Tea Party just racist?

[packsaddle]

Yes, Brent, I was disgusted. That kind of crap is low no matter who does it. I'm sorry you have to ask.

 

"The day that a new poll showed McCain five points ahead in the state, Bush allied himself on stage with a marginal and controversial veterans activist named J. Thomas Burch, who accused McCain of having "abandoned the veterans" on POW/MIA and Agent Orange issues..." thus began the dirty tricks. But McCain was ahead and Bush took a low road. It was at that time that the racial smear began. But as long as we're dropping names....

 

Carroll Campbell...1978 Congressional campaign, whose manager, Lee Atwater, played the anti-semitism card against Max Heller...sure Brent. None of that stuff works in SC...right. I remember my co-workers (contractors for the feds) snickering about McCain's illegitimate child. I heard plenty about it. Just like I heard gasps of surprise at Heller's 'Jewishness' by persons who could be swayed by racial factors in 1978. I consider that to have been just as shameful and cowardly. I'm sure you agree.

 

But as WAKWIB predicted, that one turned on Campbell. His old Congressional campaign tactic was a factor in Bob Dole's decision to choose Jack Kemp rather than Governor Campbell as his running mate during the 1996 Presidential bid. At least Atwater repented while he was dying. He apologized for those low tactics in those campaigns. That's something at least.

 

I grant you there's no way to establish for certain what did or did not make or break a particular campaign but it IS for certain that the race card was played in 2000, by Republicans against Republicans. And THAT is relevant to the topic of the thread...racism in politics.

[gwd-scouter]

"If you want to find that racist boogy-man you can. Just say it's there and POOF there it is."

 

OK, that's a fair criticism, and chances are if I was still living in Wash, DC suburbs I may not have these feelings. Heck, I'd likely still consider myself a conservative. However, when I moved to South Carolina twenty plus years ago, I found racism to be openly alive and well. Not just under the surface and hidden politely, but in your face racism. It was quite shocking.

[BrentAllen]

"Is it just that people are slow? Ordinary voter cluelessness,..."

 

Boy, those Boston colors are sure showing. But being as how you are so smart, you should be able to figure this out all by yourself. It really isn't that hard. Well, maybe hard for someone who thinks they are a conservative...

 

Gern,

If the Tea Party is about racism at its core, explain why they were involved in the Senate races in Kentucky, Connecticut, Delaware, Colorado, Nevada and Alaska. Please explain Rubio in Florida. Where was the racism in those races?

[GernBlansten]

Brent, why do you think I think its racist to the core? Your words, not mine.

All I've noted is that there clearly are racists in the party and I've seen signs to confirm that. I also noted that it is peculiar that there was no organized anger before a black man moved into the White House, but suddenly erupted after he did, before he even enacted his socialist agenda. That hints that race is a factor in their anger. At least at the birth of the movement.

 

Take from that what you want. I won't take Teapartiers seriously. I think their agenda is moronic not well thought out.

 

As for the senate races, did you notice the success rate? Perhaps the Teaparty agenda just doesn't sell well in state wide elections.

[OldGreyEagle]

I guess those hundreds of thousands of people who demonstrated against the war were just latent Texasists,

 

I am not sure any president has ever had a 100% Approval rating, but those against President Obama are labeled Racists

 

Wait, those against the War were labeled Unpatriotic, assigningunflattering labels to our opponents is American as Apple Pie (yet I think the Germans made it first)

 

The people in the Tea Party are the Children of H Ross Perot and even some Veterans of Perot's "Reform Party" disaffected Americans for whom Politics was just a faceless bureaucracy and fighting them was no use. Perot gave them hope and then when he quit on them they returned to their disaffected state, further embitteres by the experience. Its been awhile and now they are back, its not Racism, its anger.

 

When does an angry man make sense?

[BrentAllen]

Gern,

Because you keep saying it is racism, at its core. Duh!

 

The Tea Party batted .500 in the Senate races, not too bad for first time around. They did better than the First Lady.

 

Michelle Obama's favored candidates: 6 wins, 7 losses

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/06/nation/la-na-michelle-obama-20101107

 

I'm guessing the President did even worse, though it is hard to tell, since many in his party didn't want him anywhere near them during the campaign. Pretty short coattails for The Chosen One.

[GernBlansten]

Brent, please cut and paste where I used the word core.

 

Kentucky - won,

Connecticut - loss,

Delaware - loss,

Colorado - loss,

Nevada - loss,

Alaska - loss.

 

1 out of 6 = .16666

 

You are welcome to your own opinions, but you are not welcome to your own math.

