Rebalancing The Right
by digby
The Tea Party had a rally today in DC and hardly anyone showed up. I think it's fairly clear that unless the astro-turfed groups provide funds and pay for logistics and Fox News relentless flogs it, the "movement" isn't all that organized.
But it's probably more than that. The Tea Party as a distinct identity was always going to be short lived. We have a two party system and these so-called non-partisan splinter groups tend to move back into the system after a cycle or two. In this case, it was a brilliant strategy on the part of the GOP and the plutocrats. They had to separate themselves quickly from the Bush legacy of failure so they jumped on/created a separate conservative strain they could portray as distinct from the party and mobilize it for 2010. The succeeded admirably, but they aren't needed anymore. The energy is gone and they are going back to the party.
However, the far right is now and even more powerful bloc in the Party and one which the House Republicans can use very effectively in negotiations. ("I'm sorry Mr President, I'd love to help you, but I can't do anything with these people.") More importantly, they are convinced that their victory truly validated their extremism. One hopes that the public's growing restiveness over this hubristic overreach will reach critical mass at the right time so they will be pulled back from the precipice. We have big problems in this country and having a bunch of extremist nutballs with enough political power to veto any rational solutions is dangerous.
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