Tea Party’s secret advantage: Why the far right is stronger than everyone thinks

[DonViejo]

The Tea Party is a mind-set, not a literal movement. Here's how it's quietly bending the establishment to its will

STEVE KORNACKI

It’s become a running joke this spring: A major Republican primary takes place and the media struggles to fit the results into a neat, tidy narrative about the war between the Tea Party and the GOP establishment – with comically erratic results.

So when the establishment’s choice, state House Speaker Thom Tillis, fought off a Rand Paul-backed candidate to win the Republican Senate nod in North Carolina back in early May, the headlines touted the waning clout of the Tea Party.

But then Thad Cochran finished behind Chris McDaniel in the preliminary round of voting in Mississippi and Eric Cantor fell in one of the biggest political upsets of all-time and the narrative shifted: Forget what we said a few days ago – the Tea Party is stronger than ever! Except it turned out the familiar national Tea Party groups had nothing to do with the Cantor race, and now Cochran has gone and turned the tables on the Tea Party, winning the runoff over McDaniel.

So now we’re back to talking about the resurgent establishment and the fading Tea Party. Of course, Tennessee and Kansas are still on the board, so this is all subject to further, sudden revision.

But while it’s easy to mock the headlines and some of the punditry that have accompanied all of this, this spring’s results really aren’t inconsistent with each other at all. There actually is a narrative that unites all of these seemingly contradictory results – a narrative about the power of the Tea Party and its grip on today’s Republican Party.

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http://www.salon.com/2014/07/01/tea_partys_secret_advantage_why_the_far_right_is_stronger_than_everyone_thinks/

[warrior1]

1. bull

[LynneSin]

2. The only thing that makes them stronger is the fact that they are reliable voters

Democrats are very unreliable as voters. They'll show up for big elections like voting for the first African American to be president but then they'll ignore every other election in between.

If every person registered as a democrat got out to vote for every election the GOP would be dead in the water. I mean how do you explain a state like New Jersey that has consistantly voted statewide for Democrats for President and US Senators but still put Chris Christie in office as governor. Simple - Governor election is an odd year election right after the Presidental. Republicans will show up but Democrats will skip it.

Tea Party's 'strength' is really our one weakness. We democrats shoot ourselves in the foot because we can't be bothered to show up when it counts.