Republicans not in charge, neither is Tea Party

by YankeeJim | September 16, 2010 at 05:34 am

392 views | 8 Recommendations | 26 comments

Let’s not get carried away, is my first reaction. The state of Delaware is a small one, though a defeat by a candidate against Democrats would be a hard loss making it difficult for Republicans to control the Senate.

Americans must do more than vent their anger at the establishment. They must select and elect qualified candidates and O’Donnell isn’t one of them.

Academics matter as do life achievement. The nation is facing considerable challenges and needs the best and brightest, not the gal or guy next door like maybe you or me, but somebody who is best in class.

“After graduating in 1987 from Moorestown High School in Moorestown, New Jersey, O'Donnell attended Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she did course work toward a B.A. in English and Communication.[8][9][10] She attended the commencement ceremony in 1993 but did not receive a degree, due to outstanding unpaid tuition.[10][nb 1] In 1994, Fairleigh Dickinson University sued her for $4,823, according to court documents. The university won a judgment in New Jersey for the entire amount, which was paid in 2003.[9][10][3][3] After O'Donnell completed a final general electives course in the summer of 2010,[9] Fairleigh Dickinson awarded her a bachelor's degree in English literature.[9][10]”

There is nothing wrong with working your way through college. There is something wrong with not paying your tuition. There is something wrong with a degree in English as that doesn’t cut it in addressing the nation’s needs. There is something wrong in her light weight work experience as there was something wrong in Sarah Palin’s light weight experience that carried her way beyond her ability to govern the State of Alaska where she quit her job before the term expired – incomplete.

“O'Donnell has worked as marketing consultant,[2] and as a freelance public relations consultant,[3] and as a political commentator.”

These are not quality candidates and the greater electorate knows this and this candidate is unelectable beyond a tea party.

“Christine O'Donnell's big win in Delaware sends message to Republican establishment

Video

Tea Party victories concern for GOP

Victories by tea party candidates in Republican primaries are a cause for concern for GOP leaders, and reason to be hopeful for Democrats. (Sept. 15)

» LAUNCH VIDEO PLAYER

By Karen Tumulty

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 16, 2010; 3:40 AM

"Tea party" activists have been saying all along that their movement is about something more than winning elections. And as the bloody Republican primary season reaches an end, they have proved they really mean it.

Their parting shot at the Republican establishment was their loudest.

In defeating the GOP's strong prospect for picking up a Senate seat in Delaware - thereby dampening its chances of regaining a Senate majority - the tea party has delivered a clear message to the Republican establishment: You are not in charge.

"This is about changing the system," Christine O'Donnell, the tea party pick, said Tuesday night as she celebrated her stunning primary victory over Rep. Michael N. Castle.

Her upset was the biggest in a string of tea party wins this season over establishment-backed candidates in Alaska, Colorado, Kentucky, New York and Utah.

The end of the primaries normally is a time when parties try to close ranks, but O'Donnell's win fueled another spasm of recriminations.”

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YankeeJim

at 05:40 on September 16th, 2010

A segment of the Delaware voting population isn't thinking straight, or is incapable of thinking straight.

Karen Hatter

at 06:09 on September 16th, 2010

The majority of those said to be representative of the TEA Party are being elected for what they state they are AGAINST, not offering any articulation for what they are FOR nor how it would be achieved.

The Republican Party's offspring, the TEA Party, has taken over the emotionally charged extreme base of the Party as they push the Party farther away from any form of cooperative political work into the realm of exclusionary politics.

YankeeJim

at 06:23 on September 16th, 2010

Let them put a tax on TP.

Piobar

at 11:11 on September 16th, 2010

Very well put Karen. Sadly, it is a very effective strategy to stand against things rather than for them. More often than not, voters seem to decide against, rather than for. It can be as simple and strait forward as saying I will not vote for candidate A so that leaves me with Candidate B. It is a very efficient way to win votes by avoiding the need to show competency or an understanding of the issues. "I am against new taxes" wins a lot of support, in comparison to "I support fair, necessary taxation." People like things to be black and white, it is faster and easier. Those who are more capable of running a country know that there is no black and white, but grey areas do not tend to mobilize the masses. And it is easier to prove someone else wrong than to actually try and prove yourself right. Proving someone else wrong does not make a stance right, but it certainly makes it seem right, in comparison. Make the opponent seem to be the enemy, and victory becomes assured. It’s a good thing the TEA partiers do not have a Reichstag to raze….

Karen Hatter

at 15:55 on September 16th, 2010

I agree, Piobar, in this instance, it may be effective in the short term. It doesn't seem the TEA Party has learned that politics is a chess game, not checkers.

When all of the furor of the TEA Party dies down, a truly non-phenomena created to attempt to hoodwink the unsuspecting into believing it something other than the extreme wing of the Republican Party, its short sighted approach to politics, with more than 80% of the TEA party thinking the REST of America views the world through their eyes when in reality, with about only 24% claiming they actually do, ultimately, they will arrive at a rude awakening that their isolationist tactics will not prevail.

