I've gotta say, I didn't expect
this type of post from a Virginia Republican blog (although
Bearing Drift is the epitome of sanity compared to most other Virginia Republican blogs). Note: bolding added by me for emphasis.
Thankfully, the tea party movement has not surfaced in the 2nd district fight. Believe me, the last thing we need is a nut-bag bottom rung candidate spouting off about the NRCC and anything NRCC-affiliated (see: Scott Rigell) to whip up media attention. Ben Loyola has loosely tried tapping into it with the Americans for Prosperity bumper sticker slogan, ‘Socialism Isn’t Cool’. And while catch-phrases are well and good, how likely is that to drive voters to the polls or to his side in the canvass on May 8th? The 2nd District isn’t a hard Republican district, so what does one have to gain by running far, far to the right? Not so much.
This is not to mention the ‘black sheep’ tea party members: birthers. Individuals believing that a conspiracy theory that President Obama is not a US born citizen, was born in Kenya, falsified his birth certificate, if in fact there ever was one, blah blah blah. Individuals who spout these beliefs not only bring a black eye to the Republican party and conservatives but also the tea party movement. Every time someone runs off at the mouth about wack-job theories they allow everyone, Republicans, conservatives, tea partiers, what have you, to be painted with the same brush, thereby demeaning the group collectively.
I realize that many people are passionate about the tea party movement and will take this post offensively. I respect that. I respect what the tea party movement has done at the national level: letting our leaders know that they are being watched, regardless of party or beliefs. The town hall anger, the 9-12 rally were successes but that was nationally. Statewide, there’s little reason to celebrate. In the Commonwealth, there has been none. There’s a reason Democrats rejoice when they see nonsense like what’s going on in the 5th. It simply gives Democrats a tighter grip on their consolidated power and presents an opportunity to further the downswing of Republicans and conservatives. And at the state and local levels, the tea party movement needs to get its facts straight; what is your purpose, your goal? Is it fiscal conservatism, stopping outrageous spending and government intervention into areas they have no business being? Or is it solely a vain and self-absorbed attempt at defending what they deem to be ‘true conservative’ principles? My hope would be the former, because if the tea party movement is held up or would like to be held up as saviors and defenders of the Republican party and conservative values, well, then the days of the Grand Old Party are drawing to a rapid and ugly close.
Great post. And on that last point, all I can say is, "one can only hope." :)
