Posted on 02/17/2010 2:28:20 PM PST by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus
In front of a crowd of Republican Party activists and the tea-party movement’s rank and file here on Tuesday night, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin seemed to put a damper on speculation that she might consider running for president in 2012 as a third-party candidate.
Asked what her advice would be to conservatives as the November elections approach, Palin first lavished praise on the Tea Party movement, calling it "a grand movement" and adding, "I love it because it’s all about the people."
But she quickly pivoted to the broader question of whether the Tea Party movement might successfully field its own candidates in national elections, and on that point she sounded far from convinced.
"Now the smart thing will be for independents who are such a part of this Tea Party movement to, I guess, kind of start picking a party," Palin said. "Which party reflects how that smaller, smarter government steps to be taken? Which party will best fit you? And then because the Tea Party movement is not a party, and we have a two-party system, they’re going to have to pick a party and run one or the other: ‘R’ or ‘D’."
Palin said that the Republican platform best meshed with the Tea Party’s creed. However, she mentioned that her husband Todd was not a registered Republican and that the party should be open to embracing independents.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
I really, really like how Ace at Ace of Spades HQ lays it out
"....And hit the link and check out the chart at bottom to see what happens when a hypothetical Tea Party runs against the Democrats and Republicans.
"Guess who wins?
"Not the Tea Party. And not the Republicans.
"And it's a blow-out, in fact.
"So if that's what people really want -- unchallenged liberal Democratic rule for a generation -- hey, have fun.
"I'm not interested in "sending messages" when those messages come with the other, all-caps message: BARACK OBAMA AND HIS MOST STALWART LIBERAL ALLIES WIN, IN BLOW-OUTS, FOR AN ENTIRE GENERATION."
Exactly. Read his whole analysis. Time to figure it out, people.
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I disagree, the tea party movement is not about partys. its about holding our elected officials accountable. If they associate with the GOP then many independents will go back to the Dims.
Individual tea party members need to join the GOP and take it back from the leftys.
Vote for whatever candidate you want, just vote against anyone who belongs to the Communist Party regardless of “political” party he/she registers under.
nah...I think the best thing for the tea party would be to support small-party candates from either major party in their respective primaries. If it’s going to be a single issue party, then they need to infiltrate both major parties.
yep Tea partiers have to meld with the GOP to have any chance of winning anything
either that or go the way of Ross Perot
conservatives sent a ‘message’ in 2006 and 2008 and Pelosi and Obama are laughing their way to the bank
Progressives did it in the 60’s. they infiltrated the democrat party and then worked their way over to the republican party. These are the ones the TEA Party are fighting. And I totally agree with Palin on this one, the TEA party needs to pick a party (republican) and infiltrate it and weed out the progressives, then do the same for the Democratic party
Agreed, time to get the spinless and go-along to get-along Rinos OUT of the Republican Party.
Theres a lot more Communists imbedded than people know. We are infested and infected.
She’s be right if the Tea Party becomes a legitimate political party that puts up candidates for election— but I always thought the T-Party was “bigger” than that— it was a party of ideas and people designed to influence the parties by show of will and numbers.
That sounds a lot like what Palin was suggesting.
Here is how I sum it up. Tea Party participants are not politically aware people for the most part. They are politically awakened people who do not have a strong philosophy of politics. They can be described in three statements:
They feel taxes are too high.
They feel tax money is being wasted.
They feel politicians are not responsive.
Their views on social issues, economic issues, and other issues are varied across the board.
So, it would be wrong to label them as “Republican” or “Democrat”. They don’t care what label you wear, they just want to hear:
I will lower your taxes. I will cut wasteful spending. I will listen to your concerns.
A Republican who does this in a race against a Democrat who will not will earn the vast majority of the Tea Party votes. A Democrat who does this in a race against a Republican who will not will earn the vast majority of the Tea Party votes.
Palin’s message is for those who want the Tea Party to become a third party. The system in the U.S. is not set up as a parlimentary system, it is set up as a two party system. A third party becomes at best a spoiler and at worse a footnote in history.
The Tea Party movement can make a huge difference in Washington. The Tea Party “Party” will not.
This brings up the obvious question of "if they're really independents, then why would they be going back to the Dims?"
Independents come in all shapes and sizes. As conservatives, we shouldn't care about appealing to ALL independents - since many of those independents are leftists, Greenies, etc. etc. We should focus on appealing to conservative and right-centre independents - people who at some point in their lives probably were Republicans, but left in disgust over the spending and big government drift.
As for conservative Dems, well, the ones who actually are conservative tend to vote Republican anywise, regardless of their party label, and have for two decades now. The TP associating with the GOP is not likely to drive them away when the GOP itself hasn't done so.
Don’t “pick a party.” This isn’t a football game.
Pick your principles, hopefully the founders’ principles, and then pick candidates who faithfully represent those principles. Regardless of party.
Warning! Tea Party movement beware of checkered pants and golf clubs.
The recall of the California governor was started and manned by thousands of ordinary citizens. Volunteers gathered the signatures. (I believe Congressman Darrell Issa contributed a substantial sum to help the signature effort, however.) Some conservative radio hosts ridiculed the effort and some backed the effort.
All the Democrat "newspapers" ridiculed and trashed the volunteers.
The California Republican Party pooh-poohed the movement. IOW the Republican Party backed the Democrat governor. Union goons harassed and even physically attacked volunteers.
Then a (not so) funny thing happened. Once it was clear that the effort was going to succeed and there would be a recall election the Republican Party elbowed the citizens aside and claimed the effort was theirs and Schwarzenegger was the man. The rest is history. Arguably we are worse off now than we were with the Democrat governor.
Total non sequiter.
One year of O'bummer has produced this shift. Eight years is absolutely enough socialism to sweep away BOTH MAJOR PARTIES and might be worth the pain.
No, not electing Republicans who are liberal does not neccesarilly mean a generation lost to Democrats.
Back during the ‘2os, the Liberal Party in Great Britain split into factions for and against David Lloyd George. It has never held power since. The Labour Party replaced it as the alternative to the Tories. Even today many people in England vote for the (now) Democratic Liberals but they have not a ghost of a chance of winning power.
You say you disagree, but you and Titus are saying the same thing. The Tea Party must co-opt the GOP, taking it back to its conservative roots. But as Titus points out, without this the Tea Party will devolve into another useless 3rd party.
>> I disagree with her on her support for McCain in AZ, but she’s right on the money with this. It’s very simple. Either the Tea Parties coopt the GOP and work with conservatives within the Party, or they get to be a jolly good third party with no elected officials to their credit, and no power to do anything but twiddle their thumbs.
I agree completely.
I’m with you on the McCain thing in principle, though I can understand why she endorsed him. Dance with the one who brought ya ... if it weren’t for McCain, Palin would be nowhere. She owes her political future to McCain’s nomination. In some respects, I admire her loyalty for backing McCain ... had she backed Hayworth, it would’ve been a huge embarrassment to McCain, and a slap-in-the-face for the individual most responsible for her being thrust into the political limelight. I prefer Hayworth — and, ideologically, I’m sure she does to ... but it wouldn’t be good for her to stab him in the back. Her loyalty, despite ideology and personal differences during the campaign, shows character.
As for the Party — the only way the Tea Party has a chance is if it seizes control of the GOP ... which it appears to be doing.
SnakeDoc
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