Fascinating thread at Legal Insurrection on the “alleged” fading of the Tea Party Movement after the high water mark of 2010
The best comment came from Midwest Rhino who gave a common sense down to earth analysis of the TP, it’s appeal and it’s fault lines…and if anything proved his/her point it was some of the other comments on the thread about abortion and Ron Paul.
It is interesting to note that, although Sarah Palin is a staunch opponent of abortion she appeared never to have brought that into any speech she made at a TP event – instead the recurring theme was fiscal sanity, small govt and the dangers of crony capitalism…..
More than anything, the decline in numbers shows the power of the left to control the message.
When Santelli first did his rant, the “Tea Party” was a big hit. As the grass roots movement developed, the left saw the threat and aimed their big guns at it to bombard it with rhetoric of racism, ignorance, and hate.
Working from the other side, the hard evangelicals saw it as an opportunity to usurp some vitality and new people (and a threat to their grip on the GOP). They infiltrated with demands on prayer and abortion. This part, I believe, was the more effective “killer” of the young movement.I’d like to see Rasmussen break down what people think the tea party stands for. It seems many think Akin was Tea Party, just because of his hard and stupid statements on abortion.
Hopefully Cruz will learn to say abortion laws are above his pay grade, or some such thing. He may not believe in ANY abortion, but laws for other beliefs are a decision for judges in high courts. Tea partiers are about a restrained government and fiscal sanity. NOT about religion forcing less “tolerance” on “evil unbelievers”. (though the inhumanity of late term abortions might have some traction)
The Democrats and evangelicals effectively cut the tea party baby in half by dividing it on religion, and tarring everyone as racist and ignorant. Palin (yes, she’s wonderful) was used as the personification of this, and she’s still being attacked by Leno et. al., apparently to continue driving the stake in.
Divide on a contentious issue … it’s an old trick.
