The following is a rather interesting, upbeat view of the conservative position that we (me included) sometimes lose sight of, in the post-McConnell win over Matt Bevin. It’s something to reflect upon. I sure will. I was reminded yesterday that although the McConnell win appeared to be a beat down of the Tea Party movement, he only garnered 60% of the vote to Bevin’s 40%. In other words, a man we didn’t even know a year ago, took almost half of the votes from a powerful, long standing member of the establishment.
from The American Thinker:
Tea Party Continues Winning
Yes, you heard that right. The tea party is (still) winning, even during and after this year’s 2014 Republican primary season.
The tea party is not a political party. It never has been. The tea party never set as its goal defeating every single incumbent Republican officeholder. The fact that the tea party has taken the scalps of about 50 House Democrats in the 2010 election and several giants in the Republican establishment during 2010 and 2012 is a bonus. That is far in excess of what the tea party movement ever expected to accomplish.
The tea party movement was born in the Spring of 2009, out of Rick Santelli’s famous rant on CNBC on February 18, 2009, calling on citizens to gather and throw tea into Lake Michigan near Chicago as a tea party protest. A few activists claim credit for hatching precursor efforts earlier than that, mainly supporters of Ron Paul. But Rick Santelli’s nationwide television broadcast was the rocket’s blastoff.
The purpose of the tea party was to protest financial irresponsibility, excessive regulation strangling liberty and the economy, and business as usual in Washington (voting for bills no one has read, for example). The tea party was always about promoting issue positions for financial responsibility. The tea party was not primarily about running candidates.
The tea party continues to dominate the Republican Party. Although there are many enemies of the commonsense goals of the tea party, they mostly have to scheme behind closed doors. The few exceptions get pounded with criticism.
Yet in 2014, many candidates favored by the Republican establishment have survived primary challenges. Is this the test for whether the tea party is successful or is fading? No.
First, as Christine O’Donnell just tweeted, the winners of these primary candidates are (more or less) conservative Republicans. A notable exception is Dr. Monica Wehby in Oregon, who is pro-choice, and perhaps Mitch McConnell, who was never going to be unseated anyway.
