Win for the Tea Party

I saw a poll the other day that asked the public which party they favor. Overwhelmingly, the Tea Party won, with 41 percentage points. The Democrats came in second, with the Republicans slightly less in third place. Inasmuch as there is not an official "Tea Party", this poll is relatively worthless. However, it does a great job of reflecting the mood of Americans in general. We are really getting tired of "politics as usual" that is going on in Washington now. Other than spending like drunken sailors, the Republicans did OK during the first six years of the Bush administration. Unemployment was at 4.6%, and the Dow reached 14,000 for the first time ever. The argument could be made that things went to heck when the Democrats took over Congress in 2006. But, the recession did start during Bush's watch, so I guesss the Republicans get blamed for it. The Democrats are now in power and seem to want to bring about radical change, spending wildly and expanding government to such an extent that the average American, as well as several foreign countries are starting to lose some sleep over it. In the old days, I guess, people didn't really pay much attention to politics. But now, with 24 hour news channels and with everyone carrying small communication devices, we are much more aware of what is going on around us. The politicians are finding it harder and harder to pull the wool over the eyes of the people on Main Street. The people are no longer uninformed and apathetic, and are demanding that their elected officials toe the line.

These newly energized and enlightened folks are the ones that have started the Tea Party movement. This is a grass roots organization that has strong conservative principles at its core. They want to reduce the size and influence of big government. They want lower taxes in order to stimulate the economy. They want the government to quit squandering the taxpayers' money and become fiscally responsible. They believe that the politicians were hired to represent THEM, and not a political party, and they expect to be listened to. They are tired of being lied to and want the spinning to stop NOW!

There are some that think that a conservative candidate, possibly like Sarah Palin, could attach herself to the Tea Party and run as a third party candidate in 2012 against incumbent Obama. My view is that this would be a terrible idea with terrible results. The Republicans and the "Tea Party" would end up splitting the electorate and leaving the left-wing Democratic party intact to take home the election. From my standpoint, the only option is for the Republican party to adopt all of the conservatism of the "Tea Party" and run vigorously on those values. Shouldn't be that hard to do. The "Tea Party" people have made it very clear what they stand for, and the mainstreet folks have made it clear that they like the message. Sounds like a "Slam-dunk" to me.