Meeting in Washington to plot strategy to sabotage 69-year-old real estate mogul and GOP front-runner Donald Trump, Tea Party conservatives seek any means possible to disenfranchise millions of Republican voters. Instead of jumping for joy that the GOP finally has a Reagan-like candidate capable of bringing millions of voters to the Party, the Tea Party is only concerned about their extremist conservative movement. “The establishment is like a wounded animal, now cornered,” said Mark Meckler, a leader in the Tea Party movement. What Meckler doesn’t get is that the Tea Party has never been the GOP establishment, only a fringe group looking to scale back the federal government. Taking kernels from President Ronald Reagan’s conservative rhetoric, the Tea Party went so far to the right they fell off the cliff. Meckler should be thrilled by Trump’s widespread success.
Meckler and other Tea Party types conflate the establishment with their own extremist movement. Rising from the ashes of Rep. Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign, the Tea Party derived its funding from David and Charles Koch’s 2004 Americans for Prosperity. Popularized by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Rep. Michele Bachamann (R-Minn.) in 2008, their right wing views gained popularity during the reign of Barack Obama. When former GOP nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) picked Palin April 29, 2008 as his VP, the Tea Party went wild. McCain himself touted Palin as “the future of the Republican Party.” Little did he know his campaign sank like a rock, guaranteeing Obama his first victory. So much for the same Tea Party folks plotting to torpedo Trump’s campaign. Mitt Romney made the same mistake in 2012 picking Tea Party favorite Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
Now House Speaker, Ryan dismissed calls by the Tea Party to draft him for president in the event of a GOP brokered convention. Whatever nostalgia one has for the Tea Party or the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity, it’s done nothing but damage the GOP brand. Even 43-year-old Tea Party advocate Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus started to figure out Trump’s national anti-Washington movement is good for the GOP. “They [the Tea Party] are terrified, irrational and flailing wildly,” said Meckler, admitting that the conservative backlash against Trump hurts the Republican Party. Tea Party conservatives hoped that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) would carry the mantle once Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) dropped out March 15 after losing his home state of Florida to Trump by nearly 20%. Cruz hasn’t yet realized that GOP voters don’t want a conservative in 2016.
After two presidential election failures for the GOP, Trump has hit the right cord with GOP, independent and crossover voters. “This is the moment for all those who believe in a strong America to come together and craft a new path forward,” Cruz said on his Twitter page, hoping to bring Rubio’s voters into the fold. Unlike Cruz, Rubio appealed to more moderate Republicans, not inclined to hue the Tea Party line. Facing delegate-rich Arizona next week, Trump holds a commanding lead. With Kasich trying to compete in Arizona and Utah, Cruz continues to watch his fortunes dwindle. Looking ahead to primaries in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, neither Cruz nor Kasich have much chance. Tea Party conservatives haven’t faced the music that 2016 voters look to something different, not the same partisan bickering between Republicans and Democrats paralyzing Washington.
Disgruntled former GOP candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.S.C) continued his beef with Trump after sinking former Gov. Jeb Bush’s campaign. Graham now offered Cruz his services. After trashing Cruz, Graham sees him as the long-shot way to stop Trump. Calling Cruz a “reliable Republican,” Cruz faces the same snake bite as Bush joining up with Graham. Instead of dropping out after Democrats helped Kasich beat Trump March 15, Kasich offers the anti-Trump movement a feeble way to stop the New York billionaire from collecting 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination. Kasich has about zero chance of winning another primary or, for that matter, adding to his piddly delegate count. Tea Party conservatives and mainstream Republicans need to start listening to the new breed of GOP voters looking for a change in 2016 and backing real estate magnate Donald Trump.
Spending unprecedented cash on attack ads on Trump, Super PACs connected to the Republican Party have only backfired, fueling more interest in his campaign. Recent brainstorming by the GOP establishment and Tea Party conservatives can’t stop a national movement from gaining more steam. Voters on both sides of the aisle have reached the tipping point, seeking change in 2016. Former Secretary of State and Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton has her hands full demonizing Trump, battling the same national movement against the status quo. Like other established politicians, Hillary fits the status quo, promising more of the same should she get elected. Trump needs to reach out to GOP Party officials to get on the same page to take back the White House in November. More GOP squabbles and infighting assures Hillary continues Obama’s two-term legacy.
