Your argument about incumbents applies to Democrats, too. I KNOW it’s infuriating when the likes of McCain thumbs his nose at us, but McCain still votes with us on occasion. If you put a Democrat in his seat, that Democrat will vote against us nearly 100% of the time AND be nearly impossible, due to incumbency, to remove from office.
This is why we have to remove RINOs like McCain in the primaries. If, however, they survive, we have to vote for the lesser of the two evils, because that is the only way to achieve any hope of getting our way at least part of the time.
Again, I say open up a can of whoopass on these RINOs in the primaries. Make them earn their seats! Elect conservatives where possible and compromise with moderates when necessary to so long as we’re moving the country to the right. You have zero chance at changing anything if you can’t build enough political power, and I submit that requires some compromise and coalition building.
I agree, but here's the catch:
Don't expect any worthwhile or overwhelming support from the Party establishment.
You see, the Party has been morphing to the Left for a while. There's fun, security, consensus and profit to be found there for those who want to play along. Intruders who might mess up the fun and profit of Federal Level Politics aren't welcome. They remind the public what the rest of the Congress should be doing, they mention that dusty artifact called a Constitution, they act as the inconvenient conscience and every now and then, when it suits TPTB, give the media fodder to use against the establishment GOP types who fall flat on their collective keester when it comes to fulfilling the promises they made to their electorate.
They bring up the incovenient truth that We, the People, sent them to Washington to do a job, that they work for us, that they should be looking out for our interests instead of diddling staffers and padding their portfolios with insider trades and inside knowledge of how what rule or regulation will enhance the value of one company while causing another's stock to tank.
Why, d@mn! Those upstarts might even return the idea the the Right Honorable Members should even have some Honor!!
So the GOP-e gives just enough support to say "That's My Boy!" should the candidate prevail, and just enough to say they supported that candidate, but really the world isn't ready for such old fashioned notions (you should have stuck with the lesser evil).
SO one way, they claim the credit, the other, they shirk the blame and turn it on the Americans who want a return to smaller, less intrusive (and by virtue of that, less expensive) government, rationally applied within the original intent of the Constitution.
We first must win the war of public opinion, to overcome both the GOP-e and Democrat attacks on the TEA party candidates, and at the same time police our ranks to keep those who would co-opt the entire movement for their own political gain.
We have to have the backers at the grassroots level--enough to compensate for the heavy hitters who will have skin in the status quo game, and be able to reach the ordinary working (or wishes they were working) person.
With all the crap flying out there, that is a tough battle, but one I think can be won. It won't be easy, it won't happen overnight, but it won't happen by strengthening our adversaries on either side of the aisle.