People it’s been said soon look like their pets and the Tea Party is now firmly in the Republican camp. It’s what happens when the dog catches the car.
Sarah Palin endorsed anti-establishment Donald Trump. Of course..
Most of the political figures associated with the Tea Party movement are gone from public office. Representative Michele Bachmann retired in 2014. Senator Jim DeMint resigned from the Senate to take over the Heritage Foundation. Former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli lost his bid for governor in 2013. The governor he sought to replace, Bob McDonnell, is currently appealing his conviction on federal corruption charges. Former Massachusetts senator Scott Brown was once hailed for winning “the Tea Party’s first electoral victory.” He lost his reelection bid to Democrat Elizabeth Warren in 2012, and a subsequent race for the Senate in New Hampshire last cycle.
The Tea Party brags: “we win by electing Republicans” completely missing the purpose of most Tea Party people.
The Tea Party actually now represents the true GOP “establishment.” It’s jarring to hear Nikki Haley, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, and Trey Gowdy now described as “Establishment” figures. The Tea Party Express, Tea Party Patriots, and Palin all cheered when Mitt Romney picked Ryan as his running mate. How quickly the outsiders become insiders.
The 2016 Republican presidential field burst at the seams with Republican officials once considered tea-party favorites: Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Rick Perry of Texas. A 2010 Newsweek piece on the Tea Party included Carly Fiorina’s Senate bid in California, and even John Kasich ran that year by saying, “I was in the Tea Party before there was a Tea Party.” Ted Cruz, of course, gave the movement one of its biggest victories when he upset Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst in the 2012 Texas senatorial primary.
None of these candidates have re-united the movement that roared in 2010. Perhaps Cruz came closest, but as Palin’s endorsement of Trump demonstrates, Cruz wasn’t everyone’s first choice.
The 2016 Republican presidential field burst at the seams with Republican officials once considered tea-party favorites: Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Rick Perry of Texas. A 2010 Newsweek piece on the Tea Party included Carly Fiorina’s Senate bid in California, and even John Kasich ran that year by saying, “I was in the Tea Party before there was a Tea Party.” Ted Cruz, of course, gave the movement one of its biggest victories when he upset Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst in the 2012 Texas senatorial primary.
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