community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
Their Hands Touch the Reins
by Sudhama Ranganathan
Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009 at 8:34 AM
uconnharassment@gmail.com
With the elections this past November the country was transfixed on which way the wind would blow politically. Would this be a referendum on President Obama and Democrat policies? Would the Republican party make a comeback? Would the Tea Party protests make a difference this time around? Would Sarah Palin have an impact?
On the state level the Republican Party did very well. They took Governor slots in Virginia and New Jersey two states considered key battlegrounds. They did very well on the local level overall.
As to whether it was a referendum on the president the results were mixed. Both places had contentious and highly divisive local issues regarding both parties. Exit polls found "health care was the most important issue for 24 percent of the voters, while 15 percent named taxes and transportation was mentioned by 7 percent" in Virginia. In New Jersey among a host of localized issues the big problems facing Democrats was the huge corruption scandal that broke out leading to arrests of many government officials in that state. (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/04/election.analysis/index.html) This was including people under Gov. Corzine's leadership. It was one of the biggest statewide corruption scandals in US history.
Ultimately those elections were the Republican Party's wins and they were hard fought and earned in both cases. On the national level the results did not go the Republican Party's way. The main focus of the Republican opposition in the two races that had a voice in national level had to do with issues they believed they had cornered the market on.
These were issues having to do with President Obama's policies. First was the economic stimulus initiated by the Bush administration and continued and followed through on by the Obama administration. The initial bailout was pushed for by the Bush administration. (http://www.clipsyndicate.com/video/playlist/225/805575?cpt=8&title=bloomberg&wpid=311)
During the 2008 elections the bailout was supported by people on the left including then candidate Obama (http://www.clipsyndicate.com/video/playlist/225/805575?cpt=8&title=bloomberg&wpid=311), Hillary Clinton (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX0cxk2b3oo), Joe Biden and others. On the right it was supported by John McCain, Sarah Palin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txfqWzGMgmY) and even Glenn Beck (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0809/22/gb.01.html).
The most heated issue and the one currently still raging was health care reform. During the 2008 campaign the left said they were for it and candidates Obama and Biden openly supported it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aR3Gpsn4v4). The right supported it ans well including then candidate Sarah Palin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heAibiOJ5NE).
Starting around August of 2009 it became perhaps the most controversial issue. Protests from those against health care reform raged and the country was embroiled in those protester's passionate plea's and stances. This was the month the birth of the Tea Party protesters as a genuine force in American politics occurred. Although they existed previously they became a household name nationally.
The party grew and grew and the whole time most people simply assumed it was a part of the Republican Party. But the whole time there were warnings to Republican leaders they were not above reproach. This divisions and separations became most visible during the 2009 elections for national office specifically in New York's special race for a house seat.
The local Republican party heads selected someone they felt was most in line with their issues. This selection was approved on the national level by the Republican National Committee and it's head Michael Steele (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0911/03/ec.01.html) and other prominent Republicans like Newt Gingrich (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n69rKkkXpLY). But the Tea Party movement showed it had a mind of it's own. It swooped down on New York's 23rd district and rallied support throwing their endorsement behind a candidate from the third party Conservative Party's candidate, Dough Hoffman. This included the endorsement of Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n69rKkkXpLY&feature=related).
Here the split became very visible nationally. As support from the national Tea Party grew for the third party candidate the Republican candidate suddenly fell behind in support from the right and nationally many Republicans suddenly began supporting Hoffman instead of their own party as his popularity grew among the conservative base.
In the end it was a neck and neck race lost by Hoffman, and a win for independent conservatives like Tea Partiers. Republicans have tried to downplay this as basically a Republican win, but the conservative leaning polling group Rasmussen found that is not the case. In fact the findings prove the Tea Party has so much power they can cut away from Republicans as they did in New York and not only be successful, but beat them in 2010.
On Monday, December 07, 2009 Rasmussen reported, "in a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Another 22% are undecided... Among voters not affiliated with either major party, the Tea Party comes out on top. Thirty-three percent (33%) prefer the Tea Party candidate, and 30% are undecided. Twenty-five percent (25%) would vote for a Democrat, and just 12% prefer the GOP." Furthermore, "among Republican voters, 39% say they’d vote for the GOP candidate, but 33% favor the Tea Party option. "(http://www.rasmussenreports:com/public_content/politics/general_politics/december_2009/tea_party_tops_gop_on_three_way_generic_ballot)
Recently when FOX News channel's Neil Cavuto talked with Mike Huckabee (who some in the Tea Party movement wish to see run with Gov Sarah Palin as Independents) about this the former Governor had some interesting things to say. During this interview he touched on why so many on the right are fed up with Republicans saying, "... the reason Republicans are in trouble is because of idiot things like TARP." (http://www.gop12.com/2009/10/huck-comments-on-rasmussen-poll.html)
Many sincere grass roots conservatives were also upset when Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele proclaimed their competitor's almost win from the Tea Party's Conservative Party an almost win for the Republican party. This, instead of just admitting they got beat when the Republican Party's candidate lost. (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0911/03/ec.01.html) It was as if he was attempting to take credit for another party's win.
Others are fed up with symbolic moves that go nowhere like when Representative Joe Wilson proposed an amendment during the health care debate that would impose a public option on all members of congress. He said this was being done because essentially he knew Democrats would not sign up for it. In the end Democrat supporters outnumbered Republicans on the bill and the symbolism was lost. It turned out to be a waste of time which could have been spent on something substantial. (http://mediamatters.org/research/200912050005?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mediamatters%2Flatest+%28Media+Matters+-+Latest+Items%29)
The advent of a strong third party could very well be emerging if the Tea Party is serious about real change. From the polls of their base and of America they now are in control of the conservative vote and can very well force change in the direction they want very much the way voters did in 2008 by electing President Barack Obama. If they mean change and are fed up with what the Republican Party has done, as they are saying in even the most conservative polls, they may well be on their way to founding a new voice in the halls of congress and beyond. The right may have two voices in Washington from now on. If the vote this past November is any indication perhaps more or less.
To read about my inspiration for this article go to www.lawsuitagainstuconn.com.
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