tea party faces reality by WisPolitics.com
On stage at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Feb. 2,
Mitt Romney and his wife looked humble as they basked in the endorsement of The
Donald, orange-haired birther and billionaire capitalist sage.
Trump sounded as if he were presenting the new Mr. and Mrs.
America: "This is a great couple. Look at this couple." If the
Romneys had brought along their four totally handsome sons, Trump might have
put in a plug for eugenics.
The scene was an ironic reminder of the financial elite's success
in taming the town-hall invaders, founding-father impersonators, tax haters,
raucous Obamaphobes and flag-waving birthers that had coalesced as the Tea
Party. Here was Trump, once the Tea Party's presidential favorite, now blessing
the establishment candidate.
During the primary season, the Tea Party became infatuated with a
succession of unelectables--Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry and Herman Cain.
Happily for the GOP, all three quickly sank under the weight of their manifest
incompetence.
That created an opening for another Tea Party darling: the
disgraced former speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, with his venomous mouth
and great debating skill. This corrupt Washington insider won over South
Carolina conservatives by presenting himself as anti-elitist. In a state that
still sports the Confederate flag in front of its Capitol, Gingrich scored
points by calling Obama a "food stamp President" as well as scolding
blacks for lacking a work ethic.
However, Newt's victory frightened GOP elders. Bob Dole warned
that Gingrich would doom the party's chances in November. Romney's super-PAC
was able to raise enough money to overwhelm Newt in the Florida primary.
Rick Santorum's Feb. 7 victories in the low-turnout, non-binding
caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado and in Missouri's straw poll, and his
resulting surge in opinion polls, are unlikely to stop Romney. Santorum,
Gingrich and Ron Paul will continue to divide (and thereby weaken) the
anti-Romney conservatives. Romney's much greater financial and organizational
resources will likely prevail in the big primaries to come, as they did in
Florida.
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