As for the Reichstag, well, one can never know where, when or IF they may think they see one!

Smoke and Mirrors: The Role of the TEA Party in American Politics

nanute

at 09:34 on September 16th, 2010

I think you are right Jim. I think one of her campaign slogans will be: Forget a chicken in every pot. There will be no chocking the chicken.

YankeeJim

at 09:41 on September 16th, 2010

And I won't be home in time to make the chicken dinner.

nanute

at 09:44 on September 16th, 2010

I can't believe I misspelled choke. As in choking the chicken.

YankeeJim

at 12:02 on September 16th, 2010

I though you were holding back a truck with a chicken.

nanute

at 12:27 on September 16th, 2010

Very good Jim. Here's the best quote of the day regarding the Tea Party from commenter Shaun Kennedy at Gawker: Lesson (one would hope) learned by the GOP: when you hand the car keys to the unmedicated bi-polar alcoholic with the messianic complex, don't be surprised if you end up driving off a bridge as a trust exercise with Jesus.

t k kidwai

at 16:00 on September 16th, 2010

Negative approach sometime works wonders in political arena.A common voter who has lost faith in establishment is easily carried away by and jumps on to the bandwagon of those who articulate his disenchantment with the establishment,without articulating how the wrongs done by the establishment would be undone.

Karen Hatter

at 07:33 on September 16th, 2010

There are two significant differences between Obama's grass-roots upswell and the rise of the Tea Party adherents. First, Obama attracted people across a wide swath of the political spectrum, from the far left to just right of center; the Tea Party is almost exclusively hard right. Second, the Obamans were insurgent in their mind-set but downright establishment in their technology, organization, fundraising and ability to use the existing rules to beat the power players at their own game. For all its energy, the Tea Party has not had the chance to demonstrate the same sustained capacity for winning methodology and follow-through. (See portraits of the Tea Party movement.)

That means that while the Tea Partyers are enthusiastic and have earned a series of short-term victories, they aren't necessarily destined for electoral success this fall. Their penchant for supporting less mainstream, less electable, more erratic candidates, according to some worried senior Republican strategists, might jeopardize Republican chances in at least five Senate races in November and even the GOP presidential nominee in the general election two years hence.

YankeeJim

at 09:43 on September 16th, 2010

"That means that while the Tea Partyers are enthusiastic and have earned a series of short-term victories, they aren't necessarily destined for electoral success this fall."

It won't be much of party at that point.

"thirty-aught-six" (not verified)

at 12:30 on September 16th, 2010

I'm at a loss as to why the same people over and over have to find a way to deride the Tea Party. Blind partisanship is proving to be just that. The Tea Party is not some minimal hiccup with limited appeal as some repeatedly assert. They come in all races, shapes and sizes and represent the professional and working class of conservative America. While some of you work very hard to paint them as buck-toothed ignorant racist KKK hicks, it is far far from the truth. Personally, regardless of any election results one way or the other, I think the Tea Party will unseat the complacent political lifers with in the Republican Party. From what I can see, the candidates supported by the Tea Party will achieve that end. It's too bad Democrats haven't the parts necessary to purge the party of all the dead wood instead of re-electing the same system entrenched candidates over and over again.

nanute

at 13:32 on September 16th, 2010

I think you misunderstand, and make false narratives of why some of us appear to deride the Tea Party. The people that make up this new "phenomenon, are primarily disaffected republicans of the extreme end of conservative thinking .(The group on the bench that you insist doesn't get to partake in process.) As a "new Democrat" as you define yourself, perhaps you should try changing the party with a similar movement. Here's a snippet of a good commentary on the Tea Party and the misguided reaction to it, by Glenn Greenwald:The "tea party" movement is, in my view, a mirror image of the Republican Party generally. There are some diverse, heterodox factions which compose a small, inconsequential minority of it (various libertarian, independent, and Reagan Democrat types), but it is dominated -- in terms of leadership, ideology, and the vast majority of adherents -- by the same set of beliefs which have long shaped the American Right: Reagan-era domestic policies, blinding American exceptionalism and nativism, fetishizing American wars, total disregard for civil liberties, social and religious conservatism, hatred of the minority-Enemy du Jour (currently: Muslims), allegiance to self-interested demagogic leaders, hidden exploitation by corporatist masters, and divisive cultural tribalism.

I encourage you to read it all, and don't be dismissive by the opening.

