txaslftist
11-09-2010, 03:34 PM
The GOP, after the misbegotten reign of W, was reeling from the sour aftertaste those ruinous years left in most of our mouths.
The GOP was complicit in the madness of King George, and should have been punished for at least 10 election cycles for the sins of 2000 - 2008.
But some funny things happened between 2008 and 2010. Mostly in 2008, a wing of the GOP came alive with energy, and that energy was focused on Ron Paul. With money-bombs and tea parties and unequalled enthusiasm, this obscure Texas congressman rose to national prominence with a specific message of limited government, personal responsibility and ethical governance. He happened to be a rogue Republican, but he could have been a Libertarian or even a rogue Democrat. With internet backing and money bombs, he snatched the Republican nomination from McCain in Nevada, but the GOP machinery there undid that electoral blip. Ultimately John McCain was nominated, and burned out spectacularly.
Fast forward to 2010. Riding on a wave of populism, the Tea Party (a movement intended to both mimic and incorporate the views of Ron Paul) manages to move the electorate enough to re-legitimize the GOP. This is, of course, assisted by Democratic failures and a crushing recession (depression). Along the way they picked up some garbage like Palin and Gingrich, who recognized an opportunity in the energy of this new wave. The House majority shifts to the GOP.
In the present day, GOP stalwarts, holdovers from the Bush years like Boehner, Tom Delay and Trent Lott, want to return to the Bush days of mad spending, foreign aggression and GOP business as usual. They fail to recognize that times have changed and that the nation has no interest in that kind of thing. They need to recognize that the promise of fiscal discipline is something they cannot renege on. The Ron Paul core of the Tea Party needs to assert themselves.
Which means they need to be disciplined themselves. The essential principles of the constitution should be the mandate, and if GOP congressmen and senators stray from those principles, such as limited federal government, a smaller world footprint, and massively reduced spending, a Tea Party challenger should be found for the primaries in those districts found wanting.
Just an idea...
The GOP was complicit in the madness of King George, and should have been punished for at least 10 election cycles for the sins of 2000 - 2008.
But some funny things happened between 2008 and 2010. Mostly in 2008, a wing of the GOP came alive with energy, and that energy was focused on Ron Paul. With money-bombs and tea parties and unequalled enthusiasm, this obscure Texas congressman rose to national prominence with a specific message of limited government, personal responsibility and ethical governance. He happened to be a rogue Republican, but he could have been a Libertarian or even a rogue Democrat. With internet backing and money bombs, he snatched the Republican nomination from McCain in Nevada, but the GOP machinery there undid that electoral blip. Ultimately John McCain was nominated, and burned out spectacularly.
Fast forward to 2010. Riding on a wave of populism, the Tea Party (a movement intended to both mimic and incorporate the views of Ron Paul) manages to move the electorate enough to re-legitimize the GOP. This is, of course, assisted by Democratic failures and a crushing recession (depression). Along the way they picked up some garbage like Palin and Gingrich, who recognized an opportunity in the energy of this new wave. The House majority shifts to the GOP.
In the present day, GOP stalwarts, holdovers from the Bush years like Boehner, Tom Delay and Trent Lott, want to return to the Bush days of mad spending, foreign aggression and GOP business as usual. They fail to recognize that times have changed and that the nation has no interest in that kind of thing. They need to recognize that the promise of fiscal discipline is something they cannot renege on. The Ron Paul core of the Tea Party needs to assert themselves.
Which means they need to be disciplined themselves. The essential principles of the constitution should be the mandate, and if GOP congressmen and senators stray from those principles, such as limited federal government, a smaller world footprint, and massively reduced spending, a Tea Party challenger should be found for the primaries in those districts found wanting.
Just an idea...