Last week on the weekly radio show I host on WMNF-FM, I sparred with Tampa GOP political consultant Chris Ingram about the Tea Party's influence on the Republican Party of Florida. I countered that the activist group of Republicans had effectively taken over control of the party, and used the race for the U.S. Senate contest as my prima facie evidence.
But couldn't the argument be made nationally about the GOP as well? I write that after watching noted pollster Frank Luntz speak to Jake Tapper on ABC's This Week, where he says of Jon Huntsman, " he is mainstream America in what he says, but he's not mainstream Republican. And this, after all, is a Republican primary. "
Luntz told Tapper that the winning GOP candidate must have the "three Ps" to win: principle, politics, and a plan.
This article appears in Aug 18-24, 2011.