Thursday, July 01, 2010

Measuring Tea Party Effectiveness

Politico has an excellent analysis on how the Tea Party has affected the positions of some moderate Republicans, who have been less judgmental on the big spending policies of the Democrats. It's a good read, but here is the gist of the entire piece:

Stung by a series of setbacks on must-pass legislation, Democrats think they’ve found a culprit: local tea party influence in the home states of usually reliable moderates.

In a span of just a few days, Maine Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe have forced Democrats to dramatically scale back an unemployment benefits and tax bill, and they were part of a small coalition that effectively killed a bank tax tucked into a major Wall Street overhaul bill.


Both senators are RINOS, both have supported huge deficits by allowing themselves to be sucked into a rush of "out of control" spending.

I think this is largely because they have misinterpreted the wishes and desires of the voters. They thought the people wanted to spend themselves into oblivion, all because they elected Barack Obama. As it turns out, Obama was only elected because he duped enough people to overcome the amount of conservatives, who stayed home--because they didn't like McCain. (They really showed us, didn't they?)


But if this article is to be believed, many are now finding out just how much the people are displeased with the way the country is being handled. More and more are becoming convinced that we are bordering on one of the worst depressions we may ever see in history. They are starting to see that you cannot spend money you don't have, to prevent it.

As a result of this displeasure, some of the politicians are beginning to see the power and force of a determined people.


My concern is that people like Olympia Snowe will perform a chameleon act once again if they are re-elected. It's not enough that she and her counterpart Susan Collins signed onto the leftist agenda in their votes on TARP, Stimulus, and Healthcare. I am wondering if they will now see the wind shifting and once again try to turn their sails in that direction long enough to ride it out. What I mean is, I fear they will go along with the Tea Party positions to get re-elected, the Tea Partiers will become complacent by thinking they have won the battle of ideas, and then the pols will begin their old habits once again.

The truth is, this is not just a commitment we must make for the 2010 and 2012 elections. We must make this a lifetime commitment.

We must restore common sense that we must all exercise in our own lives, in order to preserve the nation from complete collapse. We cannot keep spending money that we do not have, we must not allow politicians to persuade us that this is the route to solvency.


The Dems are going to mount a challenge in any way they can. Lies, innuendos, dirty tricks (like fake Tea party candidates) will all increase as November nears. But it is extremely important that we all stay focused and on message. Do not allow them to hijack the debates with distractions.

This is working for now, but there is much more work to do. Nothing ever comes easy, we must not allow ourselves to become complacent. The closer we get, the harder it will become.

Continue to march and do not forget:

Remember in November.


6 comments:

Chuck said...

I think it may go even further than this. It has effected moderate Dems also. This is why they had trouble passing Obamakare with such a huge majority in the House, they are looking over their shoulders.

As far as this:

Obama was only elected because he duped enough people to overcome the amount of conservatives, who stayed home--because they didn't like McCain. (They really showed us, didn't they?)

I did something on this today.

Z said...

You realize of course that, if we had an honest mainstream media none of this would be happening..>Americans would know the REAL danger of the mounting debt, they'd know how bad it is for their childrens' futures, they'd know how the Dems keep the Reps out of any meaningful policy making.

As for "they really showed us"..I've written on that too..Conservatives really taught the RNC a lesson, huh? And might have killed America in the bargain.
Well, we bloggers warned them........but they had to teach a lesson. DAMN!

LASunsett said...

Chuck,

I am not surprised to see some of the so called moderate Dems backtracking. It is an election year and tey are hoping we are all too stupid to research their votes on TARP, Stimulus, and Healthcare. They are lower than the lowest whale dung.

LASunsett said...

Z, Honest mainstream media seems to be an oxymoron these days. Maybe it's because many of them are morons for allowing themselves to compromise journalistic integrity, to advance their own political ideology.

Anonymous said...

I think if we expect to read our country’s politics correctly, we have to acknowledge that all politics is local. Yes, it is true that tea party organizations are popping up all over the place; I read recently that a few of them are frauds. Who knew ACORN/SEIU could be that clever?

My point is that political attitudes are just not the same in CA as they are in any other state. No self-respecting Tippecanoe-r would elect someone like my Congressman, SFB Alan Grayson. Dan Coats would get beat up in Arizona. Now then, to the extent that TPOs in Maine do have influence, good. To the extent that people are finding ways to get their elected representative’s attention —great. But I simply want to caution my friends that we cannot discuss TPOs as if they were some kind of national movement because they aren’t.

In fact, I think TPOs differ within states; I promise you that if there even is a tea party organization in Broward County, it won’t look anything like the TPO in the area of Calhoun County. Okay so what IS my point? Just this: if we can’t get people within a single state to agree with one another, imagine how difficult it is to get the nation on the same dance card …

And for the record, I never said BO eats crap sandwiches. I know for a fact he doesn’t like bread.

LA Sunset said...

Mustang,

Good points, but I am not sure we would want the TPOs to be a monolithic entity. Otherwise they run a risk of being a political party, rather than a spontaneous grass roots movement, reflective of the common people's wishes.

Two things that I think all of them have in common are: a) they want the government to stop spending into oblivion. b) they want to return the nation to constitutional principles.

Where the differences may start to manifest is when the debate starts on what spending should be cut and what is or is not constitutional. That's when people from CA may see it differently from FL and IN.