Posted on 09/14/2010 9:11:24 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
How bad can the civil war get? We may find out Tuesday in Delaware. Mike Castle should have walked to the GOP nomination — that is, until Sarah Palin and her merry Tea Party men decided to back Christine O’Donnell.
To put this into perspective, Castle was all but a lock to win: a moderate Republican who would have won if not for the fact that by Tea Party standards Castle is a Das Kapital-reading, want-to-take-your-guns-away-and-tax-you-to-the-nines liberal. It almost makes you laugh, as a Democrat, how the GOP is engaged in a never-ending, brutal civil war over ideological purity. From the Florida governor’s race to the Alaska Senate contest, from the Nevada Senate to the Utah Senate and from Colorado governor to now Delaware Senate, the Tea Party is on a warpath not against Democrats but Republicans. The question is, Where will it end? I have the answer. It won’t until 2012 (maybe).
The Tea Party that is now raging will cost the Republican Party at least two Senate seats, and maybe more House and governors’ seats, and has given the Democratic Party the nail with which to hammer in the key message to moderates and independents that this is one crazy, extreme right wing of the Republican Party that wants to grab power, having just begun its GOP bloodletting. If you thought the 2010 GOP civil war was fun to watch, wait and see what happens in 2011 and 2012. In fact, the true implications for the Republican Party will not be felt for months and months after the midterms, when the Tea Party/Sarah Palin/Dick Armey wing realize that their higher calling is to get a Tea Party president (scared yet?).
Days after the midterms, the Tea Party will paralyze Republican leaders fearful of being the next Tea Party victim. There is not a single Republican running in 2012 — for any office — who will not be thinking, “If I vote this way, the Tea Party will get me” — kind of the political version of the bogeyman for Republicans. Even with the congressional paralysis that will ensue, the Tea Party Republicans (by the way, is that an insult to Tea Partiers or not?) will not be satisfied. Nope, they have their sights on a much bigger prize — the White House, and President Obama’s defeat.
Now, here’s where it gets fun. You are going to see at least a half-dozen Tea Party candidates, from Sarah Palin to Newt Gingrich, you will have the Tea Party bandwagoners like Rick Santorum, and then you will have the establishment Republicans like Mitt Romney, who will suffer a death of a thousand cuts as they all run scared from the protests and ideological threats of their Tea Party opponents. No doubt candidates who would stand a better chance of winning, such as Mitch Daniels or John Thune, may decide to sit this internecine battle out completely. So, with every debate that will be televised and commented on ad nauseam by the cables news and blogs, the public will witness an ever-scarier vision of a Republican Party that hates — and I mean hates — moderates. They will witness candidates battling with Palin as to how far right they can get. All of this soap opera will develop and will frame Republicans as a party that is anathema to moderates and independents. Now, this is where it gets interesting.
If the establishment Republican Party gets its way, Mitt Romney is its nominee — a Massachusetts Republican. Now, does anyone really believe they will embrace a Romney? C’mon, “Massachusetts liberal” are fighting words for the Tea Party activists. So left with the choice of backing Romney or running as an Independent, what do you think a Sarah Palin or others of her ilk will do? Does anyone in the Republican Party believe that the very same people who are intent on bringing them down in state after state in the name of conservative purity are going to nod in approval at Mitt Romney’s candidacy? Not a chance.
Much like we are witnessing, the Tea Party leaders would rather lose the seat and prove some fruitless point than win. So here’s what to expect. Unless a Tea Party candidate wins the nomination, some Tea Party candidate will run as an Independent. They will run. They will win 10 (even 15) percent of the vote, and they will all but guarantee Barack Obama’s reelection.
As for 2010, if there is one way to win over swing voters, moderates and undecideds in these close districts and states, it’s to paint the Republicans with one broad Tea Party brush. Because the truth is unmistakable — the more you see of them, the more you thank yourself that there is a Democrat to vote for. And if anyone has any doubts — watch the results on election night and see how many Tea Party candidates win in swing states.
