Tea Partiers and Their Republican Brothers

I said it at the beginning of the last election and I will say it again - the Tea Party is hurting the Republicans and they need to distance themselves as quickly as possible as they can from their conservative minded brothers.

There was plenty of anger with the Democrats during the 2010 congressional elections to easily push the Republicans into full control of both the House and Senate. But the Tea Partiers grabbed hold of that anger and ran away with control of key nominations for the Republicans. They like to pat themselves on the back and say that they were the driving force for Republican wins in the last election. While they did raise money and campaign for the Republican party, in the end the Republicans could have done better on their own. Had the Tea Party movement not occurred, the Republicans would have done just fine. Tea Party candidates ultimately ended up losing key races. Here are a few examples of how the Tea Party hurt the Republican Party:

Case 1: Sharon Angle. Harry Reid is the poster child for the "progressive movement" in the Senate. With the outrage that swept the country he was possibly the easiest candidate to topple. Unfortunately, Sharon Angle stepped in and ran a terrible campaign. She refused to talk to the media for months and had extreme views of Social Security, etc. At the end of the day, the race became a worse of two evils: either the evil politician or the radical Tea Party candidate. A moderate Republican would have easily walked away with the election. Instead, the seat goes to the Democrats.

Case 2: Ken Buck. See above but replace "Harry Reid" with "Michael Bennet". He was much less extreme, but at the end of the day: Hand the Colorado Senate seat back to the Democrats.

Case 3: Christine O'Donnell. I consider myself unelectable. There is the lack of experience, the wild, radical ideas, the lack of tact in most situations - but I also know enough not to try to run for office. Surprisingly, I actually agree with a lot of what she said. My social views (the ones she was most violently attacked for) are in many cases right in line with hers. The difference is that I know I'm not electable and leave that to the people who are instead of ruining it for any party. Christine O'Donnell will likely take her witchcraft to Fox "News" just like all the other failed crazies. Best of luck to her. Hand the Senate majority back to the Democrats.

Politics is about winning. The Republicans know that and they were poised to walk away with a lot more than they ended up taking away. They should be incensed with the Tea Party and treat them as the saboteurs that they are.

My final case is that of Sarah Pallin. I don't specifically blame her for ruining the 2008 election for the Republicans because, after all, John McCain chose her as a running mate. She did however, cost him the election. By the end of the 2008 election it was clear that the economy was the most important issue of the campaign. Had John McCain had the foresight to choose a candidate who had more experience in the private sector or a more successful track record of managing an economy (ala Mitt Romney), he likely would have managed to beat President Obama. He didn't and he, and the Republican base, have no one to blame but whomever decided Sarah Pallin was a good running mate.

We can blame much of the losses in 2010 on Mrs Pallin. She pushed her influence and money into campaigns that shouldn't have been fought. She has made a name for herself among every American and has become as hated a political figure as we have had in a long time. In the end she is also unelectable, but given her track record she and her supporters don't seem to understand what that means. Hopefully, she will save the Republican party the embarrassment and frustration of her running for President in 2012. The Republicans need to focus on finding a great middle-of-the-road candidate. Someone with real, solid experience who can tap into the growing frustration but also reach across political lines and court the independents in the middle. Without that appeal, Mr. Obama runs away with another election.

The Republicans still have time to distance themselves and take back control of their party. This must be a very public fight and struggle for control of their party. People need to see that they are conservative, but not radical. Only then will independents that they need be likely to vote for them again.

Politicians and Leadership

False or hallow promises don't help anyone. There was a time when political leadership meant inspiring people, now it is just scaring everyone into believing something catastrophic is going to happen and when it does, the message is always "it was someone else's fault". True leadership is inspiring people to stop thinking of themselves and work for a greater common good. I believe that is why leaders like Ronald Reagan and Barak Obama are popular. They didn't try to frighten people into doing things. They inspired them to do things that were sometimes painful and made individuals look beyond themselves to see a better America and a better place.

We are currently in a place where "pain" will be required for us to move forward as a country. In the last election there were all kinds of crazy promises about reducing taxes and saving the people's money. This is so short sided in my mind. How can we maintain low taxes while purporting to reduce the debt without cutting government oversight programs and government jobs? Not a soul said a word about cutting the defense budget.

These vague and hollow promises are trickery on the part of politicians. We should reject them as such and work as a cooperative group to create REAL solutions to fiscal responsibility on a national scale.

Putting this somewhere makes me feel better

I learned something very important while working on my undergraduate degree: everyone thinks they know politics. This is the two edged sword of latter-day American politics. Each individual has equal weight in voting. Each individual is allowed to formulate and propagate their own political conclusions.

Unfortunately, this creates the view that everyone's opinions are correct. No one will ever admit they don't know what they are talking about when it comes to politics. Everyone is an expert in their own mind. They could have failed out of high school, have no grasp of economics or the legal implications of politics, but their vote counts equally with the most educated, rational, and involved individual in the USA.

This frustrates me to no end. My career choice while a late teen was politics. I'd followed the news daily since I was 12. Peter Jennings was my hero as a teen. In Jr High I was voted most likely to become President of the USA by my teachers. I knew what was going on in the world and knew why things were happening. As I got older and more educated I realized that Americans are ignorant. They are opinionated, obstinate, easily manipulated, and worst of all they are uninformed.

Unfortunately, I came to the conclusion that any attempt to make the world a better place through politics was a losing battle. At 22 I gave up my dream and went and got a Master's Degree in International Business. This also ended up being an excellent education in economics and politics - creating a more informed, more opinionated, and more frustrated me.

Typically I shy away from political discussions. The repeated sound bites from the latest talk radio commentator have no interest to me. I want facts. Numbers, projections, real situations. Most of what I hear now is borderline propaganda. But typically I don't get that from people. I love talking to experts, people in the know. People on the front lines of issues.

This is my venting place. This is the place where I put all of those things that I want to say that everyone else just doesn't seem to wrap their heads around. This is my way of expressing my frustrations without alienating my family and friends. If you stumble upon this, enjoy.