Removing The Core
by digby
Karl's getting a little bit nervous:
My advice to them is to keep their distance from any single party and instead influence both parties on debt, spending and an over-reaching federal government. Allowing third-party movements to co-opt the tea partiers' good name, which is happening in Nevada, will only serve to elect opponents of the tea party philosophy of low-taxes and fiscal restraint. It could also discredit the tea party movement.
A small fraction of the tea partiers' leadership are ambitious individuals who haven't been able to hold office in either the GOP or Democratic Party. Some are from fringe groups like the John Birch Society or the remnants of the LaRouchies. Others see the tea party movement as a recruiting pool for volunteers for Ron Paul's next presidential bid.
If tea party groups are to maximize their influence on policy, they must now begin the difficult task of disassociating themselves from cranks and conspiracy nuts. This includes 9/11 deniers, "birthers" who insist Barack Obama was not born in the U.S., and militia supporters espousing something vaguely close to armed rebellion.
He omits the Freedomworks/FOX effect for obvious reasons. But the fact is that there will be no purging of the crazies until they shut up Beck and Limbaugh --- and that isn't happening any time soon. And I'm fairly sure Karl couldn't give a damn.
It's the third party thing that really has him worried. He was around during the Perot years and he knows very well that the teabaggers are the latest permutation of the "angry white male" (and the women who love them) faction --- the base of the Republican Party. If they go third party it is very likely the Democrats will win in spite of themselves.
If crazy birthers and truthers and Jesus militia members agreed to only vote Republican, he'd be perfectly happy to have them in the fold. He knows very well they'll settle right down and become good little robots once the Republicans are safely in charge. But they get uppity when the Big Boyz are out of power and start doing silly things like run third party candidates and screw up the whole plan. They're hard to control when they get all het up over the hippies and the blacks ruining everything.
I'm thinking that if they can't get them under control we might see something like a Jim DeMint candidacy. It might be the only way they can keep them in the tent.
.