In the end, Democrats can take solace in the fact, in what will be a difficult election year — at least we’re up against Republicans. Just imagine if our opponents made sense and were unified. Now, that’s a scarier thought than the Tea Party.
Great to see that Wesley Clark’s 2004 campaign manager (!) is suddenly so solicitous of the Republican party’s electoral success.
Here’s the thing: the left, and particularly the far left may see the groundswell that they call the “Tea Party” more clearly than those who they would say make up the movement. From the ground, it can look pretty overwhelming. Sure, we’ve had some gains, but some setbacks too (think McCain). But to them, well, it’s a different story.
They know that they have a problem when the people who make this country work, ie, the people with jobs, and families, and serious real-world responsibilities get ticked off enough to form massive marches on Washington, flood congressional town halls, and start working on republican primaries to get conservatives elected.
One thing at a time. First, we’re getting the GOP house in order, kicking the RINOs to the curb. Then, we’re coming for your clients and their ilk, Mr. Kofinis.
This “civil war” is long overdue. It is healthy & needs to happen. The actual people are taking a stand & slaying the RINOs.
As Rummy once said: democracy is messy.
I can’t think of a single reason for a liberal to write this article, except in an effort to cause the Tea Party to lose steam.
We’re takin’ flak... we must be over the target!
“Tea Party candidates, from Sarah Palin to Newt Gingrich...and then you will have the establishment Republicans like Mitt Romney”
If you think Gingrich is not an establishment Republican, Mr. Kofinis, then you’re so confused and wrong I wouldn’t pay two cents for your article.
“To take your point of view and reverse it somewhat, you’d rather compromise and take a RINO just to keep a Dem out of office.”
If it means keeping Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid from running their respective houses and setting the legislative agenda your d*mn right I would. A lot of people on this site in 2006 said let the Democrats win and then the people will see how bad it can be and run to our side in 2008. In 2008 those same people said I won’t vote for a “Rino” even if he can win. I would rather have O’Bama/Pelosi/Reid running the country than a bunch of “Rinos”. That will teach the people a lesson. In 2010 the people will be begging for conservative leadership. Well you got your wish and now look where we are. Now in 2010 you are saying I won’t vote for a “Rino” even it means 2 more years of Pelosi and Reid.
I play fantasy football I do not play fantasy politics. Power is about numbers. Do you think Health care would have been passed in the House if the Republicans had held the majority? I doubt it. We would all like to live in a perfect world where only conservatives got elected, the federal government was tiny, taxes were low and there were no terrorists, but some of us have to live in reality so the rest of you can have your wonderlands. I always vote for the most conservative candidate in the primary, but when it comes to the general if it comes down between a Democrat and a moderate Republican I will always vote for the Republican and try again in the next primary to get a better candidate. That’s reality.
Same thing happened to a friend of mine here in Ohio. The Party leadership told him that even if he won the primary, he'd get no support from the Party. He dropped out of the race. That soured him on politics. Too bad. Even if he'd lost the primary, he'd have been a good candidate for some later election.
and “they” are still supporting Charlie Crist in FL.
see Bob Dole giving money as one example.
He's a big-time Democrat strategist. Yes, he was "Weasley" Clark's campaign manager. But he was also, in 2008, National Communications Director for John Edwards. That explains a great deal. He's just so concerned that the Republicans are being taken over by such... awful crazy people!!! They're... radicals, you know!!! Not "moderates", like good ol' Wesley and Johnny, oh, no.
Oh yes, by all means, let's take advice from people who hate our guts, despise our principles and want to destroy us. So thanks for the "advice" Chris. Now: screw.
When the RINO wing got its chance it gave us McCain and the GOP lost big to someone named Obama. Someone has to bend the voter curve toward conservatism.
