then McConnell and just didn’t see Bevins beating a Dem.
You notice that none of these leftists ever mention the fact that the tea party is under attack from the crony capitalists from both sides of the aisle.
That’s the last thing they want people spending time pondering.
“Frances Coleman is insane.”
_________________________________________
More notably she is a Communist.
Die screaming faggot communists, you can try to steal our cash via the electoral process, but in the end you will have to do it the old fashioned way, at gunpoint.
LOL
Good luck with that.
I agree.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.