Tea Party Republicans

The Ongoing Civil War In The Republican Party: Similar To 1964 Goldwater-Rockefeller Race?

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A recent CNN poll demonstrates the chasm that exists in the Republican Party, as the 2012 Presidential campaign comes on the scene more every day.

The demographics, ideology, and temperament of the two warring groups creates a real problem for their future. By 51-49, the majority do NOT support the Tea Party Movement, and can be seen as “Establishment” Republicans.

The Tea Party Republicans are older, more educated, and more male, while the Establishment Republicans are more likely female, less educated, younger, and less likely to be evangelical Christians.

The Tea Party Republicans are more angry about how things are working out in the country. And they are more concerned about the deficit; more likely not to believe science in regards to global warming and evolution; more likely to believe in the abolition of the Department of Education; more skeptical about abortion and gay marriage; more critical of the Federal Reserve Board; and more likely to think social security needs to be changed.

The Establishment Republicans want a candidate who can defeat President Obama, and less concerned about purity in principles.

Realistically, the Tea Party Republicans favor Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann, although some like Rick Santorum, Ron Paul or Herman Cain.

The Establishment Republicans strongly support Mitt Romney, or possibly Jon Huntsman, as legitimate candidates

So the present Perry-Romney frontrunner battle in many ways represents a similar battle to that of Barry Goldwater and Nelson Rockefeller in 1964!

Karl Rove’s Warning To The Republicans: The Bushes Speaking Out Against Rick Perry!

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Karl Rove, the mastermind behind the election successes of George W. Bush, has issued a warning against the right wing extremism emerging in the Republican Party. The danger, he warns, is that the party will be seen as extremist, and lose the opportunity to win the White House away from Barack Obama.

What does this warning really indicate? It is that the Bush Family, father George Number 41 , as well as son George Number 43, and likely Jeb Bush and everyone else in the extended family, is terrified at Rick Perry, and to a lesser extent, Michele Bachmann, as being destructive of party success!

Already, Jeb Bush, Jr, second son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, has announced his support of Jon Huntsman, a minor issue, but a sign of the concern within the Bush family and among Establishment Republicans at the threat of Tea Party activists destroying the party for 2012!

It is not outside the realm of possibility that Jeb Bush MIGHT enter the race, if it seems that Mitt Romney or Jon Huntsman cannot stop Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, in order to save the party’s future.

So behind the scenes, much is going on that we will be learning about over time, depending on events!

President Vs. Congress: Three Times As Popular!

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Opponents have made a big deal over the fact that President Barack Obama had fallen down to 39 percent in public opinion ratings over the last week, after the stock market gyrations and the Standard and Poor’s downgrading of US debt after the Debt Ceiling Crisis.

But now, Obama has gone back up to 41 percent in new polls, while the Congress, with a Republican House majority, has slipped from 14 percent positive rating to 13 percent, an all time low!

And this comes upon the earlier poll that shows that the Democrats have a seven point edge on the Republicans in a generic matchup for the 2012 Congressional elections.

So the GOP has actually lost public support at a crucial time, and it is involved in a internal struggle between Mainstream Republicans such as Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, and the Tea Party Republicans such as Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann for the soul of the party.

This is only good for President Obama, as columnist Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post points out today in his column!

Barack Obama Throws Down The Gauntlet To The Republicans In Congress: A Jobs Program Proposal In September Enacted, Or Used Against The GOP Next Year!

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President Obama came out swinging today in Minnesota, declaring that while he shares blame for the economic mess with the Republicans created by the Debt Ceiling Crisis, he will propose specific jobs legislation when Congress returns in September, and if the Republicans block action, he will use it against them in the 2012 Congressional and Presidential campaign!

It is wonderful to see Barack Obama sound like Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman, going after the Republicans, and it is certainly about time!

Since it is certain that the right wing Tea Party activists in Congress will NOT allow any legislation on jobs to pass into law, it is certain we will see fireworks over the next year!

This is the time and place for all progressives who care about the future to get over disappointment about specific shortcomings of Barack Obama, and realize it is a choice of Obama or going backward to the era of the 1920s or even the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.! We cannot allow ourselves to see the Great Society, New Deal, and even the reforms promoted during the administration of Richard Nixon, to be destroyed!

Republican Presidential Candidates And The Outside World: Who Is Legitimate?

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In the midst of all the tumult and drama surrounding the Debt Ceiling Crisis, the lowering of the US credit rating by Standard and Poor’s, and the Stock Market gyrations this past week, it would seem as if only the economy matters to most Americans, an understandable viewpoint, but a dangerous one!

