The tea party at a crossroads
“They don‘t necessarily want to be Republicans,” DeMint said. “If Republicans want to embrace the ideas of constitutional government and balanced budget, then they are fine with Republicans carrying the message and they will get behind them.
“But I don‘t think that most Tea Party people just want to get merged with the Republican Party. The jury is still out if … you are going to see the emergence of a third party with a lot of libertarian themes.”
Sam DeMarco, 54, of North Fayette, chairman of Western Pennsylvania Veterans and Patriots United, a Tea Party organization with 500 members, said he thinks the movement has reached a crossroads.
“We originally made the decision to not form a third party and stick with the Republicans because we understood that would almost guarantee that (Democratic candidates) would win,” he said. “However, as the fiscal cliff negotiations continue and Washington Republicans are beginning to cave, that may become an option.”
Blowback
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ABOUT DAMN TIME!!!!!!
lm10001 on December 16, 2012 at 6:36 PM
How about the American Rational Party. Strictly about fiscal sanity, with a tagline of “We dare to do Math!” All other issues secondary.
michaelo on December 16, 2012 at 6:44 PM
Yes!
lester on December 16, 2012 at 6:47 PM
Even if tea partiers want to save the Republican Party, it is impossible now thanks to the rule changes the GOP establishment imposed at the RNC in Tampa. The GOP establishment granted themselves the right to cheat in future presidential primaries, changing the rules on the fly in the middle of the contest. Tea party presidential candidates that necessarily challenge the GOP establishment, (because they’re the problem), can’t possibly win. The GOP establishment has turned the Republican Party into their own little fiefdom and the only way to defeat them is to knock down their castle and build a new one in its place.
Unless somebody can propose a way to undo those rule changes or otherwise defeat the corrupt GOP establishment from the inside, I see no choice but to do it from the outside.
FloatingRock on December 16, 2012 at 7:13 PM
Yup, we stuck with them. I stuck with them. And what happened? They won anyway. Screw the establishment GOP. We’d be just as well off, maybe better rowing our own boat. Democrat lite is a loser.
petefrt on December 16, 2012 at 7:34 PM
I like to think that DeMint at Heritage is going to make a BIG difference in the political landscape. Heritage will support the Tea Party movement as against the RINO’s, “moderates”, and establishment GOP. That’s gotta matter.
petefrt on December 16, 2012 at 7:45 PM
Forget third party. It’s “new nation” time.
ThePrimordialOrderedPair on December 16, 2012 at 8:00 PM
Lara Brown, Villanova University professor, from the article:
So, it is the Tea Party’s fault that the US experienced a credit rating downgrade.
It didn’t have anything to do with the yearly $1 trillion deficit. (That would be an absurd explanation.)
Brilliant. Where do I enroll in her classes?
Nephew Sam on December 16, 2012 at 8:02 PM
Actually, that had nothing to do with the downgrade. It was Barky getting on TV and threatening to default on the debt night after night that brought the downgrade. It was Barky’s actions, since there was never a question of not having the money to service the debt.
At first, Moody’s had moved in and threatened a downgrade just to ally with Barky in his assault but even they couldn’t keep up the BS so Moody’s finally bowed out and the idiots from S+P moved in and took the bait. It was all a pathetic joke.
Other than that, Barky violated the 14th amendment with his constant threats to default. He should have been impeached (yet, again) and tossed in jail.
ThePrimordialOrderedPair on December 16, 2012 at 8:10 PM
No political party can solve the problem we have: a depraved electorate that elected Obama twice.
No political answer for this guys.
JRidge on December 16, 2012 at 8:20 PM