Wait but you... and your ridiculously long speech... and the fact that you helped shut down these memorials in the first place...? Oh, the irony.
I had to wonder. Have some Tea Partiers left their party yet?
(Source: Gallup)
Hmm... so it seems like people are ditching the party. Poor Tea Party.
Despite the decline in the number of Tea Partiers, Cruz actually won the Values Voter Summit straw poll (sponsored by the Family Research Council Action) on Friday with 42% of the vote. Paul Ryan (Romney's VP candidate in 2012) finished with less than 5% of the vote. The Family Research Council Action president says that this straw poll "reveals what conservative, Republican-leaning voters are looking for in a potential candidate." It's meant to be an early predictor for the Republican choice for president. This Texas senator seems to be one of the leading Republican presidential candidates for the 2016 election.
We've recently just covered in class why third parties, sooner or later, generally fail. Recent events have obviously further tarnished the Tea Party's image. Do you think the Tea Party is about to end? What can Tea Party leaders possibly do to prevent a die-off? Which party (Republican or Democrat) do you think is absorbing the ex-members of the Tea Party and why? Do you think Cruz has a chance to be the leading Republican presidential candidate in 2016, or is his sudden rise going to be countered by a sudden fall?
9 comments:
Because Ted Cruz was born in
Canada, he is unable to run for president of the United States. Hypothetically if he could run for president I do not think he would give the republicans the best chance of winning the presidency. I believe some of his actions, the Green Eggs and Ham filibuster, may be a turn off to some undecided voters.
One of the interesting aspects of the Gallup poll shown is that while significantly fewer Republicans support the Tea Party now than in 2010,there is virtually no change in the percentage of Republicans who truly oppose the Tea Party. Now, the largest percentage of Republicans just have no opinion on it. Because of the decline in support, I don't believe the Tea Party can survive forever, especially because of its more radical views. However, I don't think it will die out soon, because there isn't a large percentage of people against it, most people just don't care about it.
The effect we see in the Republican Party seems to have resulted from a purge of moderate Republicans by Tea Party activists. With ultra conservative Republicans such as Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, moderate Republicans are turning away from the party. An NBC-News and Wall Street Journal poll just last week revealed that only 24% of Americans held favorable views of the Republican Party and only 21% had favorable impressions of the Tea Party. The shutdown has even left longtime business allies of the party in dismay. I think that one of two things will occur. The Republican Party will become a hyper-conservative party comprised of Tea Party supporters and eventually die off as a third party with a new party arising made up of the moderate conservatives that desert the Republicans, or the Republican party will proceed to purge itself of Tea Party conservatives and return to more moderate roots. Either way, I don't see either party wanting to absorb Tea Party constituents any time soon.
The National Journal just published two interesting (opinionated) pieces on Ted Cruz (see links below). One asserts that “Ted Cruz is finished,” while the other claims “Ted Cruz is just getting started.” The “Ted Cruz is finished” piece, written by Beth Reinhard, argues that his all-or-nothing tactics make him unpopular with the masses. On the other hand, Alex Roarty argues in the opposing piece that this all-or-nothing ideology is one of his strengths; if moderate candidates McCain and Romney lost in 2008 and 2012, respectively, perhaps Cruz is the person the GOP needs leading the party. He obviously has a strategy different from those if his opponents, but even if he was eligible to run for president, I would not support him. That is one of my major criticisms of the Republican Party; I found Rick Santorum to be extremely frustrating to listen to during primary debates. While Cruz is different from Santorum in many ways, I don’t think that the Republican Party is doing itself a justice by lifting an extremist candidate for the presidency.
Those links I brilliantly promised to include below:
"Ted Cruz is finished" - http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/ted-cruz-is-finished-20131017
"Ted Cruz is just getting started" - http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/ted-cruz-is-just-getting-started-20131017
I honestly just think Ted Cruz should stop talking. Like, seriously, Ted Cruz....SHUT UP. Ted Cruz is like the weird quiet girl that sits in the corner, and then every time he opens his mouth, he creates drama and disease and government shut downs...he needs a vasectomy of the throat. Ahh, peace and quiet. #thedream
The difference in the dates of these two polls is almost two years... it'd be fallacious to assert Tea Partiers are "ditching" their party because of the shutdown debacle based on this evidence alone.
The data does however show a greater overall trend away from the Tea Party; this could simply be described by the movement losing momentum, but I don't see the fluctuation as significant enough to point to any major trends; or rather, it doesn't indicate what will happen to Tea Party support in the next year or so.
Also, while I personally am no fan of the Tea Party's platform, I think it is important that we remain respectful on this particular blog. Your post is very condescending, and I worry how any Tea Party supporters in our class will feel about their opinions being disregarded simply because they affiliate with a certain party. Disagree with their opinions, sure. But don't disregard them.
I agree with Chris, that looking at these polls, the Tea party will most likely collapse and its supporters will fall under the Republican Party. If we look back at what we learned in class, this is exactly what happens to 3rd parties. But, because the Republican party has a majority of very moderate conservative, the Tea party-consisting of extreme conservatives- may refuse to join forces with moderates and continue their efforts as a 3rd party. It is significant that the plurality in this poll shows that most people do not have opposing views against the Tea Party. Because of this, it makes the Tea party easier as a 3rd party not to die out, and be consumed by the 2 major parties.
Frankly, I'm pretty happy that the Tea Party is finally dying out. I believe that if the Tea Party really is finished, the Republicans will probably absorb its ex-members because they have basically been in opposition to the Democrats since day one. They are not exactly fans of President Obama either, so they will most likely flock to the party that shares their opposition to his policies, meaning the Republicans. As for whether or not Ted Cruz could possibly be the leading Republican presidential candidate in 2016, I doubt that his time in the spotlight will guarantee him such a position. Besides, what Republican voters will remember is that Ted Cruz was a major player when the Republicans failed to kill Obamacare. The fact that he was in the spotlight, supposedly leading the charge when the Republicans failed to accomplish one of their major goals will be very bad for Cruz's bid for the presidency.
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