"Tea Party Democrats"

[Shrek]

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/12/tea_party_democrats_does_president_obama_have_a_rebellion_brewing_among.html

Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio called both provisions of the funding bill “unbelievably odious” and said the chief of staff’s pitch was “somewhat tepidly received.” Then he made a point Democrats would make over and over throughout the night, and one that’s straight from the Tea Party playbook: Democrats need to stand (and, specifically, to vote) on principle, even if those votes are doomed on the Hill, so they can win elections. If they don’t vote their principles on economically populist issues like Wall Street and campaign finance, DeFazio argued, they can expect to see repeats of the 2014 midterms for the indefinite future.

That is not the rhetoric of a group of representatives who feel like they need to compromise and “show they can govern.” That’s the talk of angry backbenchers who feel betrayed by party leadership. Tea Partiers make a parallel argument, charging that Republicans’ repeated nominations of moderates like John McCain and Mitt Romney cost them electoral victories.

(SNIP)

But this revolt wasn’t just unruly backbenchers; outgoing Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel was also impassioned and unequivocal in his opposition.

“These are core Democratic principles and values,” he said. “That’s why we’re here, and we ought to keep fighting on those values.”