Through a Tea Cup, Darkly

[scothen_krau]

As I watch the Tea Party leaders trying to distance themselves from the angry, conspiracy-obsessed elements of their own group, I see hints of their ultimate fate.  They will surely be a force in the 2010 elections, where Republicans will benefit from the movement's intensity (and candidates' ability to convincingly pay lip service to Tea Party

Comments

[mskala]

The rank and file of the movement will split between the sellouts and the true believers, and the fracture will weaken them.

The Canadian equivalent of the Republicans have split like that, and then rejoined, several times in the last 20 years or so.

[scothen_krau]

True, there are numerous examples of conservative blocks splitting and reforming, but I think some there are a couple of particular features at play here:

1) The U.S. is very entrenched in the two party mentality, so much so that we have almost no tradition of coalition governments.

2) The demographic shifts in this country are weighted heavily against the Tea Party membership, and their generally anti-immigration stance puts them squarely at odds with the Latino voters who might otherwise be their allies.

There are more, but a ferry I must catch.

[ardentethos]

And the fox says, "why did you sting me? Now we will both drown."

And the scorpion says, "I had no choice; such is my nature."