the Atlantic: Could election 2012 be going any worse for the tea party?

[pampango]

Given the candidates on offer and the pressure to rally around the eventual GOP nominee, the movement is likely to be reabsorbed into the establishment.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/01/could-election-2012-be-going-any-worse-for-the-tea-party/251104/

First Sarah Palin didn't run, and the documentary about her disappointed at the box office. Then a series of Tea Party friendly candidates jumped into the race. But neither Michele Bachmann nor Rick Perry nor Herman Cain could withstand the scrutiny of a presidential run.

As if to underscore the reversal of fortune, Bachmann, whose star was born with the Tea Party, finished sixth in the Iowa caucuses. And the winner of the first-in-the-nation contest? It was a virtual tie between Mitt Romney, the preferred nominee of moderates in the establishment, and Rick Santorum, arguably the man whose political philosophy is most antithetical to that of Tea Partiers, being the closest to the "compassionate conservatism" of George W. Bush. Now all the candidates not named Romney seem to be fading, save Ron Paul, who has been deemed an unacceptable candidate by the Republican establishment, the religious right, and neocons alike.

Early as it is in primary season, with the GOP race still focused on New Hampshire, and South Carolina after that, there doesn't seem to be any plausible scenario that will permit the Tea Party to maintain a consistent small government message and play any meaningful role in Election 2012. If Mitt Romney wins, the movement, or the vast majority of those in it, will find themselves supporting a flip-flopping Northeastern moderate who once passed an individual mandate in health care -- a calculated compromise with views antithetical to everything Tea Partiers have preached.

What's a Tea Partier to do?

Beating Barack Obama is so important to so many Republicans that it'll be very difficult for the Tea Party to avoid rallying around the eventual nominee, just as many conservatives who long claimed to loathe John McCain jumped on the bandwagon as soon as they had the most absurd of excuses (vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin). Look for Tea Party-affiliated voters to behave similarly in 2012. They'll likely rally around the Republican nominee, increasing his chance of winning the election, but in doing so they'll fundamentally change what it means to be a Tea Partier: no longer will it require anything like ideological purity or even having been consistent on certain litmus test issues; winning Tea Party support will just require being the Republican in an important election.

[DCBob]

1. I hope they run a third party candidate.

That would lock it up for Prez O.

[Atman]

2. These silly analytical looks at tea baggers always forget the most important thing;

They were never a real movement in the first place. There was never really any roots for the grass to grow on. AstroTurf doesn't grow, it just gets rolled out and trampled upon, eventually forgotten. Hell, you don't even have to mow it. Why is anyone surprised to find it already faded and worn out?

[Scuba]

3. Bingo.

[zipplewrath]

9. Pretty much dead on

The vast majority of "real" tea party participants were merely the same set of odd balls that have been rolling around for decades. It was the Birchers as well as bigots, not to mention a good smattering of the Ron Paul crowd.

Folks want to talk about the Tea Party as if there was some real coordination there. Other than some early astroturf efforts, and the Fox News Channell finding some great video to show when they sponsored one of the events, there was nothing there, and surely nothing new. They were able to influence some state level races because there was low turnout, and the GOP is so small to begin with. But from Alaska and all the way back to Maryland, in a state level race, they often couldn't overwhelm any "decent" turnout by democrats and independents.

[customerserviceguy]

4. It's not over for them yet

If one candidate emerges from the troika of Perry, Gingrich and Santorum, he immediately becomes the sole undisputed ant-Romney that Mittens needs to put away before you can say that the tea partiers lost. Very, very few delegates have actually been awarded, and the rest of the country is not going to be like New Hampshire for Romney.

[Laelth]

5. Reabsorbed into the establishment?

The Tea Party is now (and always has been) part of the Republican establishment. They just pretend to be rebels. They had to get a new name because the Republican brand was trashed after eight years of *.

-Laelth

[liberal N proud]

7. Teabaggers were a front created by the republican establishment

[Saving Hawaii]

6. As they're saying over at Balloon Juice

Last edited Wed Jan 11, 2012, 10:46 AM - Edit history (1)

Having the entire remainder of the Republican field getting all "We are the 99%" in an effort to defeat Romney is pretty grand.

If you rebranded Gingrich's latest attack ad against Romney with an Obama logo, it'd make more sense.

[Bake]

11. Gawd I love that!

Mittens will be the Thug nominee. I hope this gets tons of airplay. Go, Newtie, go (I can't believe I'm saying that!)

Bake

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

8. The teabaggers might not choose the Prez in 2012, but

they could still influence a number of congressional elections.

"...fundamentally change what it means to be a Tea Partier"? You mean, like, grow a brain? I suppose it's possible.

[Enrique]

10. it would be like Occupy Wall Street rallying around Charles Schumer

should Schumer run and win the nomination in 2016.

[MisterP]

12. don't forget that the "non-establishment" candidates Gingrich and Santorum also came up

with individual mandates