Tea Time For The Ruling Class
It was a late night at the TPP editorial office, and the news feed was getting repetitive. During some channel surfing, a movie came up that spoke to the political situation in the country. It was one of those safari movies of the early 1960s - the great hunter type adventure.
You know the movie. The camera captures a man, alone at a table, sipping a cup of tea in the lantern light. A noise is heard outside, and he grabs his gun to investigate. A panic ensues as the rest of the hunting party sees a large beast that threatens the rest of the camp. The hunter and the beast face off. The beast makes threatening gestures to the hunter, who stands alone. The hunter straightens up, raises his rifle, summons his courage and determination, takes aim and drops the beast in a single shot. Everyone is saved, and life goes on. The hunter returns to his cup of tea.
And this relates to the current political situation how??? We run over clip after clip of debate in this country. There are so many candidates who stand alone and are accused of drinking too much tea. They are seen as outsiders - lone guns, who have hung onto principle, and have not asked for, or gotten, a whole lot of assistance from anyone except the people that they hope to represent.
Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Sharon Angle, Joe Miller, Christine O'Donnell, Linda McMahon - no one can argue that they aren't standing alone in defense of what they believe, whether you agree with those beliefs or not. They have all been savaged by their Democrat rivals. That is to be expected - politics is a rough game. If you can't take the heat, you shouldn't be in the kitchen. Still, the Democrats are not the beast that these hunters are ultimately aiming at. The beast in their sights is the RINO, they just need to get past the Democrats to take on that final target.
TPP has noticed, as we imagine that you have, that the supposed Tea Party endorsed candidates are not feeling the love from the Republican party. Rubio and Miller face spoiler campaigns launched by establishment Republicans. O'Donnell has received no support from the Republican party. McMahon and Angle, while receiving grudging support, are widely dismissed as contenders - this as most mentioned candidates are ahead or fall within the margin of error for victory in all major polls.
So why the lack of love from the Republican establishment? These are the candidates who excite the base and hold the keys to a Republican majority in one if not both Houses. The Party Republicans should be doing everything possible to help these candidates succeed, if only for self-preservation.
Why would Mike Castle, Lisa Murkowski and Charlie Crist (all establishment Republicans) risk splitting the GOP / conservative vote and hand victory to the Democrats? It is an easy answer really. They understand.
They understand that these candidates are not business-as-usual. These are candidates willing to take on the machine. It is what the voters who have selected them have charged them to do. Their mission, once elected, is to tear down the corrupt, mutual back-scratching frat-house that the Congress has become. They will be expected to call out corruption by name, and to shine light on those feeding at the public trough. They are expected to call out those who just allow it to happen as well.
This scares the fat and comfortable establishment Republicans, who are the second-class members of the ruling class. We can identify a few by name now - Lindsey Graham, Snowe and Collins, the newly unemployed Arlen Spector - the "why can't we all get along and share the wealth" crowd. Even the old warrior John McCain, who is proud of his lack of earmarks or charisma, still allows pork to flow from the chamber with only an occasional barking sound bite. It's how he gets so many bipartisan bills out to the floor.
What is the old guard of the Republican party to do when the freshman rabble shows up to be sworn in? Trent Lott put it in unmistakable terms. He wants to co-opt the Tea Party, and absorb it into the establishment like a southern fried version of the Borg - "Assimilate! Resistance is futile, y'all."
There are lots of ways to grease the entrance foyer of the Capitol and keep the freshmen from gaining any traction. As the saying goes, age and treachery will often overcome youth and skill. Mentoring may be the greatest weapon in the establishment arsenal. An adopt-a-freshman program could get the newbies invited to the right parties and seated at plum committee assignments. It wouldn't be surprising to see a few heads turned by how interested Senator Lifer is in shaping the career of Senator Newbie. There are many ways for the new arrivals to become beholden and starstruck.
Solid reports are making the rounds of senior Senatorial and House staff being readied for assignment to these new Tea Party electees. This is to "guide" them through an orientation as to how things "are done" in the House and Senate. How things "are done" is in so many ways the problem.
Common Sense Dictates
If all of the hype is to be believed, this is "the most important election of our lives" - attribute that to whatever talk show host that you like, on either side. TPP sees the voter dissatisfaction and sees far more motivation on the Republican side than on the Democratic side. With that said, incumbency is not a value-added quality in this election. Many Republican incumbents will get a pass on this election by not being a visible name in President Obama's first two years. They will be assumed to be part of what has been unified opposition to the Obama agenda. No real excitement, just no reason to vote them out.
We expect the Democrats to be on the receiving end of the beating. The dissatisfied Republicans and Independents are much more likely to turn out to vote than the Democrat base. That base is either waiting for the promised benefits of the Obama administration, or disillusioned at Obama's lack of progress in their pet issues. It is the reverse of the dynamic of the 2006 and 2008 elections. An unmotivated voter generally does not vote.
