Tea Parties, Third Parties and the Republican Party

The struggles of the Democrats and the Republicans are making news.  The Democrats are learning that it is far easier to make campaign promises than it is to govern. As for Republicans, the party that loses the Presidential election often spends the off-year attempting to refine its message if not find a new message and new messengers. In the watchful eye of 24/7 cable news channels and the Internet, however, such political soul searching can appear rather untidy.  As the calendar turns, the process remains unresolved for Republicans to say the least.  Worse than mere overexposure, according to Rasmussen polling, despite Obama’s falling polls and Democrat divisions, the Republican Party would fare worse in an upcoming election than the Tea Party – a “Third Party” that, as of yet, does not exist.  It is no minor issue because with the help of Tea Party activists, Republicans certainly can beat Democrats next year – without them they may not.

It would seem evident to many that the Tea Party movement should be the natural ally of the Republican Party.  After all, the issues that inspire most Tea Party activists should not be inimical to Republican Party leaders.  However, the fact that the Tea Party movement is at odds with certain aspects of the Republican establishment belies the greater issue as to why the Tea Party movement – and its potential to be a 3^rd Party movement – arose at all.

It is worthy, as part of this discussion, to note that the rise and fall of third party movements and candidates is directly tied to whether voters perceive the existing parties as being successful.  In this context, successful means providing effective leadership on the major issues of the day.

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Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Big Government, Boston Tea Party, Bush 41, Clinton
Posted Dec 22nd 2009 at 9:57 am in History, Politics | 50762272 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/tdelbeccaro/2009/12/22/tea-parties-third-parties-and-the-republican-party/Tea+Parties%2C+Third+Parties+and+the+Republican+Party2009-12-22+17%3A57%3A27Thomas+Del+Beccaro

Wednesday Open Thread: Tea Party Edition

Today, in 1773, members of the Sons of Liberty boarded British ships in Boston and dumped their cargo of tea into the harbor.

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Tags: Boston Harbor, Boston Tea Party, Sons of Liberty
Posted Dec 16th 2009 at 4:21 am in Open Threads, Tea Party, Uncategorized | 4707090 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2009/12/16/wednesday-open-thread-tea-party-edition/Wednesday+Open+Thread%3A+Tea+Party+Edition2009-12-16+12%3A21%3A21Publius

‘Big Government’ Rises Again

n7h6ycxmg5In 1995, President Bill Clinton stood before the nation and proclaimed, “The era of big government is over.” The following year, the federal budget deficit stood at 1.4% of GDP. Thirteen years later, in 2008, the deficit had doubled, to just over 3% of GDP. This year, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the federal budget deficit will equal 11.4% of GDP.

As George Will would say, “Well.”

This is the real source of our “summer of discontent.” Yes, millions of Americans spent the month of August holding Tea Parties, attending town halls, organizing, marching and protesting against ObamaCare, i.e. Congressional and Administration proposals to reconstruct the entire health care sector. But to suggest that health care alone is at the root of this backlash is to miss the forest for the trees. To paraphrase Democrat strategist James Carville, “It’s the big government, stupid.”

Since last September when the financial markets stumbled, we’ve seen a Wall Street bailout, government takeovers of AIG, Citigroup, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, GM, Chrysler, and numerous banks. The Federal Reserve has opened its discount window to almost all-comers and has taken the unprecedented step of aggressively buying up the federal government’s own debt. Congress rushed through a “stimulus to nowhere,” moved closer to a “cap-and-trade” remake of the energy sector and openly talked about higher taxes and more regulation. (more…)

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Tags: AIG, American Revolution, banks, Bill Clinton, Boston Tea Party
Posted Sep 9th 2009 at 5:26 pm in Congress, Culture, Economics, Featured Story, History, Justice/Legal, Media Criticism, News, Obama, Politics | 98274 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mikeflynn/2009/09/09/big-government-rises-again/%27Big+Government%27+Rises+Again2009-09-10+00%3A26%3A17Mike+Flynn