[BrentAllen]

Gern,

You are correct, my math was wrong. The Tea Party batted .545 in the Senate races, not .500. Won 6, lost 5.

 

Kentucky - won,

Connecticut - loss,

Delaware - loss,

Colorado - loss,

Nevada - loss,

Alaska - loss,

Wisconsin - won,

South Carolina - won,

Utah - won,

Florida - won,

Pennsylvania - won.

 

"I also noted that it is peculiar that there was no organized anger before a black man moved into the White House, but suddenly erupted after he did, before he even enacted his socialist agenda. That hints that race is a factor in their anger. At least at the birth of the movement."

 

[sherminator505]

I don't believe that the Tea Party is racist. I have observed that it is based in anger and negativity, and that is the playground on which the racists romp, so it is understandable that the racists among us would gravitate in that direction.

 

The problem with the Tea Party is that it is rooted in negativity. They concentrate on stopping the practices they believe won't help the country, but they offer little in regard to practices that would help. This is why they are influentual now, but probably won't last through the decade,

[OldGreyEagle]

I would hardly call Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania a "Tea Party" Candidate. While agreeing with some Tea Party ideas,its not like he embraced the Tea Party or the Tea Party embraced him.

 

Of all the Ads I saw for Toomey (and I live in Bathlehem PA) I did not see anything remotely linking him to the Tea Party

 

I think claiming Toomey'e election in Pennsylvania as a Tea Party Victory is a tad disingenuous

 

[BrentAllen]

OGE,

Feel free to take your argument to ABC News.

 

Which Tea Party Candidates Won?

Victors and Losers in Senate, House, Governor's Races

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2010_Elections/vote-2010-elections-tea-party-winners-losers/story?id=12023076

 

Ken Buck (CO) told ABC News he doesn't consider himself a Tea Party candidate, but they left him on the list. So, take Colorado and Pennsylvania off the list, if you wish, and the batting average is .556.

[OldGreyEagle]

I want to be sure I understand, you want be to take the word of ABC News over what I lived, experienced and saw

 

ABC News is hardly what most Tea Partiers would call an unimpeachable source but I am glad that Pat Toomey won

[BrentAllen]

"And in a tight battle and a significant win for Tea Party supporters, Republican candidate Pat Toomey defeated Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak to win the Pennsylvania Senate seat, CNN projects."

 

Toomey Would Consider Joining Proposed Tea Party Caucus

 

"Toomey said he received a lot of support from the tea party movement during his campaign against Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak.

 

I met with lots of folks who were active participants and others who were sympathetic to the tea party, he said. In my experience, they are ordinary Americans, mostly working-class and middle-class Americans, who love this country; theyre very worried about its future, in particular theyre worried about the mountain of debt thats being piled on their kids backs. ... I welcome their support, and I think they can play a very constructive role in keeping the Republican Party committed to the principles that we advocate.

 

The point I was trying to make with Gern is how the races turned out for those candidates that the Tea Party supported. They obviously supported Toomey.

[SR540Beaver]

I don't identify myself with the tea party. If I had to label myself, I'm a small L libertarian. That being said, I've yet to see anything personally, been provided with any evidence or heard a persuasive argument that lends any credence to the tea party being "racist". The small number of tea partiers I actually know in my neck of the woods are all Scouters that any and all of you would appreciate and enjoy spending time around the campfire with. The tea party has to do with following the constitution, lowering an overbearing tax burden, making the government live within their means and keeping the government out of people's business. Go to any tea party website and read their purpose and mission statements. Race has nothing to do with this other than making a convenient smear. Using the timing of the rise of the tea party to the election of Obama is like taking 1 plus 2 and getting a sum of 4. You could just as easily say that all the fatties in America rose up after we got a scrawny president. It isn't about the man's race.......it's about his policies.

[83Eagle]

Anyone who claims the anger wasn't there before Obama was elected is conveniently ignoring the fact that W left office with an abysmal 22 percent approval rating.

 

Are there racists IN the Tea Party? Undoubtedly, just as there are in the Republican Party, Liberterian Party, Socialist Party, even the Democrat party (Robert "KKK" Byrd, uttering the "N word" well into the 21st century, anyone?)

 

Not that Wikipedia is the source of all truth, but it's worth at least looking at a summary of where the modern Tea Party movement started, and what it stands for, before using such a broad brush with which to paint.

 

To answer the OP question, "Tea Party Just Racist?", the answer is obviously, and factually, no.

 

Unless of course your theory is that one (or two or three or three thousand or whatever) bad apples spoil the whole bunch, in which case every political party is racist.