The only real excitement is on behalf of the "Tea Party" candidates. They are seen as new, different and principled. They are being looked to as becoming the new leadership for the right. They are expected to transform the establishment, not to be absorbed by it. They are, should they win, expected to establish a beach head in Washington, and to hold that ground until reinforcements arrive in 2012, and 2014.
They are being sent to hold the feet of the establishment Republicans to the fire. The electorate sends these candidates to drive the Republican Party towards it's conservative roots. This is a fiscal movement, and a limited government movement. The religious right and social conservative movements have a chair at the table, but are not driving the debate. The electorate is looking to have the grownups running things again. They have no toleration for the silly games that have marked the past 10 years of legislative incompetence and meddling.
TPP would actually like to see more principle in DC. Right now it is a marketplace of votes, not ideas. During the healthcare debate we saw the sticker price on votes from Louisiana and Nebraska. It was a shameful indictment of what DC has become. The going along to get along has brought the country to the brink of disaster. The haphazard, ill-informed, crisis-driven method of reactionary governance that we have received of late is compounding our problems.
Some of these Tea Party candidates will win their campaigns. It will then be up to them to live up to their supporters expectations. If they are as principled and straight-forward as the conservative narrative reads, they will be of benefit to the country. That would be cause for us to hope for a similar movement to spring up on the Democrat side. If they are, as the liberal narrative goes, a bunch of wackos, they will be turned out at the next election by a sadder, wiser voting public.
Common Sense calls out for people with a genuine desire to serve to be successful in their bid for election. The profiteers and empire-builders who are primarily interested in gaining power or favor need to be removed, regardless of party affiliation. Elected office is a public trust, not a personal lottery ticket.
We at TPP urge everyone to educate yourselves on the candidates in your area for all offices - to know who is running and why. We then urge you to vote for those candidates that you truly believe have the best interests of your town, county, congressional district, state and country as their chief motivator. The only way to change a dysfunctional government is to change it one person at a time.
Vote on November 2. Make your voice heard. We get the government that we elect. If we choose not to vote, we forfeit the right to complain. Be a part of the solution rather than the problem. Civic responsibility demands that much.
RLB
Categories: political leadership, Partisan Politics
Tags: political leadership civic responsibility
I'll be happy to serve it up with one lump or two. Three for Lindsey Graham.
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The reason that moderate Republicans are challenging the Tea Partiers is that the Tea Partiers are not in step with the country as a whole. They are the extreme wing of the conservative movement, and their ideas are not compatible with most Americans. The only way for the Republicans to win is to run moderate candidates. I think you over estimate the ability of Tea Partiers to get elected.
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I don't know what the chances of the Tea Party candidates are. I just fear that if they get elected, the "principle" that you write about is just going to add to the gridlock and inability to get anything done. I don't agree with everything that Obama has done. I have concerns about the direction of the country. I'm not sure that I feel any better about the ideas that I see coming out of the Tea Party. Where is the reasonable middle ground?
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Hi Randi and Nan - I think a lot of the confusion is defining where the middle is. Where we are now is way to the left of what the middle really is. That's just the way it is. Jack Kennedy pushed tax cuts, a strong defense, and individual initiative. He spoke of wealth and job creation - not an ever extending unemployment insurance program. JFK would be considered a right winger at this point. I think that JFK is the middle ground. We need to move right to get there.
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Sandstormer is right. Obama got elected to fix problems, not to "transform" the country. He promised change and it is way more change than most people want. Just look at health care. Most people were concerned about the uninsured and wanted them covered. No one that I know of wanted the whole system scrapped for what is now called Obamacare. It's an over reach. Most Americans would rather care for themselves than be babysat by the government. That is the American spirit that we talk about. There are ways to fix problems without "transforming" the country into some sort of european model.
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All of you Constitutional types want to roll the clock back to the 1800s, since the modern progressive movement started in the early 1900s. I have to ask you - the 1800s had slavery, poverty, poor medicine and public hygiene, unsafe food and rampant corruption in government. Just how is that better than what we have now?
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Wow - I don't even know where to start, or if I'm even the best person to make this argument. The Tea Party people aren't interessted in no government, that would be anarchists. They believe that government has it's place,but it needs to have limits. It is one thing to make sure that the food that you buy is safe to consume, it's another entirely to ban salt shakers (as they are trying to do in New York). It is one thing to make sure that a doctor has the knowledge he needs to effectively practie medicine. It's not the business of the governemt to chose my doctor, partiipate in my health decisions, or choose what sort of insurance coverage that I must have. The line where the limits of government is drawn moves about all of the time. My thinking is that most people in America think that it has moved too much too quickly this time. I could use some help with this form some of the Tea Party people.
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I've got this one John. Valerie, on the one extreme are, as John said, the anarchists. They want no government and complete freedom to do whatever they want. That isn't practical - it would be like the wild west with no order and no protection of personal property. On the other side of the spectrum are the statists, who feel that the state is better able to care for us than we are. This generally becomes a totalitarian state (communism, fascism, etc). In this type of system, all decisions are made by the state for the "benefit" of the people. There is no personal freedom or liberty, nor is there personal property. The state owns everything.
