Quote:
Originally Posted by zimmy
If they are responsible for the election of an unelectable republican candidate, they are done. A large majority of people agree more with Obama's ideas than the tea party; with Obama's ratings that may seem counter-intuitive. However, it is true on taxes for the wealthy, medicare, social security, etc. If a Herman Cain or Perry become the candidate, Obama gets re-elected because of Florida, PA, and Ohio. If the non-tea party candidate, Romney, wins it, he could win the general. His election would be in-spite of the tea party, not because of it. The tea party will be a fringe group within 5 years, less if the economy recovers, Obama wins, or Romney gets elected. If Cain or Perry get elected in the general, I will be the first to say I was wrong about the tea party.
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"If they are responsible for the election of an unelectable republican candidate, they are done."
Wrong, because unfortunately, they have already done that in Senate races in Nevada and Deleware last year.
"A large majority of people agree more with Obama's ideas than the tea party; with Obama's ratings that may seem counter-intuitive. However, it is true on taxes for the wealthy"
I don't disagree with you that most don't side with the tea party on these issues. But first, the number who DO side with the Tea Party (1) is not insignificant, and (2) they all vote. Furthermore, if folks took the time to actually do the math, they would see that it's irrefutable fact that the Tea Party is right...taxing the rich cannot EVEN COME CLOSE to getting us out of this. It's mathematical fact that only deep cuts will work.
"Romney, wins it, he could win the general. His election would be in-spite of the tea party, not because of it."
You're making some assumptions. If Romney wins, you can bet that his VP pick will be someone specifically designed to energize the Tea Party (like Marco Rubio).
"The tea party will be a fringe group within 5 years, less if the economy recovers,"
You're assuming that Tea Party relevence is only measured in the presidential election. Did you read any papers after the November 2010 elections? The GOP opened up a major can of whoop-ass on liberals, and it was largely due to Tea Party enthisiasm. There are literally dozens of United States congressmen who got elected thanks to the tea party. If the economy recovers, it will be the ultimate validation of the Tea Party, not the death bell of the tea party.
There is no way that the GOP nominates anyone other than Romney. There's always an outsider who makes a lot of noise early on. If Cain somehow gets nominated, I agree he'd have a tough time beating Obama, but that's extremely unlikely.
Ask the 50+ Democratic congressmen who got clobbered last November if they think the Tea Party is losing influence, or if they're gaining steam.
The Tea Party has not always been a productive thing (they handed senate seats to the Democrats in Deleware and Nevada last year). But if you think they're not one of the dominant forces in politics today, you are as mistaken as a person can be.