GOP Dumps On Tea Party, Right-Blogs

Erick Erickson blogged this Washington Post item last night. His post contains an anecdote about a Tea Party favorite GOP politician mocking Tea Partiers after attending a TP rally. That happened later, while sitting in the Capitol Club. I've had off the record conversations on the topic with Hill Republicans. It's not surprising to hear one say something akin to, well, you know those bloggers, they're not very bright people, a bit crazy, with too much time on their hands. Then they'll catch themselves and say, present company excluded, of course.

In a recent conversation with a GOP new media type, I learned that new media to the GOP simply means taking the same old top down messaging and creating it on websites, or for digital distribution. With some few exceptions, Todd Herman at the RNC being one, the establishment GOP has no real conception of new media as bloggers understand it. Nor do they have much desire to engage with it, beyond the way they currently engage with the establishment media. Here's the press release, or talking point. That's all we got.

That doesn't serve them well, as questions from activist bloggers are actually quite different than ones usually coming from the press.

If the Tea Party and blogs continue to become increasingly powerful, this will begin to change. Electing grassroots candidates will certainly help. But it won't be because the GOP establishment wants it to change. Why should they, when their SOP is message control? Unfortunately for them, you cannot control the message in the era of new media. For now, this disconnect is going to breed plenty of problems for the Right and Republicans as we go forward.

So who wants to join Rand Paul's "tea-party" caucus?

"I don't know about that," Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) replied with a nervous laugh. "I'm not sure I should be participating in this story."

Former Senate majority leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), now a D.C. lobbyist, warned that a robust bloc of rabble-rousers spells further Senate dysfunction. "We don't need a lot of Jim DeMint disciples," Lott said in an interview. "As soon as they get here, we need to co-opt them." But Lott said he's not expecting a tea-party sweep. "I still have faith in the visceral judgment of the American people," he said.

Comments

[Reaganite Republican]

Another reason for a President Palin, imho

She dealt with the same ossified GOP fossils in Alaska... and
sent 'em packing

[Gary Ogletree]

Something is happening here, and you don't know what it is, do you, Mr. Beltway GOP?

[Helen Simon]

They ain't seen nothin' yet!

[RickS]

What the...? It's a little frightening to me that at this point, with so much going for us, the GOP establishment can be this clueless. Whoever has hired Trent Lott as a lobbyist would do well to fire his ass ASAP. That guy has no idea what he's doing.

[dissident]

They are talking real stuff. How are they supposed to feel when a clown upsets their favorite in a primary, going off about "second amendment remedies"?

[Anna Tarkov]

While I don't disagree that the GOP establishment is out of touch with new media and the like, message control will always be the job of every politico or political figure. If that now includes bloggers, then that means bloggers are, as you noted, being treated exactly the same way as the MSM. Instead of that, how would you prefer bloggers to be treated by political insiders? I assume you have some utopian ideal in mind. What would it look like?

[TL Davis]

We are experiencing the same dichotomy in Colorado over the governor's race. Scott McInnis, a former U.S. Representative has been called on accepting $300,000 for a series of essays which he did not write and was actually plagarized from someone who is now sitting on the Colorado Supreme Court. If he did not write it, how is it plagarism? Well, because he claimed to have written the articles wherein the plagarized material was found.

So, now the frontrunner is doomed and the only candidate left is a Tea Party endorsed candidate whom the whole GOP establishment has been blasting as unqualified, inexperienced and unable to win. To keep from supporting the Tea Party candidate, apparently they will let the election go to the Democrat. I guess it's better to keep all the Big Government types (regardless of party) in power no matter what, eh?

[Dan Riehl]

"I assume you have some utopian ideal in mind."

Why suggest I'm a utopianist? I find it insulting, frankly. I am a realist, or pragmatist. Blogging activist questions come from a perspective different from the media's. They have a clearly stated point of view they're coming from - ie the Right. We also come with an agenda, as far as politics. SO, we want more of a mini-debate, than a quote from the same news release that raised questions in the first place. But you will never get that from a comms person, whose job is to not go off-script.

