Perhaps because Mitt Romney was able to capture the GOP presidential nomination relatively unbloodied (thanks in part to having deeper pockets than any of his challengers) that the impression that the Tea Party's time in the sun was ebbing became part of the beltway's conventional wisdom.
If so, shame on those political reporters who said or wrote that. Having been guilty of making that same statement two years ago, I know I've learned my lesson.
Stories about the Tea Party's "resurgence" have surfaced in recent days after Ted Cruz defeated Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst in the Lone Star state's GOP Senate primary last Tuesday. Dewhurst was backed by Rick Perry. As Jim Hightower said earlier this week, getting to the right of Rick Perry is quite a political contortion.
CL made the mistake back in the spring of 2010 of writing off the movement as only so much hype, after we saw how a Tea Party candidate in Pinellas County announced he would challenge long-time incumbent Bill Young in a GOP Primary later that year. At the time you may recall, Tea Party activists said when they burst on the scene that they weren't necessarily Republican in party preference, but condemned all career politicians, especially those who have been using Washington as their personal piggy bank for programs and/or projects that were raising the country's level of debt astronomically.
Well, wouldn't that make Young an ideal target? Through his work on the appropriations committee over the years he was known derisively as a top "porker,' bringing home millions of dollars to Pinellas County.
But when that particular candidate (named Eric Forcade) dropped out of the race and ended up endorsing Young, well, that seemed to us to illustrate a certain level of hypocrisy, especially he complained that he couldn't raise any money amongst local Republicans.
This article appears in Aug 2-8, 2012.