A problem for the GOP

It's tough to know just what to make of the Tea Party -- is it the last political gasp of a dying minority? (Anyone who has lived in a red state will doubt this.) Is it just the rantings of a vocal minority? (More likely; they are a majority in some areas, but nationally are a minority.)

Whatever it is, it's clearly a thorn in the side of Democrats, but it's going to increasingly become a thorn in the side of Republicans when it comes time to actually win elections.



The problem Democrats have long had is that at its core, liberalism is an amorphous group. You've got your fiscal socialists, your near-anarchists, your Blue Dogs, etc., all falling into one of the two available political parties, but never moving in lockstep. Now with the rise of the Tea Party and its largely aligning with the GOP, the Republicans are going to increasingly have this same problem. 

One of the strengths of the Bush years, led by Karl Rove, was how well everyone stayed on message. Republicans always had the same talking points. That's not the case anymore, as the full-of-spit-and-vinegar Tea Party members are always happy to scream about their libertarian leanings. Often, this doesn't jive with the real goal of the core of the Republican Party in power -- namely, protecting the interests of the rich and powerful. Take this story, for example. The headline got my attention, but what really got me to thinking was how you now have a vocal part of the GOP who think like this:

Other Republican critics of the war, particularly Tea Party freshmen in the House, have taken a different line, arguing that Obama's decision to intervene was illegal, and that Gaddafi's death alone does not ensure the region's safety or stability.

Now, part of this is the if-Obama-does-it-then-it's-bad logic. But in this case these folks are not properly protecting the military-industrial complex and the war profiteers the way their fellow caucus members would like. Any war is good, because it means we need expensive bombs to be built.

The Blue Dog coalition of the Democrats have long been a wild card for the party. But the Blue Dogs generally moved in sync with the party, only gaining attention when they were too close to the other side of the aisle and needed to be wooed (or written off) on a specific vote. 

But the Tea Party is clearly identifying itself as a discrete movement, and while it often moves in tandem with the Republican Party it best fits in, its continued desire to be identified as a separate group can only help Democrats by dividing the opposition or causing it to nominate weaker/fringier candidates.