Ultimately, there needs to be more engagement between the activists and the political class. It's a difficult thing to have logistically, I get that. But with our voices rising, it is going to be had, whether they like it, or not. However, the current lack of respect between the two sides only tends to inflame that debate out here from our perspective.

The current political class wants to talk at the people, they do not much genuinely want to hear from them. They are convinced they can erive all the best answers from inside the echo chamber of DC. The American people are increasingly not buying it.

[4rc]

the establishment gop read liberal newspaper and watch liberal cable news, thats why they could never have the guts to fight

[X11B1P]

Dan, sometime I feel as though we are like the Spartans standing at the Hot Gates -we have our own at our backs silently and begrudgingly hoping that we win for no other reason than if we are victorious it saves them and allows them continue on, while they openly hamper our advance for personal political reasons. And to our front we stand facing a torrential onslaught of the MSM, every single Liberal organization, not to mention every elected official with D next to their name. What is so bad or wrong with wanting limited Government, fiscal responsibility from DC and our State Capitals and an adherence to the notion at every level of Government that we can solve our own individual problems through liberty and that the Constitution is a collar on government, not a vector for use to continue to squash our freedom? What happened – I feel as though I inherited someone’s bullshit from somewhere and now the conductors who feel asleep at the switch are pissed off that we woke them up because we are heading towards a bridge that is out. I guess I am tired of “RACISTS” like Trent Lott and his buddies who at one time I looked at as a Maginot line against the advance of socialism now turning out to be as much of the problem as Obama.

[Brooklyn]

Again we are dealing with RUMORS via the Washington Post.

It seems easy, all too easy to divide Conservatives. And I know first hand, Democrats know the buttons to push.

I wish to remind all, Democrats bragged to me about pretending to be Libertarian and Conservative after 2004, entering various message boards, leaving comments on blogs, etc., with messages of outrage about various push button issues to debase the GOP - Bush Administration, including "spending".

I would absolutely agree with Mr. Riehl, that many ELECTED Republicans in various Offices will be very cautious about embracing any Tea Party association formally. That is not because they don't share the Tea Party mantra of less government, lower taxation, etc., but because the once admirable Protest Movement is 'uncertain'.

If we are objective about it, figures like Rand Paul are suspect. So is those leading the Tea Party Express. They provide 'uncertainty', and can be as volatile as a positive.

But the Fashion which pits the GOP as the 'enemy' is only going to prove utterly counter productive again. It screams of populism, bashing so called 'elites' for all.

It isn't attractive and will absolutely not grow a Movement to invite all to come Our way, to embrace sound policy.

We simply cannot offer a wide brush to stereotype all, and continue to debase Our own Interests. It is a losing strategy, and has been enabling the very worst.

[Anna Tarkov]

I didn't mean "utopian" as an insult, but it's interesting that you viewed it as such.

Anyway... now I see what sort of relationship you want bloggers to have with those working in politics. As for it being difficult logistically, I don't know if that't the case. After all, couldn't everyone just have a blogger/new media relations liaison-type person on staff? No, I think the problem is that there is little belief on the part of the "political class" that such a relationship could be beneficial to them. I do think that this is mostly untrue. But if you think about it from that comms person's perspective, it's not 100% untrue. Here's a person whose job is to control and disseminate a message. When they deal with journalists, they understand that they are dealing with professionals who have ethical standards under which they operate. Bloggers have no such set standards. This is not to suggest that bloggers are unethical. I am pro-blogger. But from the comms person's point of view, they don't know what to expect. This may seem ironic to you since, like you said, activist bloggers have a set point of you that they make public. Thus it seems that there should be less of a concern in dealing with them, from the comms person's perspective. But you and I both know that there is a world of opinion on both the left and right and it can be difficult to ascertain what exactly a blogger believes. It can also be difficult to predict what they will view as a compliment or a slight. Lest you incur their wrath, we both know what can happen. That and other things are what's causing the "lack of respect between the two sides" that you cite.

