Tea party cools off - By Jennifer Rubin

[DonViejo]

Right Turn

Tea party cools off

BY JENNIFER RUBIN <-------

Gallup polls mirror other surveys that show the tea party has lost considerable popularity, even within the GOP. The tea party began sliding down hill fast even before the government shutdown. It is worth asking why.

Its supporters will portray the tea party as the victim of the left-wing media, erroneous reports of racism and “establishment” Republicans out to do them in. But in the rationalizations lies one of the reasons for the group’s decline: perpetual victimhood. No one likes a complainer, particularly when failure after failure is blamed on others. (Think President Obama.) In fact, as the tea party constantly points out, the mainstream media is losing market share and conservatives have a variety of media outlets; so if they are losing because of the mainstream media, the tea party must be very weak indeed.

More important, the tea party never made the turn from being against Obamaism (Obamacare, big debt, bailouts) to a positive agenda. The response to every bill or proposal has been “no.” What they are for is far from clear. Once in the House majority, pure oppositional behavior soon became a recipe for dysfunction.

In addition, what started out as a movement in favor of limited government soon strayed into isolationism, anti-immigration reform and a host of other issues. The singular economic focus that was able to command support from Republicans of all stripes, independents and some Democrats got blurred when other issues were put into the mix.

Then there was the spokesman problem. If you want to have widespread support it is probably best not to have Sarah Palin as the face of the movement or rely on controversial talk-show hosts. Many of these people were old hat, recycled movement conservatives and, in any case, too screechy. Moreover, they weren’t reflective of a genuine bottom-up movement.

full column
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2013/12/13/tea-party-cools-off/?wprss=rss_story-courts_law-NW3&_monetaClick=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--

[Cirque du So-What]

1. Even neocon flack Jennifer Rubin

recognizes that the teabagger movement is fraught with FAIL. She goes so far as to point out the one glaring discrepancy in the teabagger narrative: it's anything BUT a grassroots movement.

[randr]

2. The curtain has been pulled back

and all you can see are kochroaches.

[marsis]

3. If they were to disappear

it would only be a matter of time before they re-emerged as something else. They are of the same mindset as the "moral majority" or any other "new" party created for them by their right-wing controllers..

[COLGATE4]

4. Exactly. Years ago they were known as the

John Birch Society, then the Moral Majority, now the Tea Party, tomorrow who knows? "American Patriots Party"? Whatever the name, the beast remains the same - undereducated, ill-informed, tendential, hostile, conspiracy-minded prejudiced mouth breathers.

[DonCoquixote]

5. we cannot allow

Rubin and her ilk to wash the Tea off their hands. They were all too happy to hide behind the tea party mobs, now thay have to admit they fed the beast, and that they need to clean it up.

[yellowcanine]

6. they (Palin et al.) weren’t reflective of a genuine bottom-up movement. Well Jennifer, it never was

a "genuine bottom-up movement." This was astroturf from Glenn Beck right from the beginning (election night 2008).