The GOP Establishment Gloats...

The GOP Establishment Gloats...
posted by Christopher Manion on April 21, 2012 05:23 PM

... because it has screwed the Tea Party and the Ron Paul brigades. Their gaudy hubris will, of course, drive millions away from their chosen loser Romney. But hubris is incurable, say the classicists.

These fops would much rather strut on the stage in a ruined country than to be relegated to the cheap seats in a land celebrating freedom, peace, and prosperity. Well, as the Good Book says, they have their reward.

xxx

GOP elite holds off the tea partiers
By: James Hohmann
April 21, 2012 06:37 PM EDT

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. ­ The Republican Party establishment has withstood the tea-party revolution.

The tricorne-hat wearing, Gadsden-flag waving insurgents were nowhere near the Republican National Committee's annual meeting of state chairman, which wrapped up at a posh resort here Saturday afternoon.

Instead, veteran party leaders ­ who wore business suits even in the 100-degree heat ­ reigned supreme.

The 2012 meeting of the Republican national command shows just how little has actually changed in the Grand Old Party since the tea-party movement helped Republicans capture the U.S. House majority two years ago and announced that they were a powerful force in American politics.

While tea-party activists have won county chairmanships and seats on state central committees, few (if any) activists have clinched slots on the Republican Party's 168-member governing committee. That's not to say that tea-partiers have disappeared or that they won't get their moment in the sun ­ but it may take years for them to climb the party ladder the same way as everyone else.

GOP elders sympathize with the movement's ideas and want to channel whatever energy the decentralized groups offer for November. But when asked about the tea-party's influence in interviews here, the movement was always spoken of in the third person and as one constituency in the larger Republican coalition, sort of like defense hawks or fiscal conservatives.

Many Republicans here said that tea-party activists now understand that things will run more smoothly if those with experience are in charge rather than those who put a premium on ideology over process.

"The important thing for any group in the party to understand…is that you need experience to govern," said New Hampshire Republican Chairman Wayne MacDonald. "Everybody has to start somewhere. It's just important they learn the mechanics of how the party operates…It doesn't mean new ideas aren't welcome."

MacDonald, who has been active in his state's politics for 36 years, became state chairman last September after the resignation of tea- party activist Jack Kimball, who drew lots of national attention when he won an upset victory as a political newcomer against the insider-backed candidate.

Kimball resigned just before a meeting in which the state executive committee would have removed him. The party lost special elections and struggled with fundraising under his watch. Many were offended that he signed a petition to Libertarian candidate on the 2012 ballot.

GOP veterans hold out Kimball as the cautionary tale.

"He was over his head, inexperienced and not qualified for the leadership role in an organization in which he never had participated," said Phyllis Woods, New Hampshire's outgoing national committeewoman. "It broke my heart. I knew when he was elected, he would need to network with a lot of people and get a lot of input. But egos get in the way, and it was just too steep a learning curve for him too soon."

"He was very well-intentioned…right on the issues…but lacking any historical perspective for the party, lacking the organizational skills, lacking the knowledge of the mechanics of the party," she added. "In other words, you can have the message. You have to have the network. You have to have the facility to get out the message."

Kimball did not return a call for comment.

Texas Republican committeeman Bill Crocker says the tea party has joined forces with the party in his state, but that the newbies are still figuring out how the game is really played.

"They are good people. Their values are straight on. Some of them are inexperienced, and there's a learning curve that they're going through, and they're not liking some of that," he said. "But…it's really beneficial to both parties – to them and the establishment Republicans that have been there for a while."

"We've all been through it. We just got there before they did," Crocker added. "It's just learning that everybody who is in government is not evil, that we've got some really good people in government. Let's don't burn the barn down to get rid of the rats. Number two, there's a way to get things done and a way where you can work hard and not get anything done."

But at times at the meeting here in Phoenix, the tea party was talked about as altogether distinct from the Republican Party.

"They have their own groups, and they're independent," said Pennsylvania GOP Chairman Rob Gleason. "We've always welcomed their support and welcomed them to our functions."

South Carolina committeeman Glenn McCall said he believes tea-party elements will unite with Republicans to defeat President Barack Obama. But he stressed the two movements were not one and the same.

"It's been our goal not to co-opt the tea-party movement," he said. "We're happy that they support Republican candidates."

Ohio Republican Chair Bob Bennett said he considers the tea party to be "inside the tent, not outside the tent."

"The tea party is an important group for the Republicans," he said, "but we still need independents."

The tea party movement's influence has waned everywhere since its apex in 2010. Most visibly, the Republican Party is poised to nominate the most pragmatic of the men who ran for president this cycle even though many tea-party groups vocally opposed him during the primary. Indeed, Mitt Romney received a coronation of sorts at a unity lunch here Friday, soaking up standing ovations and basking in blessings from 2008 rival Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

In fact, libertarian supporters of Ron Paul made more successful inroads into the party organization in 2012. A.J. Spiker, the vice chairman of Ron Paul's Iowa campaign, became state party chairman in February. James Smack, a vocal 2008 Paul supporter Nevada, got elevated from vice chair to acting state chair in February after Amy Tarkanian resigned to help her husband run for Congress. Now he's challenging former Nevada Gov. Bob List for Nevada's committeeman slot at next month's state convention.

No one here thinks that the RNC will stop being a stronghold of the elites. But there are some who claim tea-party ties who are challenging RNC committee members at upcoming conventions who may win.

Michigan national committeeman Saul Anuzis, who has twice run for RNC chair, is being challenged by a term-limited state representative.

"The RNC in general is very conservative, but by definition to many, establishment. That in itself makes it impossible to be a Tea Party person," Anuzis said in an email.

"It's not a philosophical battle as often as it's an anti-establishment battle," he added. "It's not necessarily fair because RNC members like myself have aggressively and consistently reached out to Tea Party folks."

Iowa national committeeman Steve Scheffler, a leading social conservative, says the tea party is having a real impact on the conversation in the Hawkeye State.

"They're pretty independent in Iowa. You'll see a lot of them at our state conventions. But that doesn't mean they're just going to blindly vote the party label," he said. "I'm not a member, per se, but I've gone to a lot of their events and I'm very, very sympathetic and think they're one of the few entities that hold the Republicans' feet to the fire. Quite frankly, a lot of Republicans just plain walked off the reservation."

Colorado Republican Chairman Ryan Call said the tea party is not as well organized as in 2010 but the ideas continue to resonate with the base.

"We're still going to be able to tap into that sentiment," he said.

And no one questions that the tea party has been a net-plus for Republicans.

"It's a symbiotic relationship," said Arkansas Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb. "The tea party has put a spring in the step of the old lumbering elephant."

Morton Blackwell, the longtime national committeeman representing Virginia, believes it's only a matter of time before tea-party activists end up in the highest echelons of the party. But when they do, he doesn't think they'll be thought of as tea partiers.

At 24, Blackwell was Barry Goldwater's youngest delegate at the Cow Palace for the 1964 Republican National Convention. He says the tea party is the latest wave of energy to enter to the party in the tradition of the Goldwater conservatives or Pat Robertson's evangelicals in the 1980s.

"There's always been, to put it gently, an uneasiness when large numbers of new people come to participate," he said. "In each case, it took some getting used to…[Eventually] people who are part of the new influx are treated as individuals, not as representative of some group of strangers."


http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75428.html