Furthermore, reporters get the same press releases that bloggers do. But why are they able to extract answers and information that bloggers cannot? Precisely because they are paid professionals who have the time to do so and FOIA lawyers at the ready if need be. I hate to trot out the journalists vs. bloggers meme, but this is what's at the root of this discussion. You just can't have it both ways.

[Anna Tarkov]

Ooops, I meant "a set point of view," not "a set point of you."

[LLJ]

Forget new media they suck at their current jobs which is why they got their butts kicked in the primaries.

Also what is so hard about the NRSC coaching candidates to respond to "Would you join a 'tea party' caucus?" with something like "I'd be happy to join any caucus devoted to 'term limits, a balanced-budget amendment and having bills point to where they are enumerated in the Constitution' as would the majority of Americans."

Only a small number of Obama Democrats would disagree with those proposals but such a response would require some spine in challenging the press narrative and an actual belief in small government.

[Dan Riehl]

Anna - I disagree that most of the answers are in the press releases. The fact is, they often raise many questions for activist bloggers. As in, why are you spending this money on that, or allowing this other thing as a part of the bill. The establishment does not want to answer those questions at the level of detail, or in honest debate the activist blogger wants.

Yes, there are loose cannons and even crazed bloggers. But I have dealt with a number of comms folks and never acted with anything other than a professional set of ethics. Still, they are prohibited from engaging because they really can't talk at that level of exchange. They get talking points and that's all they are allowed to present.

True, it takes time to build more trust between bloggers and pols. But how can you build trust if the pols won't even engage. Instead, they hire a staffer to man their Twitter feed. What a load of bunk.

[Pasadena Phil]

It's just amazing that after all that has happened to this GOP under its current leadership, they still don't get it. (Didn't the WHIGS have this problem? They ended up getting dismantled state by state and they never got it. Sound familiar?)

Way, way back in 2006 on Townhall.com (RINO Central), Republican new media guru Patrick Ruffini ("Politics is a contact sport. Get a helmet.") wrote a blog post expressing his frustration at the GOP establishment for always paying consultants and pollsters to figure out what people think when they could find out for free at conservative blogs. It's beyond saying that they don't care. They hate us and resent us. And they aren't finding it funny anymore.

Apparently, they have chosen to cruise passively into the November elections for fear of saying something stupid that would reveal that they haven't learned a think while picking weeds in that distant meadow for the past four years. But they have no reason to believe that we Tea Partiers have forgotten who we were fighting before the Dems got in.

It is essential that McCain lose on August 24. Then we can worry about the rest.

[Pasadena Phil]

The late Dean Barnett also participated in that Ruffini discussion. It was very enlightening.

[X11B1P]

"Instead, they hire a staffer to man their Twitter feed. What a load of bunk."

They also hire a 22 year old staffer to tell them how to vote on a bill because they can't be bothered to read it - what do you expect - an actual politician that gives a damn (there are some, they are made fun of and looked at as being simple drones or disciples of Jim DeMint)?

[Pasadena Phil]

Speaking of Republicans stuck to talking points, isn't that all we are getting from Palin and Bachmann (human bumper sticker)? Palin has mostly endorsed the same old establishment Republicans (including the devil himself McCain as her first official act jumping back into the fray) and all of Bachmann's ploys seem to involve listening to Boehner or Cantor or some other RINO make speeches.

Let's not get excited about the next generation until we first purge the party of the Gangs of McCain. First things first. Palin is NOT the future of the GOP I want to see.

[Paul_In_Houston]

42 years ago, George Wallace had this to say about the two parties...
"There's not a dime's worth of difference between them!"

