Spokane7
55°Quick links: NCAA tournament • Gonzaga hoops • Easter photo contest • Washington Legislature • Idaho Legislature
Running under the Tea Party brand may be better in congressional races than being a 
Republican. In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Another 22% are undecided. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, the Tea Party comes out on top. Thirty-three percent (33%) prefer the Tea Party candidate, and 30% are undecided. Twenty-five percent (25%) would vote for a Democrat, and just 12% prefer the GOP. Among Republican voters, 39% say they’d vote for the GOP candidate, but 33% favor the Tea Party option/Rasmussen Reports. More here.
Question: Do you see the conservative Tea Party movement as a bigger threat to Republicans or Democrats?
D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99201
P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210
Main switchboard: (509) 459-5000 • (800) 338-8801
Newsroom: (509) 459-5400 • (800) 789-0029
Customer service: (800) 338-8801
© Copyright 2010, The Spokesman-Review
nic on December 07 at 8:38 a.m.
The Rs.
Flag as inappropriate
RedMan on December 07 at 9:00 a.m.
Tea Party is to R's as Move on is to D's
Flag as inappropriate
Charlie on December 07 at 9:24 a.m.
Both parties.
Flag as inappropriate
Smacky on December 07 at 9:33 a.m.
My vote is that they're a bigger threat to intelligent discussion than anything else…
Flag as inappropriate
Joker on December 07 at 10:43 a.m.
I think they're a big threat to the Dems cause they stir up anger and hate at the national level. In Idaho, the Reps rule the roost, so these tea parties are just group think.
I wonder what the Dems would call their shindigs if they could get more than 20 of themselves in a room, maybe something like the Blue Raiders, or Demcrusaders. Everytime I watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and they go to the Island of Misfit Toys, I think of the Democratics here.
Flag as inappropriate
moscow_minidoka on December 07 at 11:11 a.m.
It's a Rasmussen Poll, so it's barely worth talking about.
However, if the Teabag Party gets any traction, it'll *help* both the Republicans and the Democrats in the long run. Republicans can jettison the wingnuts and go back to being a sensible and intelligent political party, and perhaps become more attractive to those who left the GOP due to the religious dogmatism that's crept into the party. Fiscally conservative independents and Dems *might* be interested in returning if the Religious Right's power over the GOP is diluted and the party returns to its more secular roots.
On the other hand, the Dems will be the big winners if the Teabag Party actually runs people for office in the near term. Think Ross Perot - he split the right, allowing Clinton to win. It would be the same effect with the Teabags on the ballot.
I do think that the Teabaggers should adopt a more truthful name, however, and just list themselves as the Sore Loser Party.
Flag as inappropriate
IdoDave on December 07 at 4:53 p.m.
The teabaggers will hurt responsible, caring leaders of both parties. These folks are anti-tax,anti-government no matter who it hurts. The conservatives created this monster, but it is capable of eating us all. Before it is over, I predict they will bring violence and disorder.
Flag as inappropriate
richard on December 07 at 8:38 p.m.
… “violence and disorder,” huh? You mean like violence and disorder that follows where Code Pink goes? Or violence and disorder where ANSWER goes?
You are “picking up” on the well-placed code words appearing in the front-page article sunday about the “Rising Aanger.”
It truly is frightening how much influence media can have on the perceptions of people. When people on the right “organize” for politicfal reasons … they must be … “militia,” “wing-nuts,” even “racist' (oh excuse me, the writer of that article quoted someone saying they weren't racist … !!! as if she was compelled to ask and answer the question in the first place.
But when the left organizes for political reasons they are “concerned Americans.” You don't see front page articles naming the leftists who attended a MoveOn organizing meeting! And it woundn't say anything about the “anger” - as if anger in politics is anything new or that it is something people should fear.
IdoDave. Do leftists ever bring violence with them?
Flag as inappropriate
Phaedrus on December 07 at 8:54 p.m.
From the Tea Party of North Idaho website:
“The Tea Party Movement erupted spontaneously when many thousands of patriots across the nation joined together …”
ROTFLMAO!
Flag as inappropriate
Lizard_People on December 08 at 12:32 a.m.
I used to identify with the Tea Partiers. After all, I'm a part of the Alternative Right, and the tea party folks seem to be somewhat like us, in that now that a Democrat is in power, suddenly they also love liberty and the constitution. HA!!!
It's tempting to find common cause with them, to sit in on their meetings and make nice, but I can't hold my nose that long, and I can't seem to avoid using the phrase “illegal wars” long enough to befriend them. It feels greasy at any rate. I'm not sure I want to befriend people who think everything would be okay if only McCain would have been elected. Or Bill Sali for that matter.
It sure seems like the Tea Parties have been co-opted by the same old bunch that marginalized Ron Paulers during the 2008 campaign.
So, I guess the name of the game is still education. But instead of education by pointing out the similarities, I think pointing out the differences is the way to go. “We're not like you. We never supported Bush. We didn't want McCain.”
One positive trend I see is the growing use of the term “Alternative Right”. It sounds less like in-group jargon than “Paleocon”.
Is there a political way forward for the Alternative Right at all? I don't think so, but there are elections coming up, you know. Some people seem to think Ron Paul might run again in 2012. It's possible. We have other options, actually, and it is a good idea to show America that we are more than a cult of personality, or a “one trick pony”. Gary Johnson seems worthy of support. We'd better get started. And just to cut down on the confusion, let's cleave the Palinite Tea Partiers from the “Alternative Right” right now, before they break our hearts down the road.
Flag as inappropriate
IdoDave on December 08 at 3:28 p.m.
I'm not convinced. The Teabaggers have shouted down any attempt at a moderate approach. All goverment is evil and all taxes unecessary in their point of view. I predict that someone among them will attempt an act of assasination against somebody in government and sooner rather than later. They are that attached to the precious right to bear arms. The Tea Party movement has nothing to do with patriotism. It has everything to do with self-centered greed and a rejection of the concept of sacrifice for the common good.
Flag as inappropriate