Tea Party vs. GOP thread 2014

[Snowboarder_Bo]

The AP ran a story today on how this is once again going to be a spectacularly incendiary primary season, what with Tea Party candidates trying to oust more moderate GOP candidates all across the country:[

Tuesday marked the beginning of the political primary season in earnest, and over the next several months Republicans will hold more contests featuring incumbents or other establishment figures against tea party challengers. Some of the races are in states where simply the name on the ballot in the fall might mean the difference between victory and defeat this fall, such as Alaska, Georgia, Iowa and Kentucky. Republican victories seem secure to varying degrees in some other states, including Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma and South Carolina.

](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PRIMARY_RDP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-06-15-41-48)
The races here in Nevada won’t really shape up until late June or early July, but I already know to keep an eye on the Lt. Gov. race which features candidate Sue “Chicken Swapper” Lowden.

Anyone else got any potentially entertaining TP vs. GOP races to watch?

[Oakminster]

There’s a Tea Party primary challenge in my state that has already turned nasty. Word on the street is that the Republican incumbent is in trouble, and may not survive the primary. IF that happens, it may help a professional acquaintance of mine who is running unopposed for the Dem nomination. It would take a lot to put a Dem in the Senate from this state, but I’m going to do what little I can to help him in the election.

[BrainGlutton]

According to this commentator:

It’s just not a very exciting primary season. And even though the “establishment” candidates may win, that shouldn’t be considered a victory for them over the Tea Party. The only reason they will win is because they tacked hard to the Tea Party’s positions and had more money. The lines have been blurred, and we’re not going to be looking at a kinder, gentler GOP afterwards.

[DigitalC]

They always had the Tea Party positions, the difference is the tea party candidates actually believe them and want to pass them while the establishment goes “wow no, that’s freaking retarded” once they get elected.

[racepug]

Where I live so-called “Tea Partiers” haven’t taken hold the way they have in some other states but one can never be too careful. I can’t do much about “Tea Party” candidates running in other states (or even in other parts of my state) but I’ll be hoping they do as poorly as possible - for what that’s worth.

[adaher]

The Tea Party is certainly not doing as well as they did in 2010 or 2012, but they still have strength. I think what’s going on is partly that the mainstream of the party and the Tea Party aren’t as far apart as they used to be. The only really moderate candidate challenger is Scott Brown(who is down by only 6 in the latest poll, BTW). All the rest, whether Tea Party or establishment, is a solid conservative. So there’s nothing to disagree about except methods. And I really think the establishment has won that particular argument: pure refusal to compromise is bad tactics. Imagine how well the GOP would be doing right now if they’d acted like adults for the last five years.

[BrainGlutton]

According to this commentator, Thom Tillis, Republican NC House Speaker who is challenging Kay Hagan for the U.S. Senate, despite having defeated several “Tea Party” challengers in Tuesday’s primary, is really a Tea Partier in his politics.

Far from having lost, the Tea Party has gotten most of what it wanted in Tillis. The House speaker is a leader of the movement to repeal most of the 20th century in North Carolina. He’s a tax-slashing, voter ID-backing, anti-choice extremist who opposes a federal minimum wage. Just to make clear Tillis is no threat to Tea Party ideology, Rand Paul endorsed him before the final votes were counted Tuesday night.

There was little daylight between Tillis and the “official” Tea Party candidate, Greg Brannon. During the campaign, Tillis bragged about leading the charge to refuse expanded Medicaid funding and said he opposed the congressional deal that averted a debt default last October. A fervent backer of personhood legislation, he told a North Carolina paper that he agreed with Brannon that states have the power to ban contraception (back in 1967, you’ll recall, the Supreme Court disagreed.) He presided over a budget that cut the state’s education budget by half a billion dollars, eliminated North Carolina’s earned income tax credit and raised taxes on 80 percent of state residents while slashing top rates.

<snip>

All that distinguishes Tillis from his far-right opponents is a little bit more polish. As the New York Times’ David Firestone writes in “There Are No Mainstream Republicans Left in North Carolina,” lazy pundits are proclaiming that the “establishment” won in North Carolina “only because they have redefined the term ‘Republican establishment’ to include adamant adherents of a far-right ideology.”

