Posted on 06/25/2014 11:02:20 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
National conservatives came up short Tuesday in Mississippi and Oklahoma. Maybe the Republican base just isn't as angry as they thought.
Tuesday's Republican primaries were the Tea Party's last chance. And the Tea Party struck out.
In Mississippi, challenger Chris McDaniel failed to dethrone six-term incumbent Senator Thad Cochran in the second round of their hard-fought contest. In Oklahoma, Representative James Lankford won by a massive margin over conservative favorite T.W. Shannon. The Tea Party industrial complex—groups like the Tea Party Patriots and FreedomWorks, figures like Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz—invested heavily in both races and came up short. Now both of these red states will almost assuredly send Republican senators to Washington who owe the national Tea Party nothing, and quite likely wish it ill.
Wasn't the Tea Party supposed to have come roaring back after then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his Virginia primary a couple of weeks ago? Conservatives hoped Cantor's toppling was a sign that there was more pent-up anti-incumbent sentiment than previously thought. But at this point, Cantor seems more an aberration than a portent. Part of the reason no one saw his defeat coming was that it cut so starkly against this trend.
~snip~
If there's any segment of the GOP that ought to have egg on its face, it's national Tea Party groups and figureheads. Dave Brat, the obscure college professor who took out Cantor, won largely without the help of these groups. Meanwhile, when they were the most heavily involved, in races that should have been favorable to them, they couldn't close the deal. The organizations claiming to speak for the Tea Party nationally do not appear to be plugged into the real grassroots or have the ability to mobilize effectively in support of the candidates they favor.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
It’s an interesting comparison to Brat/Cantor though, where Brat won with the obvious help of white leftist primary voters who opposed Cantor.
Spot on. This is a long war and in many ways we’re winning. Let’s not let the enemies propaganda get us down. Lick our wounds and hit them twice as hard.
We still have Benghazi, the EPA, Democrat corruption, the IRS scandal and Obama himself. There are plenty of targets of opportunity. Hit them.
Correct, but they exist to win elections. It’s our goal to elect conservatives. Although our goals overlap, we don’t have the same goals.
Not the first time she's done that.
I need to get out of the business of predicting elections. I predicted McDaniel would win this one. Conventional wisdom is when an incumbent is below 50% in the polls, that is a sure danger sign. Further, McDaniel did finish ahead of Cochran in the primary a few weeks ago and Cochran on the campaign trail appeared old, tired, out of date, out of touch, and prone to many gaffes.
I never would have predicted Cantor was going to lose his race. And he did. So what were the differences between Cantor and Cochran? I think Cantor was taken by surprise. His opponent was underfunded and largely unknown, but he did benefit from a low voter turnout and lots of free air time on conservative talk radio. The Cochran campaign, on the other hand, received the wake up call in the first go-around, mobilized and capitalized on the state’s open voting system which permits voters of any party to participate in the primary, there was a huge turnout in MS compared to VA. The TP seems to do best acting like an ambush predator, stalking unsuspecting politicians (like Cantor) and running below the radar screen.
I married an Okie(From Shawnee).
I married an Okie too. High five!
Your commentary about Mississippi is pretty spot-on.
The one race that I’m trying to digest is South Carolina’s primary.
While it was understood that Graham would raise and spend a lot of money, I’d have thought that Palmetto State GOP voters were finally sick of him undercutting the conservative agenda and kissing butt with Democrats. As it was, that race wasn’t even remotely close.
Someone needs to tell this clown that the Tea Party did come roaring back. And after our comeback, the GOPe recruited Democrats to stop us. That’s the only way they could stop us. They would have had their butts kicked if it were just Republicans, McDaniel easily won the nomination among Republicans.
The GOP establishment blew it.
They just alienated their base big time.
Graham had six opponents and opposition to him was never unified and none of the opponents seemed very strong. Further, and more importantly, Graham anticipated a tough primary and was never taken off guard and campaigned aggressively. Ditto with McConnell.
It was entirely predictable that the left would try and spin it this way.
Graveyard whistling.
We'll know more after the Nov. elections in Kentucky.....
I can understand why the TP tried to unseat Cochran. TC has been in Washington for too many years and is the poster boy for politicians who loose their sense of representing the folks back home.
The Oklahoma situation is a bit more bothersome to me. The fellow who won did actually have a strong conservative records, and why did the TP challenge him so vigorously? I do think T. Shannon looks like a great candidate. but perhaps a different race in a 2-4 years would be a better fit?
“The story writer got it wrong. A party is dead, this is true..
The republican party died yesterday. Not the tea party”
and it committed suicide.
I’m guessing the GOPe elite are thinking, “well come November, they will all come back into the fold and unite”
Sorry, not gonna happen this time.
Can you say WRITE IN!
Don’t know where you are from...but Oklahoma was the ONLY state in the NATION...that every county voted against Barrack Hussein Obama......
Nyet, the Republicans blew it. They have lost my vote, and that is saying a lot because they could always count on me.
That's interesting, because in California, some consider the Iowa accent to be rustic. And Californians who head east will find some areas awash with arrogant, geographically-challenged folks who think that California consists solely of West Hollywood, San Francisco, Berkeley and Huntington Beach.
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