Posted on 09/01/2011 7:51:38 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
First, there was Senator Jim DeMint (South Carolina) – if he was not a darling, he was the “original.” Then, it was former Governor Sarah Palin (former Alaska Governor and VP Candidate). Next came former Senator Rick Santorum (South Carolina). Then, Representative Michele Bachman (Minessota). Now, it is Gov. Rick Perry (Texas). With roots in Glen Beck’s 9-12 group, regular tax objectors, extreme fiscal conservatives and extreme social conservatives the Tea Party has grown from a variety of uncoordinated small groups of protestors into a major player in Republican Party politics. Originally eschewing a traditional top-down organization and creating a platform, the Tea Party appealed to disenchanted Republicans and to Independents. As their political voices became louder, the Tea Party enthusiasts have attracted the attention of the entire Republican Party. They have been gaining political influence, and momentum. Their electoral power is now on display in the Republican Presidential Primary.
The Republican Party has been composed of social and fiscal conservatives. The Republican Party platform has advocated a return to traditional family values since the emergence of liberal social policies such as legal abortion and the gay liberation movement. It has adhered to fiscal conservatism, trying to combat increased spending on social policies and cutting taxes. Much of the Republican Party is made up of moderate social and fiscal conservatives.
Many Republicans are either moderates on social issues and extreme on fiscal issues, or vice versa. For example, the Log Cabin Republicans fight for gay rights but are fiscally conservative. Many libertarian Republicans, including Congressman Ron Paul (Texas), feel the government should stay out of people’s individual social lives. Other Republicans advocate progressive tax structures and conservative social policies. They feel that the government should not only emphasize family values, but also help the working poor keep their families together by keeping their taxes low and paying for social programs which encourage traditional families.
The Tea Party, however, represents those Republicans who are extremely conservative regarding both social and fiscal policies. It is the most conservative wing of the Republican Party, and Tea Party Republicans have exerted their political weight in the US House in the last two years. House Speaker, John Boehner, has been nearly unable to unite the House Republicans in order to pass legislation. The Tea Party congressional leaders are very unwilling to compromise, and have moved the Republican Party away from moderation.
When political parties split, the schism creates opportunities for the opposing party. In 1968, when the Democratic Party was rendered by the Vietnam War and the unwillingness of President Lyndon Johnson to run again, Richard Nixon became President. The same could happen to the Republican Party if it cannot unite behind a presidential candidate.
Which brings us back to the darlings. The Republican candidates are currently of two camps – former Governor Mitt Romney (Massachusetts), and everyone else. CNN reports in “Seeking the ‘anti-Romney’ in the Republican Presidential Race,” that all of the presidential contenders are running against Mr. Romney. According to the article, Romney is disliked by Tea Party Republicans because he supported a health care law with a mandate to purchase insurance in Massachusetts while he was governor. He is also distrusted because he is a Mormon. Extreme social conservatives tend to consider members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) as heretical Christians – as in, not REAL Christians at all. The objection to his being a member of the LDS church is an enormous problem for Romney. He is not going to change his religion. It is not something on which he can moderate his position. However, CNN reports that he has advocated more conservative policies in response to the current conditions of the race for the Republican Party nomination.
All of the Republican candidates, with few exceptions, have focused their attention on the Tea Party position. And, day-by-day, week-by-week, the Tea Party has been enamored of first one candidate, then another, then another – the revolving darlings. But if one candidate cannot remain the favorite of the Tea Party, Romney will have more advantages as the nomination race continues, argue Tim Cohen and Alan Silverlieb of CNN. If the race turns into a bloodbath of Tea Party members ripping one another to shreds, the Tea Party may see their candidates defeated, and Mitt Romney become the nominee. Republican voters who reject Romney may stay home on election day, and Barack Obama will be President for another four years. And some in the Tea movement would still rather see B.O. than a RINO Republican.
Prett much everone and their brother is going to either say the are Tea Partiers or “understand the tea party” ....Like our Congress Critter Sen. Graham(SC) who is trying to get in good with the Tea Party before his 2014 bid!
The Doc strikes me as something other than a conservative, esp. with all the input based on the Commie News Network; net, I think she’s trying to engage in subterfuge though doing a very poor job of it.
In addition, I think a real Conservative, or even a real Doc, would know the state which Rick Santorum represented while in the Senate.
Call me an extremist, but this is an extremely stupid, biased article.
We extremists use to be what the country was meant to be. No one knows us anymore. We ceded too much for too long. What a battle ahead.
Mormonism is a great obstacle for evangelicals. I have LDS and reformed LDS around here, and they are some of the most clean living, righteous, family-oriented condemned people you would ever want to meet; alot like the JW’s.
Politics makes for strange bedfellows.
Mormon or quasi-Christian Liberation Theology?
Thankfully, we will have another choice.
Idiot. Rick Santorum is from Pennsylvania, and certainly has nothing to do with the Tea Party. Jim DeMint never even flirted with running for President. Ron Paul is a libertarian who does (nominally) believe in the Right to Life, so he hardly represents the libertarian pro-choice wing. Mitt Romney is registering in the teens in presidential preference polls, so hardly represents an “everyone else vs. him” kinda guy.
I’d take a mormon over a muslim anyday, That being said I wont take a rino anyday either.
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