joether
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Joined: 7/24/2005
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quote:
ORIGINAL: DarkSteven
I realize that technically the Tea Party candidates are running under the GOP moniker, but I have a hard time thinking of them as Republicans. Once elected (and my guess is that two or three Tea Party candidates will get elected this cycle and more in the future), they will not vote in the GOP bloc in lockstep like the rest of the GOP pols. Hell, even though they may benefit from GOP campaign contributions in the main election, they had to fight the GOP establishment money in the primaries. They will be respnsive almost exclusively to the Tea Party agenda and groups.
This is weird. It's like having a third party WITHIN the GOP. I think that the closest we've ever had something like this before is when Independents like Lieberman would vote with a given party most of the time but not all.
It's going to be fascinating to see how they act once elected. They'll have disproportionate influence, like Ben Nelson did on health care, by being the swing voters that make the GOP able to proceed or not. There will be a huge rift within the GOP whether to give in to the Tea Party agenda in order to get those precious two or three votes, and risk losing its soul to do so. After decades of being considered the conservative party, the GOP will find that it suddenly isn't conservative enough.
It's gonna be a wild ride.
Hey, pass the popcorn.....please!
As far as the elections are going, the following seems to be evidence among Tea Party Members:
A) If the race is between a Democrat or a Tea Party Canidate/Republican leaning towards the Tea Party. The Tea Party member will vote against the Democrat.
B) If the race is between a Democrat or a non-leaning Republican (meaning, someone against many concepts of the Tea Party); the Tea Party canidate will STILL vote Republican.
In this manner, it is hard to take the Tea Party seriously, as they are behaving exactly as a Republican would. If the race was between:
a) A Democrat (lets say he's the incumbent)
b) A Republican
C) A Tea Party
Well, as we often seen in pass elections, with three parties, the 3rd party often takes votes away from the 2nd place finisher. In this case, the Tea Party would be taking votes away from the Republican; thus allowing the Democrat to win. This has made the GOP quite nervous (and cave in), to supporting the Tea Party, even though it represents a very different idea(s) on goverment.
While in office, the Tea Party offical (now a Senator or Representative) is now accountable by EVERYONE in their area: Democrat, Republican, Tea Party, Moderate, and Unenrolled. That means, if they are not representing everyone of their area, it'll be hell for them to get relected 2-4 years later. I personally, believe, if they got in to office, would behave as a much more irratic 'Blue Dog Democrats' towards the GOP. I know two people in the state with Harry Reid who are usually Republican leaning, but are voting for Harry. They stated and I quote "We dont like him, but at least he is sane, educated, and doing some good for the state".
Likewise, the Tea Party member will not contribute at all to making the country better. They'll simply vote 'no' without even reading a single bill, party 'high on the hog', and generally make fools of themselves. After 2-4 years, if I'm right, most Republicans will have 'selectivily forgotton voting for them'. However, it is also possible, however unlikely, they will do alot of good for the US.
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The Tea Party and the GOP - 
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