The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Premature Obituary?

Posted on | March 20, 2014 | 20 Comments

Josh Kraushaar at National Journal argues that the Tea Party is dead, while at The Federalist, Ben Domenech says that what Kraushaar interprets as rigor mortis is actually evidence of the Tea Party’s success. My own opinion on the subject is nuanced. Having been immersed in the Tea Party movement from its inception, I considered it effectively “dead” the moment in early 2012 when it became apparent that Mitt Romney would be the 2012 GOP nominee. Exactly why and how that happened has been much discussed, and nobody’s paying me to explain it all over again, so I won’t bore you.

 

Category: Tea Party

Comments

20 Responses to “Premature Obituary?”

  1. GVK
    March 20th, 2014 @ 1:30 pm

    “My own opinion on the subject is nuanced”

    Ha ha, that gave me a good laugh!

  2. G Joubert
    March 20th, 2014 @ 2:11 pm

    As a demonstrable movement, yeah, it’s past its peak. For now. But meanwhile its spirit lives on unabated, and it motivates people to vote and informs voters on their choices. That’s my nuanced take.

  3. MNHawk
    March 20th, 2014 @ 2:18 pm

    The idea of there being people pretending to be leaders of an organization that’s never really been, in an official sort of way?

    Dead.

    The ideas behind the idea of the Tea Party?

    Treat it as dead, at your own risk.

  4. Adjoran
    March 20th, 2014 @ 2:19 pm

    The real “Tea Party” was a grassroots movement that never endorsed a single candidate and never focused on any issue beyond spending, debt, bailouts, and ObamaCare. Anything beyond that was some individuals doing their own things for their own purposes – which may have been good, bad, or neutral – wrapping themselves in the TP name to attract more attention and money.

    There was never a TP election or plebiscite on any issue. The actual movement was entirely grassroots-driven. The people who do other things claiming to be “tea party” are just working their own agenda under a false flag.

    Josh Kraushaar is a down-the-line leftist who came from Politico and was one of the charter members of the “Journ-o-list” propaganda ring founded by Ezra Klein. There is no point in reading anything he writes, you could write a simple program to spout it out. And if his opinion means anything to you, seek professional help before it’s too late.

  5. And in Other News… @DonLemon | Regular Right Guy
    March 20th, 2014 @ 2:29 pm

    […] Premature Obituary? […]

  6. Anon Y. Mous
    March 20th, 2014 @ 2:48 pm

    Here’s an obit that’s not premature: http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/20/us/westboro-church-founder-dead/

    Though CNN forgets to mention it, Fred Phelps was a Democrat.

  7. Rosalie
    March 20th, 2014 @ 3:09 pm

    The TP may have started out that way, but I’m sure they realized in order to get anything done they’d have to have politicians in DC who felt the same way. We then got guys like Lee, Paul, and Cruz who all were endorsed by the TP.

  8. The Obama Transparency Contagion… | Regular Right Guy
    March 20th, 2014 @ 4:11 pm

    […] Premature Obituary? […]

  9. K-Bob
    March 20th, 2014 @ 5:04 pm

    I’m beginning to wonder about the degree of vitality among supposed Tea Party activists.

    For one thing, it was never a party, and as soon as actual organizing took place, the infighting began in earnest, to see who would “lead” the thing. Without an actual Presidential candidate that wins, I doubt any such thing as a new political party really means anything.

  10. Kevin O'Kelley
    March 20th, 2014 @ 5:07 pm

    Cart driver: “Bring out your dead.”

    Young man carrying an old man: “Here’s one.”

    Dead man: “I’m not dead.”

    Cart driver: “He said he’s not dead.”

    Young man: “Yes, he is.”

    Dead man: “I’m not.”

    Cart driver: “He isn’t dead.”

    Young man: “He will be soon; he’s very ill.”

    Dead man: “I’m getting better.”

    Young man: “No, you’re not; you’ll be stone dead in a
    moment.”

    The good news is that if the Tea Party is dead, then the Democrats can’t complain about the existence of the Tea Party as proof that the GOP can’t govern, nor can they hold the Tea Party over voters as a threat (e.g. “If you vote for GOP, the Tea Party will take away Social Security.”)

  11. Dave R
    March 20th, 2014 @ 8:43 pm

    Dude, RSM, the 2012 nomination fight was over in 2011 when it became clear only one candidate with money and organization was running. You can’t beat somebody with nobody.

  12. K-Bob
    March 20th, 2014 @ 9:06 pm

    No one from the “Tea Party” stepped up to run.

  13. Adjoran
    March 21st, 2014 @ 12:30 am

    Please link to the “Tea Party” endorsing anyone. You cannot, because they NEVER did. My point is that Tea Party Patriot, TPA, TPX, etc, are NOT “the Tea Party,” they are private groups that usurped the name for their own profit.

  14. Adjoran
    March 21st, 2014 @ 12:33 am

    Stacy endorsed first Herman Cain, then Santorum. He was never interested in a qualified nominee or winning the election, he wanted to “send a message.”

    I think the message was, “Never put Stacy McCain on your hiring committee.”

  15. K-Bob
    March 21st, 2014 @ 3:15 am

    Your definition is simply a rejection of their definition. That’s just a game, not analysis.

    Tea Party groups were formed by self-identifiers. Obvious.

    The fakes were one-man operations.

  16. News and opinions for Friday | Walla Walla TEA Party Patriots
    March 21st, 2014 @ 3:56 am

    […] Premature Obituary? […]

  17. Rosalie
    March 21st, 2014 @ 8:40 am

    From Tony Lee at Breitbart Big Government:

    “A Tea Party candidate became the first ever state senator in
    Pennsylvania to win as a write-in candidate on Tuesday in a special election
    that showed how dissatisfied voters are, even at the local level, with both
    organized political parties. During the campaign, conservative Republican Scott
    Wagner was blistered by establishment Republicans that he accused of
    “orchestrating the special election in such a way to hand the seat, vacated by
    Mike Waugh in January,” to the establishment Republican candidate Ron Miller.
    According to the Patriot-News, Wagner captured 48 percent of the vote”

  18. daisy
    March 21st, 2014 @ 10:18 am

    You’ve been pretty miserable for the last couple of weeks.

  19. Coulter76
    March 21st, 2014 @ 9:22 pm

    Who was the “Tea Party” candidate that lost in the primary?

    The alternatives were jokes, it wasn’t some battle for the soul of the Republican Party. It was a Governor like Romney that had a shot versus SoCon clowns like Santorum or washed up losers like Newt gingrich that were on a book tour.

    There was no other credible candidate.

  20. Once ‘Influential’ Drudge #Pays | Regular Right Guy
    March 23rd, 2014 @ 4:57 pm

    […] Hence he must #pay the recompense of reward for all once influential bloggers who aren’t influential anymore. Discredit and public humiliation. Because he was just a passing fad, anyway… like the tea party. […]