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- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Bill Press
What a difference a year makes.
Last summer, both Republicans and Democrats considered the idea of a
No longer. This summer, although still scattered and with no official organization or leader, the
Indeed, in six states, Tea Partiers have stolen the
In Utah, Mike Lee ousted incumbent Senator Robert Bennett. In Kentucky, Rand Paul trounced Mitch McConnell's handpicked candidate, Trey Grayson. In Alaska, Sarah Palin-backed Joe Miller upset incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski. Ken Buck knocked out former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton in Colorado. Sharron Angle beat out front-runner Sue Lowden in Nevada. And now, in Delaware, Christine O'Donnell has toppled Congressman Mike Castle, who'd been supported by the entire state and national Republican hierarchy.
Flush with victory, Tea Partiers are celebrating what they call the "de-rinofication" of the
The one exception, Utah, is so red it doesn't matter how extreme a candidate is. Not so for Alaska. Palin's handpicked candidate, Joe Miller, wants to phase out
Same in Kentucky. About as red as you can get, but are Kentucky voters really ready for Rand Paul, who proposes shutting down the federal departments of education, commerce, and energy, and calls
In Colorado, Democratic incumbent Michael Bennett was considered political dead meat until Tea Partiers won the Republican nomination for Ken Buck, who joins the cry for abolishing the departments of energy and education and began his campaign by calling for repeal of the 17th Amendment, which established direct election of U.S. senators by popular vote, and a return to the "good old days" when state legislatures, not voters, chose members of the
Majority Leader Harry Reid got a similar break. Talks of his political demise ceased once Nevada Republicans rallied behind Sharron Angle, who makes Sarah Palin sound almost rational. True to form, Angle wants to phase out both
In the "how wacky can you get?" department, however, even Sharron Angle takes a back seat to Christine O'Donnell. Typical Tea Partier, she calls for repealing the health care reform law, federal funding for stem cell research and AIDS prevention. But, as a pro-abstinence conservative Christian crusader, she also advocates opposition to any sex outside of marriage and opposition to masturbation. Which is what I was taught, growing up a Catholic in Delaware, but may not be a winning political issue statewide.
Democrats would make a big mistake in taking any of these races for granted. In addition to pointing out the Tea Partiers' extreme positions, they must also work hard over the next eight weeks in providing a stronger, saner alternative. But there's no doubt that, in at least four out of six states, Republicans have given Democrats an opportunity to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
O'Donnell's victory, in fact, prompted Karl Rove to exclaim that Republicans had destroyed their last best hope of regaining control of the
Available at Amazon.com:
Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future
The Backlash: Right-Wing Radicals, High-Def Hucksters, and Paranoid Politics in the Age of Obama
The Disappearing Center: Engaged Citizens, Polarization, and American Democracy
The Virtues of Mendacity: On Lying in Politics
Bush on the Home Front: Domestic Policy Triumphs and Setbacks
The Political Fix: Changing the Game of American Democracy, from the Grassroots to the White House
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