Post-Primary rift in GOP difficult to bridge

The just-ended primary season did little to resolve the conflict, all sides said this week, leaving the tea party and establishment Republicans locked in a stalemate nearly five years after the populist anti-government movement began.

Are tea partiers now fully embedded in the GOP, able to dictate the message and elect candidates? Or are they still pesky outsiders, useful for energy and money but unacceptable as senators and representatives? The answer still isn’t clear. That bothers both sides, and it could end up helping Democrats.

“You’ve got some serious troubles ahead,” said Alex Poulter, a tea party activist in Johnson County. “The Republican Party did so much damage to itself in this primary, I’m not sure it can ever recover in time.”