'Tea party' clout: What was learned from Sen. Robert Bennett loss

[Odysseus]

I called it months ago. I've been saying all along that the Tea Party's sole purpose is to support the Republican party. I've been saying that even if the Republicans don't represent the Tea Party values they will vote Republican anyway because that is the entire point.

And when Michael Moore and the Daily Kossacks get fed up with Obama not confiscating all of the wealth of the nation (except for theirs), they will still vote for him in 2012, as will the gays who will still not be serving in the military, the environmentalists who won't be seeing us sign on to Kyoto and all of the other disappointed leftists. Does that make them hypocrites or are they simply voting for the party/candidate who is closest to their own ideals?

Everyone said "no no the Tea PArty will vote in Tea Party conservatives during the primaries and that's how we will change things, in the primaries".

Well sure enough, Tea Party is losing several primaries, and still supporting The Party.

Except that the Tea Partiers have also won several primaries. In 1852, the Whigs were the establishment party of the Northern states, and the Republican Party didn't exist. The Republicans were formed to take up the Whig policies of ordered liberty and as the anti-slavery party in 1856, and they captured the presidency and a congressional majority in 1860. Today, the Tea Party is to the Republican Party as the Republicans were to the Whigs, except that instead of forming a new party, they're taking over the old one. This has also happened before. From 1968-1976, the Republican Party was not a conservative party by any stretch of the imagination. Northeastern liberals dominated the party (John Lindsay, Jacob Javits, Nelson Rockefeller, just to name a few) and conservatives were relegated to the back benches, but Ronald Reagan began his bid to change that in 1976 and by 1980, he'd set the terms of the debate. What you don't get is that this is an embryonic movement which is making rapid progress.

Frankly, I hope the Tea Party gets a lot of their candidates through the primaries, I hope this november it's the Democrats vs the Tea Party. I really hope so.

Beware of what you wish for. In 1980, Jimmy Carter hoped that Ronald Reagan would be the Republican nominee, seeing him as a weaker candidate than George H.W. Bush. We all saw how that worked it.

No matter what - vote for the best person for the job who has a chance of getting elected. So - It's not so much vote republican as always vote for who ever is running against progressives/socialists (ie - democraps).

Or, failing that, vote for the one who will do the least damage. :D

[Wei Wu Wei]

And . . . . . ?

In any given election, I will vote for the most conservative candidate, whether it's the Primary or the General Election.

In this moment in time, I'd guess that would be Coats, but it ain't neccesarily so. The democrats have yet to pick a candidate, so (this being Indiana, after all) the democrats' Blue Dog pick might well be more conservative than Coats.

BTW, you do know what successive appproximation is, right?

Right. So I have only 2 questions for you (and any Tea Party members here)

1. What are the Principles of Conservatism?

2. What has the Republican Party done in congress in the past decade to uphold these Principles?

[Constitutionally Speaking]

Right. So I have only 2 questions for you (and any Tea Party members here)

1. What are the Principles of Conservatism?

INDIVIDUAL liberty, Free enterprise, Federalism and Constitutional government, strong defense.

2. What has the Republican Party done in congress in the past decade to uphold these Principles?

They have fallen short of the ideal for sure, but they HAVE opposed Obamacare, they HAVE opposed Cap & Trade, they HAVE pushed for increased troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, they HAVE stood to increase drilling for oil, they HAVE protected our 2nd Amendment rights and fought for our first and 10th amendment rights.

[KhrushchevsShoe]

They have fallen short of the ideal for sure, but they HAVE opposed Obamacare, they HAVE opposed Cap & Trade, they HAVE pushed for increased troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, they HAVE stood to increase drilling for oil, they HAVE protected our 2nd Amendment rights and fought for our first and 10th amendment rights.

So we have

1) Oppose Democrats
2) Oppose Democrats
3) Umm... supported what the Democrats obviously support now that they are in power?
4) Legit.
5) Those rights are not nearly as threatened as many think they are.

So I guess, according to you the Republicans have opposed Democrats and supported drilling for oil. Yeah.

Party.

[malloc]

So we have

1) Oppose disastrous and over-reaching Policies
2) Oppose disastrous and over-reaching Policies
3) Umm... supported what the Democrats obviously support now that, hey, where did Code Pink and MoveOn go?
4) Legit.
5) Those rights are not nearly as threatened as many think they are.

So I guess, according to you the Republicans have opposed Democrats and supported drilling for oil. Yeah.

Party.

There, I fixed that for you.

[lacarnut]

So we have

1) Oppose Democrats
2) Oppose Democrats
3) Umm... supported what the Democrats obviously support now that they are in power?
4) Legit.
5) Those rights are not nearly as threatened as many think they are.

So I guess, according to you the Republicans have opposed Democrats and supported drilling for oil. Yeah.

Party.

DU is that way-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Or eat shit and die.

[Wei Wu Wei]

THe OTHER TEAM is the scary team. They are the problem. Vote against the other team.

Tea Party 2012

[Wei Wu Wei]

They have fallen short of the ideal for sure, but they HAVE opposed Obamacare, they HAVE opposed Cap & Trade, they HAVE pushed for increased troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, they HAVE stood to increase drilling for oil, they HAVE protected our 2nd Amendment rights and fought for our first and 10th amendment rights.

Party of opposition,
Party of opposition,
Obama himself increased troops in Afghanistan
Increased Oil, that's going real well
Democrats have not pushed for gun restrictions since they took the majority in congress


STOP THE DEMOCRATS FROM DOING WHAT WE WANT AND FROM NOT DOING WHAT THEY AREN'T DOING.

Vote Republican.

Tea Party 2012

[Constitutionally Speaking]

Party of opposition,

No it is not - it is the policy of preserving freedom, choice and quality care.

Party of opposition,

No it is not - it is the policy of fiscal, environmental and economic sanity.

Obama himself increased troops in Afghanistan

They convinced Obama of this need and did not oppose him - Wait I thought we were the party of opposition????? Obviously a flaw in your previous "logic".

Increased Oil, that's going real well

The world is not going to end and the Ocean floor spews more oil than this all of the time - and you know what???? Drilling for oil actually REDUCES the amount of oil that naturally seeps into our oceans.



http://books.nap.edu/html/oil_in_the...eportbrief.pdf

http://www.instadv.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=412

Democrats have not pushed for gun restrictions since they took the majority in congress

You said in the last decade.

STOP THE DEMOCRATS FROM DOING WHAT WE WANT AND FROM NOT DOING WHAT THEY AREN'T DOING.

The Republicans agreed and supported his decision to increase troops in Afghanistan, they supported him in not pulling out of Iraq (as he promised to do).

They are simply opposing him on the things that will destroy America as we know it.

Vote Republican.Tea Party 2012

If that were true - Bennett would be our nominee.

[PoliCon]

Actually - apparently according to Bennett - the Club for Growth is to blame for his loss . . . .