I have to ask this of the GOP leadership...
G*D D*MN IT!!! Are you absolutely determined to prove him right?!!!"
-

[Pasadena Phil]

I can't emphasize enough how critical today until November is. As we sit here, the GOP is being besieged to run a campaign on a specific platform of principles and issues. But the GOP elites are adamantly going to again opt to run on the platform that the Dems suck and they aren't Dems. I believe that they are now coming to realize that "victory" in November on their terms is going to greatly diminish their chances in 2012. They envision a great tide of relief with an feel good but vague mandate to "not be Democrats"? We need to spend the time until November to make it very clear to them that we are angrier at them today than we were when we booted their sorry asses out in 2006 and 2008 and that we are better organized this time. They may not want to win if it means that all they will accomplish is replacing Democrats on the hot seat. Poll after poll supports my point that voters are not excited about Republicans regaining control. We at least want to return to gridlock until we can do something about the criminals who control this one-party system.

We are heading for a 3rd party scenario in 2012 and the fact that there is no viable 3rd party candidate visible yet is offering the elites of both parties less and less comfort. No one saw Chris Christie or Mark Rubio or other conservative candidates coming either and no one thought for a second that a Republican would now be in Ted Kennedy's old seat. It's very different this time fewer and fewer people identify with EITHER party. I believe we are at the tipping point.

[Anna Tarkov]

Dan, what I actually said is that a press release does NOT have any answers (that is the nature of a press release) and journalists work to extract them. And of course they can't extract them by asking the politician who issued the press release. They must try to do so by talking to a wide variety of people to get their thoughts on the matter. Of course they also try to get answers from people who have firsthand knowledge, but those are precisely the people who might not be at liberty to comment on it. That's why journalism is such painstaking, labor-intensive work. If a source is not willing to go on the record and if his/her comments cannot be corroborated by someone who IS willing, a journalist must try to get confirmation elsewhere and also seek opposing viewpoints.

So you're right, the politician/comms person does NOT want to answer the questions the activist blogger has. Guess what? They don't want to answer the same questions from the "impartial" journalist either, hence all the work required that I just detailed. In this sense, bloggers and journalists are in the same boat. The difference, as it seems to me, is that journalists don't expect honesty and forthrightness from the politicians they cover while you expect a radical level of it simply because you are on their side.

I think this is a perfect time to quote what is known as a leftist phrase: be the change you want to see. If you'd like politicians to be more forthright, support those that you feel are conducting themselves that way. Or run for office yourself and become such a politician. Start (or join) a political comms consultancy that promotes the kind of open dialog you espouse. Finally, if you like searching for truth and justice and getting answers to questions no one wants to answer, become a journalist.

[MikeN]

Thank you Trent Lott you prove every conservative right about you establishment fake Conservatives. Glenn Beck and Michael Savage are right about these people. We need reform minded common sense constitutional conservatives like Sarah Palin, Jim DeMint, Rand Paul, Sharron Angle and Michele Bachmann. We need less fakes like Mitt Romney, Lindsey Graham, Trent Lott, and the rest of the GOP establishment. I have my don't doubts about Newt as well. The Tea Party Caucus is the antidote to the Progressive Caucus!

[Pasadena Phil]

Anna,

How about the notion that pols are taking access to the media for granted? They seem to assume that they are indispensable and that the journos have no choice but to stick to the two-party narrative as they go through their daily kabuki. So change the narrative. Drudge wrested the narrative from the MSM years ago. We need to take it to the next level.

By refusing to be accessible and responsive, it seems to me that the pols have given the press no other alternative than to report the biggest and best story of American democracy of our time: the Tea Party movement. There are so many of us that I find it unfathomable that they aren't interested in selling their wares to us. They could incorporate into their narratives how both parties are trying to discredit the Tea Party movement for instance.

If the establishment pols will only "message" instead of engaging with the voters, it seems to me that journalists have leverage to force them to engage. The pols of both parties can't raise money anymore from the voters (and this must be disconcerting to the special interest money too. Votes still matter.) and if party kabuki was suddenly eclipsed in the daily news narrative by the Tea Party, they would be toast. In no time, they would be desperately standing on their heads wearing clown suits and giving away free ice cream to get attention.

[dissident]

The story in the Post is bemoaning simpletons like DeMint, forever be a 30 member minority purist party. Or Sharron Angle prescribing second amendment remedies. Or Rick Perry talking about seceding from the US. These folks tend to just spew talking points, but they come off dumb and deranged.