I hate to say it and I’ll probably get flamed for it, but if O’Donnell wins the primary and unless to polling shows her within 5 points of the Dem, the party probably should just move resources into other more winnable races. Frankly I think O’Donnell will probably poll at a double digit deficit to the Dem candidate short of there being a scandal effecting the Dem. This is Delaware, a heavily Democratic state, afterall. Even in Connecticut when it turned out Blumenthal lied about his military record, he still maintains close to a 10 point lead over McMahon. Anyway, the party needs to be wise with its resources in this campaign and unless there’s real indication the Dem can be beat, putting money into a suicide campaign just doesn’t seem wise.
They seem to think "Tea Party" means Republican and if a Republican wins it is a win for the "Tea Party" even if it's a liberal with an (R) by the name. I see the "Tea Party" as a movement of people that are fed up with the BS from liberals. We all see that liberalism and rejecting American traditions in government and society doesn't work, Republicans see it, independents, and conservative Democrats. The only people that don't see what we see are the left wingers, the people that aren't paying attention, the country club type Republicans that still think they can have their cake and eat it too, and the media.
Great post. I’d rather get a plate of 50% of what I want and 50% of what I don’t (which may be the case with Castle in the Senate) than a full plate of steaming cow pies we’d get from the Dem who will without a doubt win this seat if O’Donnell is the GOP candidate. This is Delaware, not Alabama. People need to wake up.
RINO campaigns are outspending their Tea Party candidates by wide margins, and only a few of them are winning. McCain had to spend 23 million to Hayworth's 3 million to win.
In Delaware, Independents are not allowed to vote in this primary. I suspect they will go strongly for O'Donnell in November after what has happened in this primary.
No one was going to beat Obama in 2008 after the financial crash. The GOP got the blame, wrongly, and it was over. Prior to September 14th with the collapse of Lehman Bros. and then the ensuing panic, McCain was beating Obama in several of the more credible polls. After that, the floor dropped out. No matter who had been the GOP candidate, it was over. A more conservative candidate would have probably lost by even more. The conservative/GOP brand was toxic at that point. Thank god the recovery from that political near death experience has been rapid.
I hope you’re right and I confess I don’t know alot about Delaware’s political make up in terms of the numbers of independents versus Democrats, but if I had to guess in a state like that many of them are probably more left leaning than they are nationally. Certainly Delaware’s political trends aren’t typical of the national trend since Delaware still votes Dem even when the national trend is Republican. I’d love for you to be right. But I’m not holding my breath.
Leftist are more afraid of conservatives than they are of Muslim terrorists, as they are proving with these hysterical Hill/Politico hit pieces. They urge love and understanding for Imam Rauf and his jihadis, but they are filled with fear and loathing toward Sarah Palin and the TEA Party. Sick and stupid.
How much of that money did he get from Cindy?
Wrongly? I wonder. Obama will say the same thing after the Democrats get trounced in 2010. The seeds of the collapse were sown by both parties some time ago. Clinton started the exporting of our economy and Bush put it on steroids. I'm hoping for a Tea Party conservative who will rebuild the economy and put American citizens back to work.
It wasn’t imports that caused the financial collapse, it was sub prime lending and easy money and the cancer both spread across the financial sector. That was supercharged by Bill Clinton in the 90s in his enhancement of Carter’s CRA. Bush tried actually to ratchet all this back through reforms of the GSEs which Democrats blocked.
>>But, it is still ultimately about winning and putting butts in the seats on our side of the aisle.<<
I used to think that way. I now believe that part of the problem with the conservative side of the isle is that we have not stood true to Biblical principles and have allowed weak social conservatives (if you can call them that) to infiltrate to the point we now have legalized abortion. I believe that God has taken back some of his protection because of it.
O’Donnell is pro life, God is pro life and I will no longer support a candidate that votes against God’s laws. I will support the candidate that I think most closely follows God’s laws and let God work a miracle in the elections if that’s what He wants.
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