Is this nomenclature helpful or is it off-putting? Is this the kind of press the Tea Party wants? Would it fare better being a third party? Is it possible for a third party to win in America?
If the Tea Party became a third party, would they just continue to court old Republicans who sang the right music? How would that work? Maybe Newt has better thing before he inserts his foot. I have heard people do not like what he said.
Militant = “a militant person, especially a political activist.” Got no problem with that. It fits. Leave it to MSNBC to try to put some sly, wink, wink, nod, nod negative connotation on it. Did they do that with Obama’s vaunted legions in 2008 — you know, the ones who were told to go out and get into our faces? I doubt it.
“Militant wing of the Republican Party” Newt, listen up, man. No more will guys like me come to the Republican Party and knock to gain entrance. Now you have to come to us and make your presentation in the hope of getting our money and our votes. If we don’t like what you are offering, you had better go back and redo your presentation. Don’t get the idea that you can simply co-opt us like some ready-made army of militants. No more of the careerists who will say and do anything just to get past an election. We are looking for the genuine article. We are looking for Mr. Smith many times over. Politicians as a contemporary class, regardless of party, are no longer on our “A” list. They are now going to have to work hard to get back up there.
We’ve known all along that Tea Partieres are Republicans. They claim they’re not, but Newt just confirmed what everybody knows. Tea Partiers are so stupid they don’t even realize that they’re being used.
This seems to me like the Republican party trying to claim the tea partiers.
Ahhh–now that Pope Newt I has sprinkled the necessary holy water on it, it is official. Duh!
Wolverine, in all fairness…I saw this story all over the news. I just grabbed the easiest version of it. It seemed neutral. It was late. I originally saw the story on FN. It might have been Hannity. I don’t remember. But msnbc’s videos are easier to grab most of the time. NYTimes ones are impossible quite often.
I didn’t feel that msnbc was trotting out the story and much as they were saying ‘me too.’
Moon, I’ve got no problem whatsoever with your posting of this video. Since I do not watch much TV myself, I found it useful for opening up comments. I think El Guapo in #3 got the right idea. The Republicans ARE trying to claim the tea parties. They understand the discontent and the momentum out there. I think they realize that their best chance is to try to match the views of many in the Tea Party crowd, not to try to co-opt the Tea Party into the samo-samo Republican message of yesterday. Bush II managed to screw that up from them real good during the last couple of years of his administration. But, what the Republicans have to realize is that, if they do succeed in luring much of the Tea Party, the game will have changed. They will, indeed, have a “militant” group which will watch their every move and not let them slip back into the old political ways without getting a figurative slap upside the head.
I’m sure the Democrats have also understood it, but it is almost impossible for them to pony up the kind of message which would resonate with the conservative or constitutionalist bent of many Tea Party types. They have already laid everything out there for all to see through their 2009/2010 actions. There may be, however, some “Blue Dogs” who just might find a way if the conditions are right for them locally on the ground. This will be a most interesting part of the 2010 campaign. I think a critical question most Tea Party types would have for a “Blue Dog” is: “Do you have the guts to buck your party leadership with regard to the political principles which you claim to espouse? And we don’t mean the political game in which the leadership, already having enough votes, allows you to vote against a measure just for political show back home.”
Actually, that message for Newt was a message from me, since no one can claim to be the definitive spokesperson for the Tea Party movement. My feeling is that the Tea Party people have to reverse course from prior dealings with the politicians. No longer will I personally hand a politician a detailed version of my wishes and ask whether he does or does not support them. Too often these politicians of all stripes just parrot back your own words in a dishonest effort to get your vote. What you want, they, of course, want. But after the election too many revert back to calling their own tune. Right now my tactic would be to wave a copy of the Constitution in their faces, give them a brief outline of the national or state or local issues as I see them in priority order, and ask them to tell me how they are going to solve them. Make them pony up their plans or thoughts and then hope that they match mine. They get no more helpful hints out of me so they can launch easily into that pre-election “yes-man” role. They present their platform. I judge.
If Newt says it, then it must be true.
Wolverine, you are going to get your best answers that way for sure. Otherwise, I agree about the parroting.
We have a real problem in this country. Industry, lobbyists, and unions all seem to count for more than we, the individual voter do. The other problem is, there are simply too many different factions on this country for a politician to appeal to. It costs way too much to get elected. Most politicians end up being someone’s ‘ho.
This seems to me like the Republican party trying to claim the tea partiers.
Newt is a tool.
He is an opportunist that is trying to claw his way back into relevancy. He is no more part of the Tea Party than Obama.
The Tea Party is angrier at the GOP than it is the Dems. Except for the Democrat Tea Partiers. THEY are angry at the Democrats. New is just trying to steal any thunder from the TEA Party. And if he doesn’t watch out, his beloved GOP will lose again, the minute they revert back to Democrat light…..