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’ America’s Newsroom, host Martha MacCallum asked Daily Caller founder Tucker Carlson and liberal “embed” Alan Colmes to discuss Romney’s strategy in engaging the powerful Tea Party contingent, which Carlson put in remarkably stark terms.
After openly questioning why Romney hasn’t 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 don’t endure because they can’t. This is basically a leaderless movement. But I think it’s 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 don’t 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 O’Donnell. 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, it’s not difficult to imagine that when he says that he isn’t 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)
he says that like it would be a bad thing...
Any Republican that does not embrace TEA Party ideals is not a Republican.
Money quote:
Important as they are, our political divisions are the iceberg's tip. When pollsters ask the American people whether they are likely to vote Republican or Democrat in the next presidential election, Republicans win growing pluralities. But whenever pollsters add the preferences "undecided," "none of the above," or "tea party," these win handily, the Democrats come in second, and the Republicans trail far behind. That is because while most of the voters who call themselves Democrats say that Democratic officials represent them well, only a fourth of the voters who identify themselves as Republicans tell pollsters that Republican officeholders represent them well. Hence officeholders, Democrats and Republicans, gladden the hearts of some one-third of the electorate -- most Democratic voters, plus a few Republicans. This means that Democratic politicians are the ruling class's prime legitimate representatives and that because Republican politicians are supported by only a fourth of their voters while the rest vote for them reluctantly, most are aspirants for a junior role in the ruling class. In short, the ruling class has a party, the Democrats. But some two-thirds of Americans -- a few Democratic voters, most Republican voters, and all independents -- lack a vehicle in electoral politics.
“If the GOP doesn’t have Scott Walker’s back in Wisconsin, then I am done with them for good.”
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That is an excellent benchmark.
More activity on the massive Green Graft would also work.
We shall see.
You’re welcome :-)
> The Tea Party Has Destroyed The Republican Establishment
And how is that a bad thing?
Mr. Carlson, bow tie and all, I think destroying the Republican “Establishment” might just have been one of the main goals of the Tea Party Movement. But what the heck, I not a learned journalist!
Best news I've read all day.
If only.
Tucker, go back school! The Tea Party is the original GOP, not this phony, scratch the libs backs if they scratch mine BS, who call themselves Republicans. Or maybe you could take a trip back in time to the Soviet Union to learn how socialism works.
Well our biggest Tea Party supporter is Michele Bachmann who should be our number one candidate for President but FREEPERS are going for non tea party people like Newt and Perry. The second Tea Party supporter is Cain. The third is Santorum. So why are we NOT supporting the Tea Party candidates????? FREEPERS just talking tea party but does not support them. Unbelievable.
Think of the Tea Party as a skilful surgeon. The cancer destroying the body is cut away from the healthy tissue that the organism may live.
The Tea Party movement is the true GOP.
Totally agree. I was an early supporter of MB and dam near every thread about her turned into FReeper mayhem with a shocking amount of "She's a stocking horse for Romney"...She is a Romney lover..."She supports farm subsidies" (she doesnt)...all sorts of crap. Every thread.
The MSM managed to Bork her and then Perry got in and she instantly dropped to the bottom. So now what. We are stuck. We screwed ourselves again, with the help of the GOP machine.
Tell it to Christine O’Donnell.
-PJ
Same here. I was Bachmann ‘12 then Cain ‘12.
If the Republican establishment can’t defend itself successfully against a bunch of rank-and-file voters, that strikes me as a defect in the establishment, not the rank-and-file voters.
Too good to be true.
I quit donating when the Natl GOP did nothing to keep Gregoire from stealing the WA governorship in 2000. We were a test ground for it. Maybe when the GOP starts acting like conservatives and quits joining “Gangs of 12” et al, and we have a speaker who doesn’t whimp out they may get their “mojo” back.
Isn't this an oxymoron?
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