Look to Chris Christie however as an example of an ACTUAL common sense, nonfirebrand, reformer as the model.

[Pasadena Phil]

Having specific principles and policy positions as opposed to standing for nothing is NOT purist. These guys just don't want to be pegged on any issue. It's all about talking points and markers they can refer back to later. These guys believe they have perfected the art of weaselry but perfection requires that see you as a weasel. Today, we refer to them as the "entrenched criminal class of corrupt weasels". Fail!

[dissident]

The real world is more nuanced than principles. Taxes/government are bad? Why not cut it to the bone? Why did Reagan raise taxes? Why didn't Bush cut them more?

[Pasadena Phil]

Yeah, "nuance". One of the all-time hall of fame weasel words.

[Eileen]

There are too many "loose cannons" with the Tea Party. (ie. Mark Williams) A few reckless remarks (ie. Sharron Angle Rand Paul etc.) can hurt electoral prospects.

[mockmook]

Well, since DeMint is part of the GOP establishment, then how can we say the "GOP establishment" thinks "X"?

Condemn individuals who deserve it, don't lump everyone together.

[TL Davis]

Dan, the Tea Party organizations aren't any friendlier to bloggers. I recently got the cold shoulder when I suggested I report on a leadership meeting in Colorado. They were afraid to reveal how organized they really are. Okay, I understand that, but it was the sense that they couldn't control the message that unnerved them. It just seems ironic that huge supporters of the Constitution might worry about the freedom of the press in their midst.

This is a bigger battle than it seems. The Tea Party Movement is a bigger stickler than it seems. Everything might come undone by November because the Republicans don't really want to be held to their own stated principles.

[Daryl Herbert]

I don't know if Sen. Corker is referring to the tea party, to which he should show deference, or to Rand Paul, who has a big mouth and is a political liability.

Sen. Corker is correct to be cautious about voluntarily associating himself with Rand Paul, and therefore taking a certain degree of responsibility for the stupid things Rand Paul has said and will say.

[Foobarista]

Part of the problem is that, first and foremost, all politicians are salespeople. And anyone who's been around salespeople knows that the last thing good ones want is someone interfering with their deal, so they have a strong tendency to be control freaks.

The TP and blogworld are an existential enemy to control freaks, even if they're nominally on the same side.

[ThomasD]

I do not agree with 100% of what Rand Paul says, maybe not even 50%. But I'd take a Senate full of Rand Paul's over a White House with one Obama any day of the week.

Bob Corker is not half bad (better than Lamar by a country mile) but someone with his ear needs to explain that his focus should be on who is the real enemy, not who is going to be unpopular with the Democrat-Media complex.

[RebeccaH]

Throw every one of the bums out, regardless of party. There's a visceral judgment for you, GOP.

[Fen]

The only thing I can count on the GOP for is to compromise their compromises.

[Art]

I think the GOP is "brain-dead" they are constantly calling me for donations, and I keep telling them that I am a registered Conservative, and have not been a Republican for many years.

I explain that I will not donate to any Republican, and will only vote for Conservatives, and those endorsed by the Tea Party. I reiterate that they themselves are to blame, but they just don't seem to get it.

Maybe when/if RHINOS like McCain, Graham et.al., start to get unseated, they will begin to comprehend.

...and off-topic...Arizona if you re-elect McCain then you deserve to simmer in your illegal immigrant hellhole.

[Dick]

"Dan, the Tea Party organizations aren't any friendlier to bloggers."

That's an interesting statement, considering I'm a blogger and Tea Partier.
I'd try again if I were you.

[Andrew]

Scott Brown.

Supported by the Tea Party.

Badda boom, badda bing, lets vote for more government regulation.

Once they get in, they show their true stripes. And I am ashamed to admit I sent this prick money.

[mark]

I'm not ashamed to have sent Scott money. Yes, he's a disappointment, but he's also instructive of an ongoing process.

Party structures as currently configured are 19th century constructs. The way Brown, Obama, and a few others have emerged onto the national scene has occurred mainly through New Media - and I think we're only at the beginnings of that trend.

