Posted on 06/01/2014 5:32:19 AM PDT by cotton1706
At the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans this week, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson tried to distance himself from the Tea Party groups that helped elect him in 2010.
If Ron Johnson was running any faster from the Tea Party he'd leave skid marks.
Back in 2010, the Wisconsin senator was one of the Tea Party’s first candidates. His upset victory over incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold in that deep purple swing state was seen as proof that a new brand of conservatism was on the march.
But Johnson, a businessman and political novice when he was first elected, told reporters at a gathering of grassroots conservatives activists in New Orleans this week that it may be time for that march to slow down.
“I think the conservative movement may just be maturing a little bit. You can be very doctrinaire, you can demand purity, but in the end if you want to advance policy that you want enacted you have to win elections,” Johnson said when asked about a recent spate of Tea Party losses around the country.
The Wisconsin Republican blamed national and local Tea Party groups for holding the GOP hostage. “My guess is that the Tea Party groups have always been separate from the Tea Party movement.”
Johnson burst onto the national scene after given a number of fiery speeches at Tea Party rallies before he was even a candidate, and told a reporter that he “did kind of spring out of the Tea Party.”
At the Republican Leadership Conference however, Johnson downplayed his involvement with the movement, saying, “I gave a speech at a few Tea Parties. I never joined a group.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
-—Name me one Republican Senator who has gotten in the face of a Democratic Chairman like Johnson did last week.
Ted Cruz, with Patrick Leahy.-—
Right on! So Johnson is in good company.
I’ve seen John McCain and Linda Gayham hammer people, anyone can do it. Ron Johnson is not bad considering he’s from Wisconsin, the same state as the detestable Tammy Baldwin or whatever the hell her name is, but he is with McConnell when push comes to shove. He proved that during the Obamacare debacle. Same with Kelly Ayotte.
I don’t know anything about Wisconsin politics or Johnson. So I can’t speak to either, but I can speak to his statement that the tea party groups don’t necessarily represent all of the individuals in the movement.
There are a couple of (small) tea party groups in North Texas that make me cringe with some of the things they say and some of the endorsements they make. They sure don’t represent me. There are other tea party groups in the area who do represent me. So Johnson’s statement isn’t really out of line with my experience.
You’re not alone.
Good point. They become part of the institution and get a pension and get perks and forget who they represent and why they won.
Actually it would not be just as bad, it would be much worse under Mitt because we would quietly accept all the same Progressive cr@p that we are now resisting. Technically you are correct.
See, there you go….using logic, rationale, intelligence. Timber was just trying to win the days most unhappy and paranoid Freeper.
What I consider the 100 per centers are the ones that have a deal breaker issue. For example let say that certain conservatives who are evangelicals will not vote for a catholic, even a staunch conservative one.
I agree that such people are a minority of the party. However, they are enough to throw a close election.
It is the democrats that so easily turn us against each other with wedge issues.
The acronym "RINO" was a move by the left to set us to competing against each other as to who were the "true" conservatives.
I see this as an exercise to get me as close to where I want to be as possible. Once I get there I will work on the rest of the issues.
I see some issues as generational issues that are going to take a long time to turn around.
Others are immediate issues, such as slamming the brakes on the national debt which will destroy the nation.
It's like triage, attack the more immediate problems first.
Our most immediate problem is to get control of the government. Then we can still start working on fixing things.
You're right Mr. Wright, screw the media and their attempts to divide Republicans.
If what Johnson was trying to say was that some groups (like the ones that pushed moron Sharron Angle over electable CONSERVATIVES and who constantly push for Paulbots losers) are 'tarded then he's RIGHT.
>> Willingness to compromise = 'It's ok to kill babies. <<
Plenty of GOP incumbents with 100% pro-life ratings have been called RINO traitors by "Tea Party" groups who scream that it's "time for them to go", so sorry, your point is invalid.
Ironically, if you want to see a GOP senator who "turned his back on the conservatives who helped him win", check out John Thune in South Dakota. He's pre-Tea Party, but he ran as Mr. Principled Conservative Values and never would have gotten the attention and money he did nationally if he hadn't been running against Tom Daschle. He then turned around the promptly stabbed conservatives in the back after arriving in the U.S. Senate (and UNLIKE Johnson, Thune represents an extremely conservative state).
The bizarro thing there is a bunch of freepers continued to gush over Thune and fantasize about giving him a promotion to a Presidential ticket. I'm still floored that its considered a deal breaker to offer "bipartisan" support for legislation that doesn't even pass, but a-okay to SUCCESSFULLY help the RATs destroy the only decent UN ambassador candidate in years. Gotta wonder about the priorities of some conservatives.
Of course, the Thune worship was back when Cantor and McConnell still had huge fan clubs on here, so maybe the tide has turned in the other direction and numerous freepers would now support a marxist RAT over Thune. I can't keep track of when a Senator is a conservative hero and when he's a liberal traitor anymore.
I have avoided pimping Thune even when he does cast good votes. He is too establishment. Not as bad as John Hoeven (North Dakota? What?!), but still he’s not nearly as conservative as the senators from Idaho. They set the standard for good backbenchers.
Thune for a presidential ticket? Might as well have Bob McDonnel or someone even more bland.
I agree, even if he WAS a reliable conservative instead of a squish, he brings absolutely nothing to a GOP ticket.
Never-the-less, there were tons of "THUNE 4 VEEP!!!" vanity posts on here in 2008 and 2012. Apparently the mere fact he's "good looking" and "beat Tom Daschle" entitled him to have the second highest office in government.
/johnny
People forget that the influx of the RINO element into the GOP is due mainly to the radicalization/Marxification of the Democrat Party. If the GOP is no longer available to them as a home, they can and will drift back to the Democrat Party and pull it closer to the center.
1) I'm not a "GOP-E" type. If I was, I'd be backing incumbents like Thad Cochran instead of their opponents
2) I am also a staunch pro-life conservative and certainly DO NOT want the GOP to "compromise" on abortion. In fact, this is precisely why I've OPPOSED numerous "Tea Party" candidates who ARE willing to compromise on abortion, especially when they are running against a candidate who is a PROVEN strong pro-life candidate. For example, most of the Illinois "Tea Party" groups backed pro-abortion Bruce Rauner in the GOP over numerous pro-life candidates, and most of the national "Tea Party" groups backed Liz Cheney for the US Senate when she had never once supported pro-life causes before announcing her Senate campaign. Her opponent has a 30 year track record of standing up for life. One of the reason I am not a member of a "Tea Party" group is precisely BECAUSE they don't care about running socially conservative candidates.
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