RCP
David Brooks: The establishment will eventually defeat the tea party
And, so far , it seems to be just the candidates. One of the interesting things — and I can’t say I know the answer to this — is, how much will the Tea Party fight back? There has been some effort that they are saying, oh, the establishment is taking over.
But my own sense of things so far is that there is not the will to fight among the Tea Party and that a lot of people in the Tea Party are, frankly — they’re not — they are also Republicans. And a lot of — say, Rush Limbaugh, for example, who is not Tea Party, he’s more an establishment Republican who wants the Republican Party to win.
So I have a feeling that the establishment is going to have maybe an easier time of it than some might think.
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yeap which is what happened from FDR until Reagan. And from bush until Obama. The GOPE would rather be a minority party than have to share power with the TEA party/Reaganites. Of course after Reagan they tried to hide who they were and pretend to be believers in Reagan but since bush the 2nd they just can’t bring themselves to lie any longer. They hate the tea party small government masses like hitler hated the jews.
unseen on February 10, 2013 at 12:21 PM
because to the GOPE it isn’t about REP vs dem. Its about elites vs the masses.
unseen on February 10, 2013 at 12:23 PM
But David…your not a Republican or a Conservative so how the hell can you sense what is going on. It is like a German guy living in Germany who thinks he is Russian.
William Eaton on February 10, 2013 at 12:36 PM
Ha, I see that Brooks is pouring more fuel on the Republican civil war. To me, the progs have perfected the ancient British empires divide and rule policy. Unless all unite, the conservatives, the est, the tea party, the ronulans, the libertarians, the so called Akins ‘party bosses’, we ain’t gonna defeat the main enemy, the progs. As long as you fight amongst yourselves on who is more right, the progs win. Yes, there will be compromises among different factions, but thats the way to go. If each faction insists on their own version of ‘purity’, you’ll ultimately lose the war with the progs. Just sayin…..
tommy71 on February 10, 2013 at 12:38 PM
true but when one group as an expectation or even an inate need desire thought process etc that makes them think they and only they are entitled to rule the other groups there really can’t be peace between them.
unseen on February 10, 2013 at 12:41 PM
Um…yeah…of all the things Rush says that are right, this is one I have doubts about. And maybe I’m wrong about this.
I grant there’s a D.C.- NYC axis of Republican “elites.” Boehner, McConnell, Graham, Kristol, Gigot, Hayes…unfortunately, Peggy Noonan…
I don’t think they’ve ever adjusted to the new liberal “strategy,” first manifested in Kennedy’s calumny about Bork. Much less have they adjusted to the Carville-Begala “war room” model of all-attack-all-the-time. And they are “speechless” about the malevolent turn it has now taken, and many of them even deny it’s malevolent.
But I’m not convinced that’s because they are more worried about the masses than liberals. When, for example, Kristol (I think he was one) wrongly counsels Romney to release his returns in response to Reid’s slander, I don’t think he advocated that response because he thought it was the best way to remain as part of the elite. I think WK thought it was strategically better.
I have no doubt that Kristol, Boehner, et. al., think the current administration is a disaster; I think they are conservative. But I think they (mistakenly) believe there’s a better approach, namely, let’s see if we can find common ground or let’s not lower ourselves to their level, or worse: the media isn’t going to let our message out anyway.
Unfortunately the Republican elites/establishment are the U.S. military fighting World War II in the jungles of Vietnam. They are a cassette player in an iPad/iPhone world.
The “elites” haven’t learned the lesson that no matter what’s said, you always turn it back on the liberals. E.g., they haven’t learned the best way to respond Reid’s lies is for Kristol, Lowry, McConnell, Hayes, Boehner – all of them – to say loudly and often, “Harry Reid’s a liar; he’s only doing this to cover his own incompetence and failure to pass a budget.”
And when the elite media comes calling for proof that Reid is a liar, as they will, the appropriate response is: “Ask Harry Reid to prove he isn’t; and then ask him why he hasn’t passed a budget.”
Our elites think they need beyond-a-reasonable-doubt proof for something everyone knows is a lie. I’ve yet to hear any of them say that fool in the WH either lied about Obamacare or he’s incompetently ignorant. They are fighting a smart phone political battle with a pay phone / princess phone strategy.
I still think the likes of McConnell and McCarthy and Boehner are conservative, or at the very least, center-right. If they have concerns about the “masses,” it’s because they have concerns about the best way to get to a center-right government. McConnell probably thought he had a better chance of getting there with Castle instead of O’Donnell. And I don’t think that necessarily would have been because of McConnell thinking he needed to control the masses; it might have been what a lot of genuine conservatives saw – the likely (and eventual) disaster that was O’Donnell.
I think the “elites” have never adjusted to the hatred in and the ferocity of the constant “Republicans are xenophobic, homophobic, sexist racists” refrain. When Boehner sat there speechless when told that the deficit would be taken care of by Obamacare, I don’t think it was because he was worried about the battle between the elites and the masses. I think it was because the either blatant mendacity or stultifying ignorance really did leave Boehner speechless.
More is the pity for us.
EastofEden on February 10, 2013 at 4:22 PM
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