We have gone further towards statism since the progressive movement started in the early 1900's. I think that we've gone too far in that direction, but it has been held in check by at least giving lip service to the Constitution, and a strong conservative voice in the Republican party.
Over the past 10 years or so, the Republicans have lost their way and gone statist with the new prescription drug benefit and racking up insane deficits. The Democrats piled on when they got in charge and upped the stakes exponentially.
Once Obama took over, he, who is a statist, sought to put more government control on whatever aspects of our llife that he deemed fit. I believe that he believes that he is doing the right thing. I, and a lot of other peole don't think that it is the right thing. He has moved us to far towards statism, and that is the opposite of the priciples this country was founded on.
You may disagree and that is your right. Tht is why we have elections, and why elections have consequences. The Founders had great faith in the ability of the American people to correct the abuses of the government they created. Hopefully they will live up to that challenge again on Tuesday. I hope that you take the time to vote as well.
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Thanks for the philosophy lesson. For me, I just know in my gut that the change that Obama represents is not the direction that I want the country going in. I don't kow how many seats the Republicans will get or how many will be tea Party people, but I hope that it's enough to slam on the brakes and come up with a new plan. Something sane and constructive would be a good way to go. I don't see that coming from Pelosi, Reid or Obama.
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I'm no pundit, but I'm really not seeing this huge republican landslide. They really haven't argued their side well and Obama has been putting a better face on the democratic message. I'm going to vote republican just because I've taken a cold bath in this economy, but it's not like I'm excited. I just want to take my anger out on the guys in charge,
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I'm with you Dunston - holding my nose and pulling the Republican lever. I'm not excited about my choices, but it beats the alternative.
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I can see the career pols looking to absorb the tea party candidates into the structure. It would be the easiest way to neutralize their effect, especially in the Senate. The House can form its own caucus as a support group, which could help there. I don't know what will happen though - it's really up to the candidates, and the voters who send them.
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It looks like the Republicans will take over the House - most Congressional districts are gerrymandered as safe as Republican or Dem, so most will just come back to Washington again. The shift will be in those "purple" districts which have swung left for the last two or twenty election cycles on the backs of the independents. The independents are swinging right in a big way. Those are the districts that will move the power structure.
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I never thought of Trent Lott as a Borg. He's more like a trim Boss Hogg. Take back our country! Vote Nov 2.
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It's a shame that so many House seats are locked up. Luckily my rep isn't and he will be on the unemployment line come Nov 3. If we take the House, we control the checkbook. If we can take the Senate, we can change the tone. Get out and vote - volunteer to drive others. We need to make some serious changes in how the government is run.
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Voter participation is the ONLY way to hold the government accountable, everyone needs to get out to vote. If Iraq and Afghanistan can have an 80% turnout, the USA should be able to do as well. We don't have people trying to kill us on the way to the voting booth. Educate yourself on the candidates and pick good people. It is your right to decide.
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Stuff the sore losers. If you lost the primary, you lost. No one should support anyone who can't take no for an answer. It's nothing but ego driving Castle and Murkowski. That should not be rewarded.
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The probem i going to be holding the motivation til the next election. This time the majority may switch Republican, but the problems are real and they are tough. If the Republicans don't come up with some solid answers that work the Dems will just take everything back in 2012. My worry is that while everyone is pissed at the Dems, the Republicans really haven't put any sort of detailed plan out there, just the usual. The voters are not in a forgiving mood.
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I just hope that if the Tea party candidates do well that they can fend off the establishment Republicans. They will have to be stronger than most politicians to stand up for what's right in the face of opposition on your own side. The best thing would be for the freshmen to say "thanks, but no thanks" to any of the senior staff offering help. It's just a Trojan horse.
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I don't know. You can hope for change, and vote for change, bt the only thing that seems to change is the politicians once they get in power. Then it's all about building power and getting re-elected. I'm voting for who I think are the best people on the ballot, but I'm expecting more of the same. Looking to government to change would mean that it's acting against it's own best interest.
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You guys are celebrating too soon. It ain't over til it's over. The Republicans haven't got a compelling vision. A lot of the Tea Party people are scary as candidates. In the House, politics is local, anf Democrat bringing home the bacon will beat any Republican promising not to. That's what the House is for - getting federal dollars for the home district. Only a third of the Senate is up for grabs. Blessed are those who don't expect for they will not be disappointed. See you November 3 for an apology.
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Rand Paul wins in Kentucky - the Tea is being served. Looks like they are calling Indiana and Ohio for the Republicans for Senate too. That's 2 holds and a gain. Rubio is polling well in FL. Looks like it's going to be a good night for the Constitution.
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Rubio is called for Florida. Looks like it will be a good night for the GOP. It's a shame that doesn't look like it's holding for CA. So far it's about a 55% turnout. Brown is way ahead, and Boxer is ahead by 5 points. We have to hope that a lot of people drop by to vote on the way home.
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But O'Donnell went down in flames in Delaware. Guess she was short on the eye of newt. Republican Tsunami? I don't think so.
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