A serious question for the Tea Party members here.

[JimH52]

Do you not see the long term ramifications of what is happening here? The Tea party, or one of its affiliates, are slowly removing moderates from the GOP ranks. I assume the goal is to return the GOP to a far right party, and yet I wonder if the GOP was ever that far to the right.

Can't you see that eventually, you will be pushing the indepdendent voters out from the GOP tent, so to speak. Your effort will lead to less people being "accepted" by the ultra-conservatives that will soon be calling the shots in the GOP.

Of course, there is the possibility that the Tea Party is aspiring to be a seperate power, leading to three major parties. You still lose.

Either option is not good for the Tea Party, nor is it good for the GOP. Short term the GOP will make gains, some due to Tea party efforts, but not as many as they could have gotten.
In 6 years, the GOP could be extent and the Tea Party will emerge with a small tent of ultr-right voters.

DON'T YOU GUYS GET IT?

 

[Avatar4321]

You mean slowly removing liberals from the GOP.

 

[JimH52]

You mean slowly removing liberals from the GOP.

No, look at the records and the facts. You are slowly removing Moderates from the GOP. BAD MOVE!

 

[lizzie]

Do you not see the long term ramifications of what is happening here? The Tea party, or one of its affiliates, are slowly removing moderates from the GOP ranks. I assume the goal is to return the GOP to a far right party, and yet I wonder if the GOP was ever that far to the right.

DON'T YOU GUYS GET IT?

I'm not a tea party member, but I fully support their movement, because we need a little shaking-up of the status quo in this country. It's a revolutionary spirit that is taking hold, and much better an ideological revolution, than a bloody one. It's obviously apparent that the old two-party system is barely more than one party, and many of us are sick of the road to insolvency we are currently on.

 

[Pepe]

"Moderate" is Liberal Codespeak for any Polyticker who will do our bidding.

Disgusting. Top New Jersey Dem Official Slaps 68 Year-Old Female GOP Staffer (Video)

 

[Dr.Traveler]

Short term gain, long term loss.

You win the election in the middle. You can get away with purging moderates in the midterms due to the sheer low turn outs you'll get from moderates and independents.

But in 2012, if you're still leaning hard right in order to get nominated in the GOP, good luck winning. You always always always win in the middle. That means the GOP will either have to move to center to win in 2012, or find a way to make their positions convincing to moderates to move them to you.

 

[daveman]

We have one liberal party; we don't need two. It's high time the GOP returned to conservatism.

 

[DiamondDave]

You mean slowly removing liberals from the GOP.

No, look at the records and the facts. You are slowly removing Moderates from the GOP. BAD MOVE!

Not that I am a tea party member.. only a conservative

But the GOP has been steered more and more to the left... shifting the definition of what you call moderate...

Any move further to the left would be disastrous and only serve to weaken conservative stances...

Now.. this, of course, is in the sphere of governmental outlook, spending, etc... not in terms of social stances...

Moving further left, THAT is bad.... digging your feet in on your principles (after too long of not doing it), THAT is good

 

[Dr.House]

Do you not see the long term ramifications of what is happening here? The Tea party, or one of its affiliates, are slowly removing moderates from the GOP ranks. I assume the goal is to return the GOP to a far right party, and yet I wonder if the GOP was ever that far to the right.

DON'T YOU GUYS GET IT?

I'm not a tea party member, but I fully support their movement, because we need a little shaking-up of the status quo in this country. It's a revolutionary spirit that is taking hold, and much better an ideological revolution, than a bloody one. It's obviously apparent that the old two-party system is barely more than one party, and many of us are sick of the road to insolvency we are currently on.

Absolutely...

What the OP and other far-lefties fail to grasp is that the Tea Party movement is not about socially conservative issues, but rather a desire to return to fiscally conservative roots... The leftists try to paint the Tea Party folks out to be right-wing evangilist Christions out to indoctrinate the heathen liberals, but if they were to actually "listen" to the message the true goals are quite evident:

Less gubmint, stop spending what we don't have, lower taxes...

It's not anti-abortion, anti-Gay, pro-Christian... Sure, there are those types involved, but the overwhelming message is financial responsibility.... It's a message that resonates with the people (who self-identify as conservative) when they don't listen to the idiot left's inacurate portrayals...

 

[CrusaderFrank]

What's moderate about supporting a $1 Trillion + budget deficit?

 

[Dr.Traveler]

It's not anti-abortion, anti-Gay, pro-Christian... Sure, there are those types involved, but the overwhelming message is financial responsibility.... It's a message that resonates with the people (who self-identify as conservative) when they don't listen to the idiot left's inacurate portrayals...

Voters don't really want financial responsibility. That's why they elect and re-elect repeatedly folks that bring home the pork. Because it ain't pork when its being built in your home town.

