In a city like Madison, comparisons of Tea Partiers to children are not infrequent. Chalk it up to our elitism, our progressive chauvinism or mere observance, but in our fair city, those of the strict-Constitutionalist persuasion certainly aren’t widely respected.
As a movement, the grassroots style, accessibility and notion of empowering the little guy to fight against a seemingly “out-of-control” federal government plagued by corporate interests can be very appealing for America’s fiscal and social conservatives. That is, unless your well-established party has for much of the last decade made a name for itself of not only having its palms greased, but of vigorously utilizing those hands to the benefit of corporations.
The demands of the Tea Party, the Caps Lock of modern politics, will be a major consideration for today’s GOP. But rather than acknowledging the influence the Tea Party has and respecting their positions, the GOP, as we may already be seeing, is playing the role of the Tiger Mother, molding their rambunctious children into good, little rank-and-file GOPers.
Republicans spent significant time in the run-up to November’s elections honing their Tea Party talking points, adopting phrases like “Obamacare” and buying out stocks of pocket-sized Constitutions. But now that the danger of losing any seats to the Tea Party has subsided, the fa?ade is beginning to show its cracks and the GOP is back to business as usual. Case in point: the Pentagon budget.
Traditional Republicans revere defense spending, claiming that any cuts to the funding of our national security are paramount to treason. The Pentagon’s budget is currently just over a half trillion dollars a year. The anti-spending fervor of the Tea Party however, is in direct opposition to one of the major tenets of what we know as modern American Republicanism.
Given the tentative plans to pull out of Iraq by the end of this year, concessions could certainly be made. This issue though, speaks to the overarching themes separating the Right as we know it today.
The opposition to runaway spending that propelled so many Tea Party members into office, some embarking on their first venture into government, is absolutely a platform to be valued in our current economic climate. Tax cut extensions, a dubious compromise though they were for many Democrats, raised the debt ceiling, something many Tea Party supporters have been vocally opposed to.
Establishment Republicans will have their hands full in the coming years as they show new legislators the ropes. Campaign promises will undoubtedly be broken (that’s what they’re there for, right?). But the Tea Party, so fueled by the vitriol and frustration of their citizen base, may very well have a hard time breaking the news to their supporters.
That is going to be exactly where establishment Republicans will come in with a little tough love and a good dose of reality. Cuts will surely be made, although nowhere near the amount promised on the campaign trail. The question will be whether the sensibilities of those who put these Tea Party candidates in office are offended to the point of becoming their own candidates’ ouster.
Jake Begun ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism.
