sailingaway
09-20-2010, 10:28 AM
"In the other four states, the Tea Party candidate has had little obvious impact. Mr. Lee of Utah upended a Republican incumbent, Senator Robert Bennett. But Mr. Lee is almost certain to defeat the Democrat, Sam Granato, as Mr. Bennett would have been. Mr. DeMint of South Carolina, an incumbent, was under no real threat of losing either the primary or the general election. Mr. Paul of Kentucky, and Mr. Buck of Colorado, were not doing obviously better or worse in general election polling than the establishment alternatives at the time they won their primaries, and both are now favored to win their races."
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/assessing-the-g-o-p-and-the-tea-party/?partner=rss&emc=rss
This seems to be the growing Dem establishment view, but the kos krowd still wants to believe conservatism is extreme and will excite voters against Rand.
I find this speculation fascinating, because it is what I have been thinking, and I so rarely agree with the New York Times:
"Dimension 3: Tea Party and perceptions of Republican “extremism”
After several victories by Tea Party candidates, like Mr. Paul of Kentucky and Ms. Angle of Nevada, there has been something of a feeding frenzy on liberal blogs (and to some extent, the political media in general), which have sought to unearth whatever uncouth statements, or unorthodox policy positions, the candidate has in his or her background. This process is still underway with Ms. O’Donnell in Delaware. What liberals seem to be banking on is that candidates like these will pollute the Republican brand by being poor standard-bearers. Indeed, the White House is considering formalizing the strategy, according to reporting by The Times.
Although the risks are perhaps greater to Republicans with Ms. O’Donnell than with the previous candidates, so far it is unclear that the strategy has worked. Mr. Paul, for instance, has seen his standing improve in Kentucky since his primary win there in May, and meanwhile, the Republicans have somewhat strengthened their position nationally.
One problem may be that, if the Tea Party appears extreme to some voters, the Democratic agenda does to others. Arguably in fact, the Tea Party — by normalizing extremely conservative viewpoints — makes mainstream Democratic views seem more extreme by comparison."
The only thing I would change is I don't think conservative views were ever out of the norm, they were just deemed un pc to some extent, and more conservative candidates change the view of pc.
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/assessing-the-g-o-p-and-the-tea-party/?partner=rss&emc=rss
This seems to be the growing Dem establishment view, but the kos krowd still wants to believe conservatism is extreme and will excite voters against Rand.
I find this speculation fascinating, because it is what I have been thinking, and I so rarely agree with the New York Times:
"Dimension 3: Tea Party and perceptions of Republican “extremism”
After several victories by Tea Party candidates, like Mr. Paul of Kentucky and Ms. Angle of Nevada, there has been something of a feeding frenzy on liberal blogs (and to some extent, the political media in general), which have sought to unearth whatever uncouth statements, or unorthodox policy positions, the candidate has in his or her background. This process is still underway with Ms. O’Donnell in Delaware. What liberals seem to be banking on is that candidates like these will pollute the Republican brand by being poor standard-bearers. Indeed, the White House is considering formalizing the strategy, according to reporting by The Times.
Although the risks are perhaps greater to Republicans with Ms. O’Donnell than with the previous candidates, so far it is unclear that the strategy has worked. Mr. Paul, for instance, has seen his standing improve in Kentucky since his primary win there in May, and meanwhile, the Republicans have somewhat strengthened their position nationally.
One problem may be that, if the Tea Party appears extreme to some voters, the Democratic agenda does to others. Arguably in fact, the Tea Party — by normalizing extremely conservative viewpoints — makes mainstream Democratic views seem more extreme by comparison."
The only thing I would change is I don't think conservative views were ever out of the norm, they were just deemed un pc to some extent, and more conservative candidates change the view of pc.