Author Topic: Goodbye tea party, hello big tent By Jennifer Rubin  (Read 431 times)

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Goodbye tea party, hello big tent By Jennifer Rubin
« on: April 11, 2014, 11:13:56 pm »
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2014/04/11/goodbye-tea-party-hello-big-tent/


Goodbye tea party, hello big tent

    By Jennifer Rubin   
    April 11 at 3:05 pm

Say what you will about Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), but they know a train wreck when they see it. They also know when to separate themselves from the cranks and the losers on the right. Although both supported the shutdown and were heartily supported by tea party groups in their own Senate races, neither one has endorsed Matt Bevin in Kentucky, Milton Wolf in Kansas or Chris McDaniel in Mississippi. In fact, Cruz’s office confirms he hasn’t endorsed anyone in the primaries. He may weigh in after the primaries. Rand Paul has endorsed two very establishment Republican candidates, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Mike Enzi (Wy.). He’s also endorsed Steve Lonegan in New Jersey (a seat neither party thinks is in play, with incumbent Democrat Cory Booker quite secure) and Chris Brannon in North Carolina, the most problematic of his picks. (A jury found that Brannon misled investors.)

There are a few important lessons here. First, neither one of these guys wants to be associated with, or take responsibility for, any tea party wipeouts if they can possibly avoid it. They have to be seen as serious people if they are going to be considered for president, and they don’t want to associate their brand of conservatism with the kookier incarnations out there in the hinterlands. They may say nice things about the tea party generically, but these guys are really on their own in elections.

Second, this suggests Bevin, McDaniel and Wolf are so far out there not even the two most conservative senators will endorse them. A lot of their donors are going to be pretty annoyed the groups didn’t do rudimentary vetting. FreedomWorks, Senate Conservatives Fund (which Cruz previously but no longer supports against incumbents), Madison Project and others will have some explaining to do. If they had just checked with two of their favorite senators they might have spotted trouble and saved their donors a ton of money.

And finally, this reinforces our point that within Congress and the GOP as a whole there is more unity than the mainstream media portrays as the tea party devolves into a very fringe group backed by D.C. money-making operations. The latter used to be the tail wagging the dog; now these characters are just howling at the moon.In a political universe in which House Speaker John Boehner is stronger than ever and Rand Paul backs McConnell, the establishment has triumphed.If a year or so ago everyone was a “tea partier” on the GOP side, increasingly I suspect candidates won’t be so anxious to self-identify as such. There will be instead lots of ”constitutional conservatives,” “movement conservatives,” “Reagan conservatives,” and “full spectrum conservatives.” If this continues, the tea party, as many of us saw coming, will fold into the GOP completely, leaving little sign of a distinct movement. That is no surprise.

Historically, insurgent movements either take over the party and rout the old team or they assimilate into the greater party. With the demise of some of these fringe campaigns, the big names on the right shying away from the cranks, and the passage of a GOP budget (a two-year deal and now the new Ryan budget), we are arriving back where the GOP began before the tea party. There are more conservative elements in the GOP, and there are more moderate elements. There will be disputes on tactics such as the shutdown, and disputes on substance (pro- or anti-immigration reform, accepting or anti-gay marriage). There will be people who hold views that the vast majority of the party doesn’t agree with, but there won’t be much of a political organization to support and push their views. But all this will transpire within the same political organization. The big tent is back.
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Offline Atomic Cow

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Re: Goodbye tea party, hello big tent By Jennifer Rubin
« Reply #1 on: April 11, 2014, 11:14:44 pm »
The Compost is whoring for the GOPe and its liberal agenda.
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Offline Gazoo

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Re: Goodbye tea party, hello big tent By Jennifer Rubin
« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2014, 11:18:36 pm »
The Compost is whoring for the GOPe and its liberal agenda.

And a trollop of posters will be along shortly to HIGH FIVE this article.
"The Tea Party has a right to feel cheated.

When does the Republican Party, put in the majority by the Tea Party, plan to honor its commitment to halt the growth of the Federal monolith and bring the budget back into balance"?

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Re: Goodbye tea party, hello big tent By Jennifer Rubin
« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2014, 11:26:09 pm »
I think those of us that affiliate themselves with the Tea Party are smart enough to see what's going on.

Let them have their fun....we'll be there in November.

The only 'thrill' Matthews will experience is urine running down his leg.
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Offline Gazoo

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Re: Goodbye tea party, hello big tent By Jennifer Rubin
« Reply #4 on: April 11, 2014, 11:32:31 pm »
Hello big tent is correct. Can you say, pull an ACORN and change the tent name- for the win, Alex?

This must be why the IRS added liberty to their search zone of audits.

http://www.rlc.org/
"The Tea Party has a right to feel cheated.

When does the Republican Party, put in the majority by the Tea Party, plan to honor its commitment to halt the growth of the Federal monolith and bring the budget back into balance"?

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Re: Goodbye tea party, hello big tent By Jennifer Rubin
« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2014, 04:52:02 am »
There is too much dissension within the GOP.  But this article is not intended to assuage that dissension.  It is, rather, a very sly piece of agit-prop designed to inflame that dissension.  This one is mainly aimed at tea partiers whom I hope and believe are smart enough to not take the bait.  Rand and Cruz seem to be astute politicians, so maybe what counts more are the primaries where they've abstained from endorsing someone.  That may mean that they're willing to abide by the choice of the primary voters.  One shouldn't be too quick to conclude that the absence of an endorsement implies a distaste for all available candidates.

This is the Washington Post, after all.  Not exactly the most conservative-friendly of places.

I do think that it is a good idea for Cruz and others to stay out of endorsing candidates in the primaries and I think Rand Paul made a mistake endorsing McConnell so early before he had any opponents.

 
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Offline speekinout

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Re: Goodbye tea party, hello big tent By Jennifer Rubin
« Reply #6 on: April 12, 2014, 08:45:20 pm »
This is encouraging news. This is a very important election, and getting a GOP majority - the bigger the better - in Congress is the important thing. Defeating GOP incumbents does nothing toward ridding us of this socialist embarrassment of an admin. Policy matters more than people. It sounds like Cruz & Paul also consider becoming part of the majority party is the most important goal. They both have a better chance of influencing legislation as part of the majority party than they do as part of the minority.
And it does not help to have seriously flawed GOP candidates running when there is an electable alternative.

Offline truth_seeker

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Re: Goodbye tea party, hello big tent By Jennifer Rubin
« Reply #7 on: April 12, 2014, 09:35:37 pm »
This is encouraging news. This is a very important election, and getting a GOP majority - the bigger the better - in Congress is the important thing. Defeating GOP incumbents does nothing toward ridding us of this socialist embarrassment of an admin. Policy matters more than people. It sounds like Cruz & Paul also consider becoming part of the majority party is the most important goal. They both have a better chance of influencing legislation as part of the majority party than they do as part of the minority.
And it does not help to have seriously flawed GOP candidates running when there is an electable alternative.
Post worthy of a HIGH FIVE
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