Rumors of the Tea Party's Death Highly Exaggerated

TEA! Temecula

By the Left Coast Rebel

According to Politico, Republican party power-mongers seems to think that the Tea Party is dead.

I think the death of the Tea Party is highly exaggerated.

Many are tired and dispirited. Most Tea Partiers have simply moved into underground Sons of Liberty liberty watch-guards. Instead of orchestrating historic national protests, they are in one way or another changing the nation from within the political system.

One can argue that the system is so beyond hope and repair that it cannot even be saved at this point.

But, like it or not, that's the now-somewhat underground position the Tea Party has naturally transitioned into...

From Politico....

Bad:

GOP elders sympathize with the movement’s ideas and want to channel whatever energy the decentralized groups offer for November. But when asked about the tea-party’s influence in interviews here, the movement was always spoken of in the third person and as one constituency in the larger Republican coalition, sort of like defense hawks or fiscal conservatives.

Many Republicans here said that tea-party activists now understand that things will run more smoothly if those with experience are in charge rather than those who put a premium on ideology over process.

“The important thing for any group in the party to understand…is that you need experience to govern,” said New Hampshire Republican Chairman Wayne MacDonald. “Everybody has to start somewhere. It’s just important they learn the mechanics of how the party operates…It doesn’t mean new ideas aren’t welcome.”
(SNIP)
The tea party movement’s influence has waned everywhere since its apex in 2010. Most visibly, the Republican Party is poised to nominate the most pragmatic of the men who ran for president this cycle even though many tea-party groups vocally opposed him during the primary. Indeed, Mitt Romney received a coronation of sorts at a unity lunch here Friday, soaking up standing ovations and basking in blessings from 2008 rival Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Good:

In fact, libertarian supporters of Ron Paul made more successful inroads into the party organization in 2012. A.J. Spiker, the vice chairman of Ron Paul’s Iowa campaign, became state party chairman in February. James Smack, a vocal 2008 Paul supporter Nevada, got elevated from vice chair to acting state chair in February after Amy Tarkanian resigned to help her husband run for Congress. Now he’s challenging former Nevada Gov. Bob List for Nevada’s committeeman slot at next month’s state convention.


Morton Blackwell, the longtime national committeeman representing Virginia, believes it’s only a matter of time before tea-party activists end up in the highest echelons of the party. But when they do, he doesn’t think they’ll be thought of as tea partiers.

Exit question: If the Tea Party is dead -- as many power-broking GOP honchos insist -- then why, as of yesterday, is progressive-statist three-decade-serving Utah Senator Orrin Hatch fighting for his political life? Hmm?

Updated: Christopher Manion at LRC sees the GOP gloating over what they perceive as an ongoing victory in stymieing the Tea Party:

... because it (the GOP) has screwed the Tea Party and the Ron Paul brigades. Their gaudy hubris will, of course, drive millions away from their chosen loser Romney. But hubris is incurable, say the classicists.

These fops would much rather strut on the stage in a ruined country than to be relegated to the cheap seats in a land celebrating freedom, peace, and prosperity. Well, as the Good Book says, they have their reward.

Updated x2: The Tea Party is dead! Or is it?

Former Commmunist sympathizer David "comb-over" Axelrod's ridiculous statement today on the Tea Party's congressional "reign of terror." That's some pretty violent imagery from the White House Occupier's chief campaign adviser, no?