Or are they in the process of splitting?
“Everybody understands standing your ground, hoisting your flag, and making your stand, but at some point, you have to decide if your stand is sustainable,” said Ari Fleischer, the former George W. Bush press secretary. “A lot of people who got elected in 2010 came to Washington as conservatives, not as Republicans. They came to change what was wrong in Washington—they don’t have the same expectations or practical goals as others.” But as for the threats of deserting the GOP, Fleischer said, “I don’t know what that means. Are they going to start a third party? What’s the chances of success for that?” …MollyBall,TheAtlantic
But now that Washington has been the scene of a big tea party defeat — a debacle, aren’t the tea partyers likely to be even more anti-Washington? Perhaps self-destructive? And, as Ball suggests, malignancies feeding on their Republican hosts?
Some establishmentarians worry the Tea Partiers are already blithely driving the GOP into the ground. “I don’t think they care about the party. I think they care about issues and philosophies,” said Tom Davis, a former congressman from Virginia and onetime chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee. “I have a philsophy, too. But parties are coalitions. What they would like is for the party to be a private club with a litmus test …. The party they would design would be a regional party that would not be viable in many parts of the country.”
Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor and Republican presidential candidate, blamed “gerrymandered districts” and “the political news-entertainment complex” for empowering passionate minorities within both parties. “If you’re a libertarian or a Tea Partier, you tend to be skeptical toward anything viewed as the establishment, so to the extent you view the traditional Republican Party as the establishment, it follows that there’s room for skepticism,” he said. “But neither party can be successful unless they can get a reasonable amount of support from the whole coalition.” ...MollyBall,TheAtlantic
If, as some think, the split between Tea and Tradition is inevitable, which side winds up with the political clout?
In the Tea Partiers’ view, the clueless establishment hasn’t yet internalized the seriousness of the threat to its supremacy. The grassroots has taken control, and it will have its way or secede. “This is where the wind is blowing,” Deace said [Steve Deace, an Iowa-based talk-radio host]. “I don’t think you can put Humpty Dumpty back together again. People like me are not just taking marching orders anymore—they actually want something in return for a vote.”
It will not be possible, Deace predicted, for the two factions to coexist. “This is going to end in divorce,” he said. “One side is going to win control, one side is going to lose, and the losing side will go do something else. There will not be a reunification.” ...MollyBall,TheAtlantic
Here’s a thought: will we also be watching a fight (to the finish?) between two sets of corporate interests: those who continue to support the radicals on the one hand, and on the other those whose long-term interests have been invested in… the two major parties? That in itself could make a very interesting spectacle and maybe the more important aspect of these political shifts.