Posted on 11/16/2011 11:04:53 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Sarah Palin offered some unsolicited advice last night to Mitt Romney, the red-headed stepchild of GOP presidential frontrunners, encouraging him to more openly embrace the fiscal and social conservative side of the Republican party, and to develop a more robust relationship with the Tea Party movement. This morning on Fox News Americas Newsroom, host Martha MacCallum asked Daily Caller founder Tucker Carlson and liberal embed Alan Colmes to discuss Romneys strategy in engaging the powerful Tea Party contingent, which Carlson put in remarkably stark terms.
After openly questioning why Romney hasnt made more of an effort in including an energized side of potential GOP voters sympathetic with the Tea Party movement, Carlson boldly stated what he felt to be an under-told story in the evolution of conservative politics, saying of the Tea Party:
Well I think the explanation is a little broader. Leaderless movements dont endure because they cant. This is basically a leaderless movement. But I think its had a huge effect, and its biggest effect that almost no one ever mentions is that the Tea Party destroyed the Republican establishment. All the people Republicans and conservatives have looked to for guidance have been basically discredited by the Tea Party, which has alllowed this current chaos to flower. That may be a good thing, it might be a bad thing. I dont even know. But that is the legacy of the Tea Party. No more Washington establishment on the right.
One of the leitmotifs of the 2010 midterm election was what we called the GOP Civil War, and was perhaps best evidenced by the ongoing rhetorical battle between GOP operative Karl Rove and Tea Party Senatorial candidate Christine ODonnell. Carlson makes the astute point that business as usual inside the D.C. beltway is a thing of the past, which is evidence of a Tea Party victory in the battle for the soul of the conservative movement.
Given that Carlson has a lengthy resume of defending the GOP and conservative movement, its not difficult to imagine that when he says that he isnt sure if this is a good thing or bad thing, he really is shooting a cannonball across the bow of the USS Tea Party, especially when Tea Party endorsed candidates like Herman Cain (and Sharron Angle of last fall) brought embarrassment to some in the GOP ranks. Perhaps the Tea Party has won the GOP battle, but some might suggest that they will lose the eventual war against their Democratic foes.
Watch the clip below, courtesy of Fox News:
(VIDEO AT LINK)
“The Tea Party Has Destroyed The Republican Establishment”
And this would be bad because...?
If so, then “Mission Accomplished”.
Still laugh about it today.
This (l)ibertarian says THANK YOU to the Tea Party for its continued assault on the GOP establishment. Rock on, brothers and sisters.
Mostly superficial flesh wounds, we need to keep at it until we kill it dead.
First, I had no idea Carlson was founder of the Daily Caller. No wonder I have found that outfit so suspect in the past.
Secondly, why is the tea party responsible for Sharon Angle and Christine O’Donnell, but no mention of Mike Lee, Toomey, Rubio, Rick Scott, Ron Johnson, and dozens of other winners. The insiders love to cherry-pick to create a narrative. The tea party activists supported a HELL of a lot more winners than loser in 2010.
This is ignoring that the Delaware race was also a victory because we kept another left-wing northeastern Republican out of the Senate to do massive damage. Mike Castle would have been an immediate addition to the gang of nitwits like the Maine twins, Scott Brown and Lindsey Graham that muck up our good policy efforts time after time.
Who dat some that might suggest?
I was just driving by to post that very phrase.
Not quite yet, we have plenty of more work to do, but have made great strides.
Keep on truckin Tea Party, full steam ahead. We cannot rest until our job is done.
The future depends on us.
Great minds, yada yada yada. You know the rest!
Reagan was but a brief respite from the elites controlling the GOP.
My father taught me to never trust a guy wearing a bowtie.
No Tucker, the GOP Establishment destroyed the GOP Establishment, by too often being indistinguishable from the Dem’s, in their quest to expand the scope of government, and their spending habits.
And Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, and Ron Johnson--all now considered to be rising GOP stars, even by the GOP establishment.
None of these people, not one, would have been elected without the Tea Party. The GOP establishment was backing Charlie Christ, some hack in Kentucky, and a Democrat in Wisconsin.
Apparently, half the thread is made up of great minds ;-)
If the GOP doesn’t have Scott Walker’s back in Wisconsin, then I am done with them for good.
Seems to be so!!! FR rocks!
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.