The time is right to start swelling the ranks of the Democratic Party. As discussed with a number of tea partiers, we are switching party affiliation from Independent and Republican to Democrat. Why, you ask? It's time to help moderate Democrats to ascendancy in the Congressional and Presidential races. The only time this really can be done is in primary season so now is the time to start raising funds and consciousness. Also, a huge faction of tea parties are natural Democrats who have been repelled by the Democratic Party's shift to the extreme left under Obama. I myself in the early years of my voting career was a Scoop Jackson Democrat and I still harbor a genuine soft spot for Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy. Johnson, for example, was dedicated to helping economically disadvantaged people of all races and ages, i.e. the Great Society. He did not, IMO, believe in creating a constituency of a permanent welfare class, which Obama has so vigorously sought to create and exploit. So, all of you silent tea partiers and moderates, it's time to change the direction of the Democratic Party by getting actively involved in your local Democratic political machines. A small cadre of workers in each precinct can effectively sway the choice Democratic candidates. You will be amazed to discover how effective you can be if you choose to lead rather than follow. For example, I expect a great deal of sound and fury by ultra liberal posters here, but one out of 100 here will get actively involved in the actual political process. Finally, every one hates the gridlock that has afflicted our national government. Electing more moderates on both sides of the aisle will go a long way to making the two major parties "big tent" movements that can work together to move the nation forward.
I see this very differently. I have a very difficult time squaring Tea Party ideology and the ideology of moderate Dems. I've voted both sides of the aisle throughout my life. But I don't see it. In particular, I don't see Tea Party folks doing anything other than supporting gridlock. Gridlock means government does less, which seems to be on the Tea Party's Greatest Hits Album. I do like the tri-cornered hats, though. I hope those make a comeback.
Welcome to the democratic party. Unlike the republicans, we're just going to ignore you guys. Yell, spit and fart into the wind, my friend.
Tea Party: tiny, inactive government, please Democratic Party: robust, helpful and active government, please Tea Party: destroy the safety net, quit giving "free handouts" Democratic Party: maintain (or restore) the safety net Tea Party: respect privacy Democratic Party: I dunno LOL. Tea Party: Obama is a radical liberal. Democratic Party: Obama is okay, but is kind of like Bob Dole, policy-wise. I agree with MadMax; I just don't see it. I understand tampering with primaries, and both sides have done this before. Go for it.
I can appreciate your puzzlement, but, remember, both parties are more effective when they are both "big tent" associations. Gridlock has been an effective weapon for parties out of power, but it is destructive long term. Shaping parties is a reality when done from the bottom up. It's not sexy but very effective.
I'm just waiting for old school Farmer Labor Party takeovers. In the 30s and 40s we had the reverse of the tea party. Socialist farmer labor parties infiltrated the Republican party in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin. You had Republicans elected to Congress that were essentially socialists. (although at its peak, a lot of these groups were running as independent third parties and winning while they were doing it) Occupy couldve done it if they hadn't wasted their time camping in a park rather than voting and organizing like the tea party.
Makes sense.... GOP starting to resent the TP and the rifts they have caused? Seek the Dems for companionship. ftw. Strategically it might make sense, but to be honest, they don't fit either platform, and wasn't that the point? Trying to join the ranks on either with beliefs that aren't shared by those ranks has already failed, doing tremendous damage to the party in question along the way. I don't see why Dems would welcome that. That said, as painful as the process is to watch, I'm all for something dismantling the stranglehold that the two party system has created, pushing toward a populous of voting on the issues rather than voting as a frightened herd against "the other team." Maybe this is how it would have to happen, since it seems the system is so rigged against a third party gaining any real traction, but honestly it's all already hard to watch... and would get even harder in another round of it across the aisle. I dunno.
The GOP already understands the messages as sent by the tea parties. Now we must turn our political shipwright skills to right (pun intended) the Democratic vessel.
You have no idea what you're talking about and your perception of reality is so distorted that it's painful. Are you serious? The Great Society was, and still is, the greatest expansion of the American social safety net since the New Deal. Johnson spearheaded many programs, like Medicare, Head Start, et. al, that a party you've blindly backed (conveniently, since 2008) has tried to demonize since the 2010 midterms. Johnson saw government as a genuine force for good in the lives of society's most downtrodden. That is anathema to nearly everything you've espoused on this BBS. Do you not understand how you are perceived? The majority of the country hates what your little cabal of extremists did a few weeks ago. You've lost two national elections in a row. I really try to not think of Winguttia as a cattle-state, but you must be deranged to think that you can herd them into Democratic primaries to any effect and pushback from the left.
I vote in every election, even state constitutional referendums. Do you dispute my points about LBJ or is the cognitive dissonance between your own words and history too much for you?
The Tea Party to go Democratic?... Will work about as well as the Rainbow Coalition joining the Republican party. This country is just itching for a real populist that can bring together the rural voters and southern democrats..... a big fat, folksy white guy that favors gun rights, personal responsibility and still compassionate enough to not cut welfare..... we will call him "Big Daddy" and he will be from a border state and wear flannel and quote Teddy Roosevelt, Bill Clinton and Abraham Lincoln.... he will spend money in Spago's looking uncomfortable and asking for a brisket sandwich..... and Wednesday will do a photo op with Dale Earnhardt Jr. ..... then on the weekend appear on Meet The Press and drop folksy gems to appease the mental midgets.
I am pressing the breaks here on my initial reaction, since you seem to be responding to everyone politely and with sincerity (and not dogmatic vitriol like you often see on message boards), but I can not disagree with you more about the idea that Obama represents an extreme shift to the left. I voted for him in 08 because I was hoping this was the case, but I stopped supporting him and the Dems after they proved to be very moderate and ineffective. So, sincerely asking here, how do you see Obama as an extreme leftist shift? Is it just that he isn't white? Otherwise, I think your post is very interesting. People should be more active in the political process, and active minorities are able to really shift things via primaries. And, socioeconomically speaking, a lot of Tea Partiers really do line up with traditional Democratic demographics from the pre-Reagan era. But I just can't get past the idea of someone who seems very reasonable thinking that Obama represents an extreme leftist stance. Please explain.
