Quote from tomdavis:
I've attended a couple of Tea Party meetings and the basic theme is that neither Republicans nor Democrats can be trusted with taxpayers' money. That is the primary source of discontent. Surprisingly (to me), there were a lot of Democrats at the meetings I attended, people who are fed up with massive deficits and a national debt that's going bankrupt our country for generations to come.
I would agree that many of the Tea Party candidates are weak, but supporting Tea Party candidates is the only way to get politicians' attention these days. The alternative is to submissively go to the polls and continue voting for the same irresponsible Democrats and Republicans. The message has to be sent somehow, and the Tea Party is the only available messenger.
That is an appealing scenario. We vote tea party to send a message, knowing we can't win the election, but also knowing that neither the Democrats nor the the Republicans represent well the majority of Americans, and also knowing that it doesn't really matter whether a Democrat or Republican wins. It is more important to send a clear message. I like that.
But of course, There is always the danger that one of these Tea Party idiots would actually get elected. And frankly that scares the hell out of me!
I don't think I can take that chance.
One thing to consider is all the under twenty-five voters that registered for the Obama election. They are still registered! In the past not many of them registered so they were precluded from voting. Now the barrier to voting is not there, and they might surprise a lot of folks by showing up in November. These younger folks, by and large, don't like war and they don't like spending all our resources on war; they don't think the color of your skin should matter; they don't think the State should dictate whom they should fall in love with, or that you should go to jail for smoking a joint. They are mainly pro-choice. They don't know anyone who has smoked marijuana and then gotten in a car, driven like crazy, and killed people. The "Christian" right scares them. They are a little more likely to vote Democrat than Republican, but are suspicious of both Parties..
The outcome of this November's election may not be in the bag for the Republican establishment afterall. Especially if the the Tea Party folks decide to send a message, as it is clear that Tea Party votes come mostly out of the Republican base.
The best thing that Tea Party candidates could do is to distance themselves from the right wing kooks and religious fundamentalists and embrace the nations youth instead. Stick with their smaller, less intrusive government message, and champion constitutional rights. They won't win that way either, but then they would have a chance of eventually drawing votes from both parties. Then, and only then, could they eventually become a successful political force. As long as they draw votes mainly from one party or the other they will only assure the other party's victory.
The Tea Party is an asset to the Democrats. I would think that Democrat political strategists may be contributing, under the table of course, to certain Tea Party candidates they see as unelectable. The danger, of course, being that they miscalculate, and one of these loonatics actually gets elected! The few that are sane, and get nominated, have some chance of being elected. Let us fervently hope the others do not.