[Left_Hand_of_Dorkness]

Tillis is pretty far to the right. My understanding is that he’s an ALEC Republican. I plan to campaign against him this summer, talking specifically about my experiences as a teacher in NC under mostly Republican rule. Most parents I know are pretty unhappy with the direction education is going, and I want to make the other parents aware of some things they may not know about.

Tillis is terrible.

[adaher]

Like I said, the difference is primarily in tactics. Although the commentator makes a really bad argument. Before the Tea Party, most Republicans were tax cutters, supported voter ID, pro-life, and opposed the minimum wage.

Tillis actually knows how to work with Democrats, as he proved by overriding vetoes by Bev Perdue, something that could never have happened if he couldn’t work with the other side.

[adaher]

@Left_Hand_of_Dorkness

Tillis is pretty far to the right. My understanding is that he’s an ALEC Republican. I plan to campaign against him this summer, talking specifically about my experiences as a teacher in NC under mostly Republican rule. Most parents I know are pretty unhappy with the direction education is going, and I want to make the other parents aware of some things they may not know about.

Tillis is terrible.

At least his views are closer to that of the median North Carolinian voter than Kay Hagan, who is simply a rubber stamp for the President and Harry Reid.

[iiandyiiii]

@adaher

At least his views are closer to that of the median North Carolinian voter than Kay Hagan, who is simply a rubber stamp for the President and Harry Reid.

Considering how closely contested NC was in both '08 and '12, I doubt this can be said with much confidence at all.

[adaher]

That was Barack Obama. When he’s not on the ballot, North Carolina is a pretty red place.

[Left_Hand_of_Dorkness]

@adaher

At least his views are closer to that of the median North Carolinian voter than Kay Hagan, who is simply a rubber stamp for the President and Harry Reid.

Given the deep unpopularity of our current governor and state legislature, and the polls that show how their specific accomplishments are loathed by NC voters, and the polls that show Hagan’s a bit ahead of Tillis, what’s your evidence for this claim?

(eta: some poll numbers to look at)

[adaher]

My evidence is that NC is a conservative state. Kay Hagan talks a certain way in NC, votes a different way in DC. That’s why she’ll lose.

As for the polls, an incumbent leading a challenger by 0.8 in the poll averages is not a “lead” in the sense that it means a damn thing on election day. Opinions about incumbents tend to be pretty fixed. Polling under 45% is “toast” territory.

As for the voters hating the accomplishments of the Republican legislature, they’ll have the chance to express that displeasure in November. Let’s find out what happens.

[Chronos]

That was Barack Obama. When he’s not on the ballot, North Carolina is a pretty red place.

And the President with whom Hagan is agreeing is…?

[BrainGlutton]

@adaher

My evidence is that NC is a conservative state. Kay Hagan talks a certain way in NC, votes a different way in DC. That’s why she’ll lose.

Then how did she win, before, in the same state?

[adaher]

It was a really bad year for Republicans, plus Obama was on top of the ticket. The beauty of our system is that every other election, a Senator must win on their own, without riding someone’s coattails.

Chronos, you’ll recall that Obama lost NC in 2012. Hagan has to appeal to a state that preferred Romney, and also ushered in a dominant Republican government in 2012. Tough job.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@Oakminster

There’s a Tea Party primary challenge in my state that has already turned nasty. Word on the street is that the Republican incumbent is in trouble, and may not survive the primary. IF that happens, it may help a professional acquaintance of mine who is running unopposed for the Dem nomination. It would take a lot to put a Dem in the Senate from this state, but I’m going to do what little I can to help him in the election.

Are you supporting your acquaintance because you like him personally, because you agree with his policy positions, or because the GOP options are awful?

[Oakminster]

@Really_Not_All_That_Bright

Are you supporting your acquaintance because you like him personally, because you agree with his policy positions, or because the GOP options are awful?

A little bit of all three. He’s an honorable man that has served well in other offices. His policy positions are generally acceptable on most issues. The Tea Party challenger is an extremist asshole.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

Fair enough. Would you still support him if the tp guy isn’t the GOP nominee?