Tea Party vs. GOP: The showdown

That said, more interesting than what happens at the convention this week
will be what happens in the coming months as we see the Tea
Parties and the Republican Party build a successful relationship
before this fall’s midterm elections. Or not.
 
With a byline out of Honolulu last weekend, a story in The Washington
Post about how the Republican Party is
attempting to harness Tea Party anger, woo the activists and merge their goals
made me laugh so hard I thought I would share it with anyone outside of D.C.
who may have missed it.
 
Warning to Tea Partiers: This is NOT a criticism of the Tea Party. Drink some
tea and try not to bombard me with angry e-mails before reading below. In the
story, Philip
Rucker describes many highlights from the winter retreat the Republican
National Committee held in Hawaii. It was a controversial choice of location —
some attendees felt sheepish about basking in the balmy ocean breezes during an
economic crisis. But RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who was seen sporting a
lei and wearing the resort-uniform of the short-sleeved shirt even while
conducting business, was unbowed.
 
Steele’s inspiration to the gathered GOPers is worth quoting: “The
Democrats are daring the American people to stop them. They are playing with
fire, and they are going to get burned. And we are going to help burn
them,” Steele said, apparently to loud applause. Steele was just getting
started, and seeing an opportunity to defend his Hawaii choice, thundered:
“We began in the back yard of President Obama, where he was born. We will
end the year in Illinois taking his Senate seat … today, the old map is being
thrown out. We’re going to drop it in the Pacific Ocean on our way home.”
 
Steele goes out of his way to praise the Tea Party movement and claims he is a
“grass roots-er,” and a Tea Partier himself. But not all Republicans
are so enthusiastic. In the Post
piece Katon Dawson of South Carolina, whose dreams of becoming RNC chairman
himself last year were dashed by his membership in a
whites-only country club, said, “The only difference between us and
those protesters is we dress a little bit better.” Ouch.
 
The irony continues. The very un-Hawaiian Dick Armey, who with
his FreedomWorks group has become a de facto Tea Party leader, was
dispatched, according to this report, as some sort of “envoy” to make
peace between the factions of Tea and GOP. He said the Republican Party
has to earn the support of the Tea Party after years of bad behavior, to prove
it has “rehabilitated.” Armey, who served for years in the House of
Representatives and ultimately as majority leader, apparently has left the GOP. As he stated, “The Republican Party is on probation with us. We
still have our hurt and our disappointments for their malfeasance of years not
too recent, but we know they are capable of representing the broad center of
American politics and political values which is freedom and fiscal
responsibility.” Guess that malfeasance didn’t happen under Armey’s tenure.
 
Oh, the hurt. Can this be repaired by November?
 

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