The misguided reaction to Tea Party candidates

thirty-aught-six" (not verified)

at 14:41 on September 16th, 2010

The difference between you and me is that I don't turn to the left for my understanding of the right or vice-versa. I also haven't suspended independent thought to regurgitate textbook liberal or conservative talking points and propaganda as fact. I certainly don't misunderstand the blatant fear mongering towards the Tea Party or the endless attacks to belittle their intramural regeneration. If they are the horrible creatures you, and others like you work so hard to define them as, then this Republican 'movement' that is being describes as "nothing of consequence" by left-wing media and bloggers is all the better for the Democrats. More proof there is no need for the belittlement and rancor. In the world of rational thought "Nothing of consequence" does not require the level of concerted visceral attacks seen displayed against the Tea party by the left-wing media and bloggers. So given this- who are you and those who express themselves similarly working so hard to convince of this "nothing of consequence"? Me or yourselves?

nanute

at 15:14 on September 16th, 2010

I'm not defining anyone. Their actions and statements define them. There is no further use in an honest attempt at dialogue with you. I offer you a very good critical thinking, thought provoking commentary on the "movement", and the best you can come up with is that it is a leftist argument, not worthy of consideration. Best of luck to you in your search for understanding of those you don't agree with.

"thirty-aught-six" (not verified)

at 19:15 on September 16th, 2010

That you would refer to your 14:32 post as [an honest attempt at dialogue] or [very good critical thinking] suggest you have no real understanding of those concepts. There is no way that hateful diatribe comes close to being honest or in any way a exercise in critical thinking.

YankeeJim

at 14:15 on September 16th, 2010

Here's the deal. A third party will have a very hard time getting to critical mass, and a third party undermines the potential effectiveness of a two-party system.

In order for the USA to continue to be a world leader and to outperform the rest, the two parties must collaborate and compromise. That is the nature and purpose of a Democracy.

We take our best ideas and work them together into the best possible outcome from compromise and collaboration. Those are the skills we need in leaders and representatives.

For all of the outlying folks who want to go their own way, well, that is what caused the Civil War, frankly. We don't need that kind of divisiveness, not from the liberals or conservatives.

Tea Party is divisive, IMO.

"thirty-aught-six" (not verified)

at 15:20 on September 16th, 2010

Let me answer you in military parlance. Flanking movements can have a dramatic affect but real strength is always formed at the center. From what I have read the only unified intention of the Tea Party is to unseat the entrenched "Republican" establishment that is seen to have failed the Republican voter. All other complaints are being debated and not held as "universal" Tea Party issues. As Far as I can tell the Tea Party is not a single coherent body but rather an amalgamation of those Republican voters who feel disenfranchised by the current Republican Party office holders. The movement is working at a grass roots level with in the Republican organization itself beginning at the very bottom of the Party structure. The Tea Party are supporting new mostly untested politicians hoping to take the contest away from the again, established Republican candidate. The Republican Party can use this type of "divisiveness" to reinvent/rejuvenate the Party. I for one believe the Democratic Party could benefit from a good sweeping out too.

YankeeJim

at 05:08 on September 17th, 2010

"the only unified intention of the Tea Party is to unseat the entrenched "Republican" establishment that is seen to have failed the Republican voter"

I think Democrats should be unseating its entrenched establishment as well. I call them lifer politicians. They too have failed the Democrat voters, i.e., Charlie Rangel.

However, seniority still rules, akin to the power of the middle versus flank. Republicans have Boehner and Mitchell, Democrats have Pelosi and Reid. Pass the barf bag on all of the above.

YankeeJim

at 14:16 on September 16th, 2010

While we have different ideas, sometimes, I appreciate the quality of your thinking.

"thirty-aught-six" (not verified)

at 15:38 on September 16th, 2010

Thanks Jim. I'm no partisan drone. I read from multiple sources and refrain from biased text. I don't see the Tea Party as a bad thing for Republicans in particular or Americans in general. Obviously these people think the Party needs a good airing out. Even if they are not 100% successful the Party will hopefully be infused with some new blood and the center will be invigorated to act with assiduity.

t k kidwai

at 17:11 on September 16th, 2010

We define or deride a group of people,on either side of the spectrum,by their stated policies and actions;there is no other criterion.Justice is to be done not by resorting to biased and uncritical approach.

The whole exercise is about failure of the republicans to contain the American left,push forward neo-con agenda.They needed a platform to vent their frustation and anger.For turncoats it was a God send opportunity,they joined this rudderless organization where they got the accomodation they needed,some space in the media.

"thirty-aught-six" (not verified)

at 19:40 on September 16th, 2010

Actually, the libertarian Tea Party has no relationship to the corporatist Neo-Cons and that misinterpretation by the left-wing media was one of the things Ron Paul tried to underscore in a recent t.v. interview. He said, "I think the message gets a little bit diluted when a lot of people come in and the Republican party wants to make sure that maybe there's a Neocon type of influence."Jane Hamsher of the Huffington Post wrote a decent article discussing this.www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-hamsher/will-palin-and-the-neocon_b_456824.html

"thirty-aught -six" (not verified)

at 19:57 on September 16th, 2010

Link to Ron Paul's own discussion of neocon influence.eclipptv.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=9913&title=Ron_Paul___Tea_Party_NeoCons__amp__Pervasive_Ideas&vpkey=