We must remember that the President of the United States is not just the leader of this country, but the number one world leader, and therefore, his or her credibility on an international scale really is significant and crucial!

So when one looks at the four finalists in the Republican Presidential contest, as the author earlier today assessed it, one must see the dramatic differences between the so called Establishment Republican Mormon candidates (Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman), and the Tea Party Republican evangelical Christian candidates (Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann).

Romney has the record of having operated the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, requiring diplomatic skills to make it the success it was.

Even more so, Huntsman has been the Ambassador to Singapore in the time of President George H. W. Bush, Deputy US Trade Representative under George W. Bush, and Ambassador to China under Barack Obama, therefore having tremendous foreign policy training and experience.

Rick Perry has NO foreign policy experience, and comes across as a bully type who would throw his weight around in foreign affairs with his swagger and arrogant manner, in a way that would make George W. Bush, often called a “cowboy” in foreign affairs, look civil and diplomatic by comparison!

And Michele Bachmann also has ZERO foreign policy experience, and a loose, no holds barred way of speaking, that would totally antagonize the outside world!

Both Perry and Bachmann would be a danger in world affairs through their lack of experience and judgment, and with their Christian evangelical roots, would promote a war on Islam, that would make the nightmare of Iraq and Afghanistan in the past ten years look like a minor blip in international affairs! They would conduct themselves as Christian crusaders, something we do NOT need if there is to be peace and diplomacy with an outside world which Is not going to accept American imperialism and dominance!

So the foreign policy issue may seem minor now, but in a campaign of Barack Obama against either Perry or Bachmann, it would be a tremendously important issue, and a blessing to Obama!

With Huntsman in particular, and Romney lesser so, Obama would have more difficulty on this issue, as well as generally all matters, including the economic difficulties we now face.

So for Barack Obama, a dream fulfilled would be Perry or Bachmann as his opponent, while Huntsman or Romney could be his greatest nightmare!

The GOP Race Down To Four Candidates: Bachmann, Perry, Romney, Huntsman!

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So the 2012 Republican Presidential race is down to FOUR candidates in the real world: Establishment Republicans Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, both happening to be Mormons: and Tea Party Republicans Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, born evangelical Christians who promote combination of church and state and have followers who believe Mormons are a cult and not truly Christians!

What a mess the Republicans are in, and it should make Barack Obama feel very comforted after the rough times he has had lately with the Debt Ceiling debate, the lowering of the credit rating from Triple A to Double A Plus by Standard and Poor’s, and the stock market gyrations of the past week!

The Republican Party may boast that they are on the way to defeat of Barack Obama, but instead they are on the way to a bloodletting in the caucuses and primaries, with the Iowa caucus likely to be a battle between Perry and Bachmann, and the New Hampshire primary likely to be a battle between Romney and Huntsman. The South Carolina primary will likely be a battle between the survivor of Iowa and the winner in New Hampshire, and then Florida will play a major role, as the fourth largest state, in determining who the leading candidate will be.

But likely, the battle will go on into the other caucus and primary states and could drag out to June, and severely weaken the party, and strengthen Obama.

So forget Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich completely, and Tim Pawlenty has already bowed out ot the race!

And realize, after the bloodletting that will go on in the GOP, the only real hope that will exist for the Republicans to defeat Barack Obama will be IF they nominate either Romney or Huntsman, with the hope by Establishment Republicans that neither will have been fatally wounded during the caucuses and primaries!

If either Perry nor Bachmann end up as the nominee, the election will be a “cakewalk” for Barack Obama.

The upcoming battle can only benefit Barack Obama, as it demonstrates the right wing extremism prevalent in the Republican Party!

The Ideological Extremes In The House Of Representatives: Forecast Of More Conflict And Turmoil To Come!

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When one looks at the recent developments in the House of Representatives, it is clear that the forecast is one of more conflict to come over the next 17 months of the 112th Congress!

87 Republicans are freshmen, and most of them are self declared Tea Party Movement activists, who plan on no compromise on anything with the Democrats. Additionally, there are Republicans in the chamber who claim to be sympathetic to the same cause. meaning between one fifth and one fourth of the House is extreme ideological Right!

At the same time, there are over 80 members of the Democratic Party in the House that are declared members of the Progressive Caucus, dedicated to the progressive agenda considered by some as the ideological Left.

So between 40-45 percent of the House is very unwilling to compromise, and that means deadlock and turmoil for the next two years, brought about by the creation of a divided Congress, but for the first time with a Republican House and a Democratic Senate, rather than the past experiences of the opposite control of the two chambers of Congress!