Is the party over?

Breitbart.com's "Big Journalism," throwing another little fit:

[I]f Romney won't fight for conservative principles, the Tea Party is going to start looking elsewhere--fast. No one wants to live through the frustration of October 2008 all over again. No one wants to watch another conservative capitulate to Obama.

Did not the tea party participate in the primaries? Did the primary process not render Mitt Romney the Republican nominee, fair and square? Has Mr. Romney not twisted himself into hideous contortions to placate and pacify the (admittedly insatiable) tea partiers?

And just what "conservative principles" is Breitbart referencing? Is one them its own chief, ahem, conservative principle--that of untethered, intoxicated frenzy over every moderate move President Obama makes?

Don't mistake. I'm delighted the tea party might well "look elsewhere." Would that they hie to the nearest, most pious, ideological nunnery. Indeed, I'm rather surprised and unambiguously disappointed they haven't already done so.

For me, the singular salvation of Mitt Romney's inevitability was that the tea partiers would break from the GOP in a final, futile gasp of horror and run a third-party candidate, wherever they could manage the state-by-state ballot process. But that alternative would have required of tea partiers a good deal less frothing extravagance and more organizing competence, virtually all of which they seem to have spent two years ago.

Alas. The party seems to be over.

Comments

[Beauzeaux]

As you say, organizing a campaign to get someone on the ballot requires a LOT of organization, work, and expertise. Gingrich couldn't manage it. The republicans who could do such a thing have already left for Romney. As has the money.
The howling loons that make up the "tea party" these days are mostly the 522nd Chairborne.

[AnneJ]

So why are they whining now? The early primary season was chock full of crazy and stupid for the teabaggers to choose from. They had a wide selection of unfettered marketeers, anti-gay bigots, and all manner of environment and indifferent to the needs of the working person loonbags and still they settled for Willard. They wanted a rubber stamp for their every demand, and now they may have gotten their wish, so they should just shut the hell up and support him or stay at home on election day. Those radicals have done enough damage as it is.

[Bruce Adams]

From Mittens' point of view sullen obedience is still obedience.

[NickT]

Delicious contortions, surely? We might as well get what entertainment there is to be had from the Talented Mr Romney while we still have him to kick around.

[Robert Lipscomb]

Presidential election with an incumbant running have a fundamental dymanic that is rarely acknowledged in political discourse. While a sitting president is being president and running around doing presidential things, his millions of adversaries can run around doing adversarial things, such as making ad hominem attacks, conflating issues and well lie.

The president cannot address each and everyone of these attacks. So, he suffers the slings and arrows. If he is a Democrat, his own party attacks him for not going out there and debate the adversaries, while his party sits at home and posts on blogs.

In the course of an election, the debate gets distilled down to two people going toe-to-toe, giving the sitting president his only real opportunity to take on the ad homenim attacks, conflations and lies in earshot of all the persuadable voters.

This time the GOP has selected the father of Romneycare/Obamacare to disown Obamacare/Romneycare. And they have also tasked him with defending two unanimous votes to end Medicare.

President Obama is patiently waiting for his turn to do what the bed-wetters in his party have been whining for him to do. He will soon be duelling with an unarmed man.

[Turgidson]

"If he is a Democrat, his own party attacks him for not going out there and debate the adversaries, while his party sits at home and posts on blogs."

It's worse than that. Some of the self-idenfitied "activist left" can't stand Obama because he made, GASP, compromises in order to govern effectively. I'm not a huge fan of some of his compromises either, but I'll take the 50-75% of a loaf Obama delivered over starving to death but being proud of my idealism.

And on the other side, he has Democratic movers and shakers pissing themselves with fear because the Obama campaign dared to make Bain a campaign issue.

Obama is gonna piss someone off no matter what he does. And that's just talking about HIS party.

If I was him I would have resigned at least 2 years ago, both middle fingers extended, spewing expletives into an open mic as I walk to the helicopter. Fortunately for all of us, Obama is a better man than I and seems to be holding up well despite the daily nonsense.

[majii]

Reverend Al Sharpton reported on 'Politics Nation' today that the tea parties are mobilizing again and have planned events all over the nation for tomorrow. I guess the tea partiers are ignoring polling showing that they are more unpopular than atheists.