Like the music industry, Parties are trying to enforce their models upon us - both Dems and GOP are doing this in their own ways. And, like the music industry, they'll simply fail. Once candidates emerge as a matter of course from outside the Party structures and subvert, routinely, the Primaries - well, its over for them.

That's where the problems will truly begin, I'd guess. There's a lot ruin in a national Party and they're likely to take it out on the populace in an effort to survive intact.

[JP]

Professional politician'ism is the ruination of our nation. Term limits could solve that. I say "could" as whomever is in DC, will find ways to trick screw the system.

That, we the people must watch and change (by whatever means i.e. strict recall measures..'fool me once, GONE') what is needed to be changed to eliminate the "trick screw".

"well, you know those bloggers, they're not very bright people, a bit crazy, with too much time on their hands."

This statement, is an arrogant line, straight from the Obama playbook.

It should read or be stated 'well, you know those politicians, they're not very bright people, corrupt with power, with to much of our money in their pockets'

[dorf]

'Balls said the Queen, if I had'm I might be BHO'... On a lighter note They, the Elites, will get whomever WE send, they know it and are working diligently to disrupt the train. Our/MY position should be send someone not ashamed(afraid) to stop the bus and find a new route. If it takes a third or fourth party bring it on.

PS quit subsidizing buses and trains...

Yes I will vote for Paul (because I can). Note that he was and is running against the political machine candidate, they just changed machines.

[ajacksonian]

"But from the comms person's point of view, they don't know what to expect. This may seem ironic to you since, like you said, activist bloggers have a set point of you that they make public. Thus it seems that there should be less of a concern in dealing with them, from the comms person's perspective. But you and I both know that there is a world of opinion on both the left and right and it can be difficult to ascertain what exactly a blogger believes. It can also be difficult to predict what they will view as a compliment or a slight. Lest you incur their wrath, we both know what can happen. That and other things are what's causing the "lack of respect between the two sides" that you cite."

I want them to be open, honest and transparent no matter WHAT I believe.

The First Amendment right to the freedom of the press is a right of the people, not the press. The people can be and are becoming the press, and the old, centralized press establishment is dying out. Thus when you attempt to 'spin' to get a 'good treatment' based on what you EXPECT a blogger to think about what you are saying you are no longer concentrating on getting out the relevant information. In comms terms the signal to noise ratio is changing in favor of the noise as spin pushes out information.

Politicians who decide to treat the press as their sinecured system to get re-elected need to seriously re-think this concept as the press as it was is not the press as it will soon be. Any fool of a citizen with a keyboard and a cause can, and does, become one of the most powerful platforms of advocacy known to mankind: a free man with access to his fellow citizens unencumbered by a press room, editors and printing presses to keep up. The NRA is having this exact, same problem as the pro-gun blogs are holding their feet to the fire on second amendment issues and demanding that the organization they support with cash actually get out there and get involved with more cases to protect that right. That means the NRA upper echelons is having fits that mere bloggers can crowd out the old comms channel from the NRA until the NRA gets with the program that it created and backed.

I, personally, do not want to see politicians getting cozy with the media, new or old, as it breeds laziness and contempt for the citizenry. That hasn't gotten us to a nice place over the last decades as politicians got very cozy with an establishment to secure their seats and income after office... that can, must and is changing and the politicians want their spin-doctoring for the old media to work for the new. That isn't going to happen.

Thus honesty is the best policy, always has been, always will be. I do not want politicians varnishing their outlook to curry favor with those reporting on them. That is lying and attempting to subvert the comms channel and hide their unvarnished views from their constituency. Equality of treatment would be a very, very good start for politicians, meaning that very little time is given to any single media outlet or that they use venues to do a many-to-many approach with supporters and moving information out. That is a much trickier thing to do than put out a press release as it demands depth of content, not just a paragraph or two.

