Tea party backers insisted that they had “moved” McConnell to the right. In fact, he never budged. He’s always been a pro-2nd Amendment, pro-life, pr0-defense, pro-tax cut, pro-balanced budget and pro-Obamacare repeal Republican. What he wasn’t was an irresponsible leader willing to take his conference over the cliff on stunts like the shutdown. The “tea party” persona has become entirely artificial, a pose rather than a philosophy and a rhetorical style that slashes and burns other Republicans. The results are revealing in a number of respects. Incumbents should recognize that a challenger endorsed by Sarah Palin and funded by the Madison Project or the Club for Growth poses no danger unless the incumbent has lost touch with his own constituents. Incumbents need not be cowed by “Heritage Action alerts” or talk show hosts’ name-calling. They do not need to buy into legislative hijinks or adopt extreme positions on immigration to keep their seats. Attacking the House or Senate leadership as “sellouts” and traitors to the cause gets you nowhere. washingtonpost/blogs/right-turn/wp/2014/05/21/primary-lessons-and-the-tea-partys-demise/
Posted on: Wed, 21 May 2014 20:43:33 +0000