End of the Tea Party
ESTABLISHMENT REPUBLICANS virtually took back control of the party on Tuesday, after months of cowering before aggressive members of the Tea Party, and setting the agenda for the 2016 presidential elections in the US. Election Day saw Americans choose governors in New Jersey and Virginia, pick new mayors in cities such as New York and Detroit besides several other municipalities, and decide on a host of local issues.
The most significant outcome of the elections was the manner in which traditional Republicans showed Tea Party activists their place and reclaimed their hold over the Grand Old Party (GOP). Prominent Tea Party leaders including Dean Young and Ken Cuccinelli were trounced by their Democrat rivals, thanks to lukewarm support extended to them by the GOP establishment.
Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio show host, accused the Republican establishment of working to defeat Cuccinelli in the Virginia governor’s race. “The GOP simply didn’t want a Tea Party candidate winning there,” he said. “It’s really a shame.” And Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder and national coordinator of Tea Party Patriots, bemoaned that the GOP establishment, instead of helping Cuccinelli, “left him out hanging”.
Indeed, the US Chamber of Commerce did not fund the Tea Party candidate in his fight against Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who projected himself as a middle-of-the-road, business-friendly politician, seeking jobs for Americans. Interestingly, McAuliffe also spoke out against the powerful National Rifle Association in the swing state, backed gay marriage and abortion and won the governor’s post.
Another prominent Tea Party candidate to lose on Election Day was Dean Young, trounced by establishment Republican Bradley Byrne, who won the primary run-off in Alabama’s first congressional district. Young, an ultra-right wing conspiracy theorist who loves spouting outrageous views, is a ‘birther’ — folks like him believe that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya and does not deserve to be in the White House.
The best news for the establishment Republicans was the landslide reelection of Chris Christie, a pragmatic politician who was voted back as governor of New Jersey, a predominantly Democratic state. Christie, a centrist, could emerge as the GOP’s candidate for the 2016 presidential election. The Republican has been working closely with Democrats, including President Obama, on bipartisan issues and has defied the Tea Partiers, who do not want ‘impure’ candidates like him.
Tuesday’s elections, which also saw a Democrat Bill de Blasio return as mayor of New York for the first time in 20 years, could see the beginning of the decline of the Tea Party, as Americans opt to ignore political extremists and back centrist candidates.
The elections could see the beginning of the decline of the Tea Party