Openess, honesty and transparency will get the message out and allow the public to decide on what a politician is actually representing and doing for his voters. That will not be a matter of choice but necessity within a few years. They can't understand Moore's and Metcalfe's laws and so will succumb to them. A leadership style suited to 1990 will not cut it in 2010 and beyond. That is why the GOP is getting liquidated at the lowest levels in NV, FL and elsewhere... and when Tea Partiers realize the Democratic Party has just as many vacant positions at the lowest level, then things will really get interesting.

[Daniel]

so many people seem so excited to jump on anyone who says anything obtuse or annoying to them. Why do that?
Isn't it wiser to try to win them over to your point of view than to pour vitriol on them? Tea party-ers are strongly attached to the best interests of the country and its future. They do not deal in talking points. They say what they believe. Talking points are the tools of the brain-dead. If a Republican politician says something dumb why pounce on him? Why not set him straight on the power and value of the tea party movement, and its potential for taking the country back from the abyss. Suggest that he listen to tea party people, invite him to a rally. Get him on board! Dividing up the votes against chaos is not the way to go. And the Democratic Party has proven to be the path to chaos.

[Ritchie The Riveter]

Behold the voice of the professional-political complex: Trent Lott.

He is one of the reasons I went support-the-man-not-the-party independent in 1998 ... and he just validated that decision.

Jim DeMint is one of the few Senators who is worth keeping, IMO ... for Mr. Lott to speak out against him in this manner speaks volumes about his own judgment. We need more like Sen. DeMint ... and I wonder if Mr. Lott's disdain for him stems from the possibility that the employment opportunities for lobbyists would severely decrease, were there more like Sen. DeMint in Congress?

After the Re-, er, Progressives and their agenda, the professional-political complex -- GOP as well as Dimocrat -- is the greatest threat to our civil rights at present, and will continue to be a threat as long as they emulate the Progressives' affinity for top-down control of our society.

[Army of Davids]

The Republican party better wake up to what is happening.

We have had it with Snowe, Collins, Christ type RINOs. They may as well be Democrats. It may take more time to get things sorted out with more internal battles on the Right. But the country can't go back the way we came in. Things have to go in a substantive direction.

The Republican party can take a positive step by joining Tea Party folks in repeatedly calling for Berwick's resignation as the new health car czar.

[Richard McEnroe]

even the best of them have been in DC TOO DAMN LONG. It is an environment designed to dull and corrupt even the finest character. We can send war heroes, businessmen,men of courage and morals and after a couple of terms you can't tell them from Chriss Dodd and Barney Frank. Worse; they are COMFORTABLE around Dodd and Frank, more than they are with the very people who sent them there.

Enough. End in the incumbentocracy! Turn them out and start over.

[M. Simon]

Dan,

I have good relations with the GOP Senate blog liaison. He will answer questions and even make off the cuff remarks - not for attribution of course.

My e-mail is on the sidebar of my blog - Power and Control - Google it. Or just click on my name. I'll put you in touch.

I got on well with him for several years (a long time in Internet land) but I sealed the deal when I sent him the very first news he got on Climategate (CRU e-mails).

Things are not as good as we hope nor as bad as we fear.

[MikeC]

After 1994, nobody held the R's feet to the fire on failure to pass the balanced budget amendment and congressional term limits.

We, us out here in the field, have a share in the blame, for letting 'conservative' pols get away with defining 'conservatism' as OMG TERRORISM TAX ABORTION GAY!!!

As long as we allow abortion to be used as a wedge issue, we are fair pickings for Big Government types in both parties.

$0.02

[Mike O]

Bluntly, ant GOP candidate who wants to survive the 2012 primary round, better start ignoring these so-called experts, go back to their districts and find our-first-hand- what is truly happening. Having knocked off some local 'powers that be (or was)' GOP people, I can tell you there is still very deep denial in the GOP leadership at all levels.

This is a sea change; and should the GOP take over in Congress and wimp out on MAJOR budget reductions, those seas of Gadsden flags will be reforming- outside their office doors. They have the ONE shot; if they blow it, a third party WILL arise and the GOP could go the way of the Bull Moose Party. The New Media makes that possible.