If the Tea Party really and truly represents a return to financial sanity, and if it really can catch on and hold to voters, then I'll be fine with that result. God knows that folks need to be more aware of what their share of the debt and Federal Budget is. The problem is that a lot of the "Tea Party" candidates have been running on Social Conservative planks in the platform along with the Financial Conservative planks. That Social Conservative part is what's likely to become an issue in 2012.

 

[rightwinger]

Biting off your nose to spite your face

By driving out moderates and embracing the 25% hard core conservatives, they are ensuring long term irrelevance

 

[lizzie]

Voters don't really want financial responsibility. That's why they elect and re-elect repeatedly folks that bring home the pork. Because it ain't pork when its being built in your home town.

.

Voters like myself, who pay through the ass in taxes, on a median income, do want financial responsibility. We are footing the bills, and we can't afford the irresponsiblity of the government and the millions of people sucking off the system anymore.

 

[lizzie]

Biting off your nose to spite your face

By driving out moderates and embracing the 25% hard core conservatives, they are ensuring long term irrelevance

There comes a time when someone has to stand on principal. If it means cutting off your nose to spite your face, then so be it. For far too long, the American people have been complacent sheep, just getting along and letting the government rob us blind. If the Republican party wanders off into oblivion, and something more sane takes its place, then so be it. We cannot continue on our current course, and I'll be damned if I am willing to vote for the lesser of two evils any longer.

 

[Dr.Traveler]

Voters don't really want financial responsibility. That's why they elect and re-elect repeatedly folks that bring home the pork. Because it ain't pork when its being built in your home town.

.

Voters like myself, who pay through the ass in taxes, on a median income, do want financial responsibility. We are footing the bills, and we can't afford the irresponsiblity of the government and the millions of people sucking off the system anymore.

An individual voter? Sure.

But the voting public re-elects and continues to re-elect politicians who bring home pork. And if they don't bring it home, they get the boot for someone that will.

The Tea Party GOP candidates will pick up seats in 2010, but mark my words, in 2012 voters will ask what they've done recently.... i.e. where's the roads, hospitals, military bases, government jobs and schools that last guy brought us? A lot of those folks will end up being one term congress critters, or outright hypocrites when they see what it takes to get re-elected.

If we really are seeing a return to fiscal responsibility, fine. It's about damn time to be honest. The last 30 years have seen politician after politician that never met a spending bill they didn't like running both the parties and filling every seat available in Washington. Some application of brains to the budget would be a welcome deal.

What's more likely to happen is that GOP candidates, Tea Party or no, will spend money out the butt on their pet projects and "Faith Based Iniatives" funnelling Federal cash into those Red states just like they did in 2000-2006. Then Democrats will get elected again and spend money just the same. Only difference is the GOP will do it on credit and DNC will do it in taxes.

 

[topspin]

anything left of the ghestapo is a RINO to these white trash republicans.

 

[boedicca]

What we GET, jimbo, is that the Dems are shoving a Socialist agenda on the country against the will of the majority.

We say No.

 

[JimH52]

Biting off your nose to spite your face

By driving out moderates and embracing the 25% hard core conservatives, they are ensuring long term irrelevance

The Mantra, "Agree with me or Else" is as much a fascist statement as anything. The non-compromising, dogmatic, I am always right, attitude will be the death of the GOP.

In 2012 when Palin is the Tea Party candidate, Romney the GOP candidate, and Obama wins becasue of s split vote, what is going to be the cry from the far right. It will happen. Just watch! Palin has an ego the size of Alaska. It will happen.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

Do you not see the long term ramifications of what is happening here? The Tea party, or one of its affiliates, are slowly removing moderates from the GOP ranks. I assume the goal is to return the GOP to a far right party, and yet I wonder if the GOP was ever that far to the right.

Can't you see that eventually, you will be pushing the indepdendent voters out from the GOP tent, so to speak. Your effort will lead to less people being "accepted" by the ultra-conservatives that will soon be calling the shots in the GOP.

Of course, there is the possibility that the Tea Party is aspiring to be a seperate power, leading to three major parties. You still lose.

Either option is not good for the Tea Party, nor is it good for the GOP. Short term the GOP will make gains, some due to Tea party efforts, but not as many as they could have gotten.
In 6 years, the GOP could be extent and the Tea Party will emerge with a small tent of ultr-right voters.

DON'T YOU GUYS GET IT?

We want the moderates out... Bush was a "moderate". We want conservatives. If I wanted some wishy-washy fiscal and social liberal, I'd vote Democrat.

 

[JimH52]

What we GET, jimbo, is that the Dems are shoving a Socialist agenda on the country against the will of the majority.

We say No.

The electate is angry at the poor economy that the Republicans created and the Dems did not fix. Once the anger is gone, the Tea Party will find far less people in their tent. You can bank on it!