Ron Paul: Tea parties won't rebuild GOP

[bobbyw24]

Paul: Tea parties won't rebuild GOP
By: Andy Barr
January 7, 2010 12:27 PM EST

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said Wednesday night that despite the groundswell of grass-roots conservative energy, the tea party movement is not likely to revive the Republican Party.

“I don't think you can talk about the tea party as a party,” Paul said during an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “It’s made up of a lot of different people. And I don't even see them as being Republicans.”

“I think they're unhappy. They're unhappy with the establishment party. And that's made up of the Republicans and the Democrats,” Paul said. “If the Republicans don't catch on to that, they can't build their party.”

Paul is a favorite among the tea party crowd, but the former Republican presidential candidate suggested that the GOP should be wary of aligning themselves too closely to protesters who can be unpredictable in their actions and messaging.

Asked about a recent photo that has been widely circulated in the liberal blogosphere showing a prominent tea party organizer from Houston holding up a sign with incendiary racial language, Paul said the tea parties sometimes “act too angrily, and it doesn't come off well.”

“If they keep doing that, yes, it may not necessarily build the party,” Paul said.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31233.html

[bobbyw24]

I must say that once again I agree with Ron Paul

[Lovecraftian4Paul]

That's because the "Tea Parties" aren't really Tea Parties in the 1776 sense. The original Tea Party was an act of bold, illegal, civil disobedience. Today's Tea Parties are mostly old neo-cons standing around with signs asking for a slight reduction in taxes.

[bobbyw24]

Dale Robertson doesn't mince words. The tea party spokesperson and head of Teaparty.org in Houston issued a strong statement this week warning state GOP leaders that if they didn't support strongly conservative candidates, their jobs were at risk.

"We are turning our guns on anyone who doesn't support constitutional conservative candidates," Robertson said. "If they don't get that, and their party chairmen don't get that, they are going to be ostracized."

Jim Greer, Florida's GOP Chairman, was forced to resign earlier this week under similar pressure from far-right activists following his endorsement of Charlie Crist, a "big-tent" Republican who has been criticized by some conservative factions for being too moderate. Tea Party activists have backed Crist's opponent, Marco Rubio, in the upcoming Republican primary.

Crist has notably broken from the Republican party on a few key issues. He's supported green initiatives such as cap-and-trade legislation, and potential offshore drilling. Perhaps most markedly, Crist was a strong proponent of the stimulus bill, going as far as to hug President Obama while introducing him at a rally in Ft. Meyers.

"I think it's just all-around frustration with some in our party who have a very pure philosophy of how you should govern," Greer told the New York Times Magazine. "People want a common-sense approach to governing. And approaching it with purity won't get anything done."

Jenny Beth Martin, the national coordinator of Tea Party Patriots, explains the Tea Party's latest offensive. "People in America are very tired of the irresponsible taxing and spending that has happened in Washington. They want a return to fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and free markets."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/07/tea-party-leader-we-are-t_n_414761.html

[Flash]

I disagree but from reading the article it seems to be taken out of context. Of course if a local tea party is yelling and not 'converting' anyone to their view, then its counter-productive. But for the most part the Tea Parties are getting more Conservative Democrats & Independents into the Party which is 'rebuilding' the GOP.

If it wasn't for the Tea Parties Rand Paul may not be in the position he is in today.

[LittleLightShining]

From where I'm sitting there's a strange dynamic going on with the GOP and the tea party folks in VT. On the one hand GOP operatives will show up at tea parties but they are very wary of tea party folks getting involved in the party. You can blame that on the RINO's.

[catdd]

Yeah, I guess they are a bit too conservative for the good ol boys.

[Matt Collins]

I love Ron, but I think "angry" is what we need right now. (of course I don't condone that moron with the sign he was referring to). I think the time for "nice" and "pleasant" and "gentle" and "polite" are about over with and have been for some time. I of course see things differently than Ron does on this of course.

[kahless]

I think Ron did a great job on this talking point raising awareness that the values he is promoting are not exclusive to any one party. We need more liberty candidates in the Democrat party. This will stop the media from bashing these values as being exclusively "right-wing" Conservative or from those "racist tea party" folks.

[bobbyw24]

I think Ron did a great job on this talking point raising awareness that the values he is promoting are not exclusive to any one party. We need more liberty candidates in the Democrat party. This will stop the media from bashing these values as being exclusively "right-wing" Conservative or from those "racist tea party" folks.

That's true.