Extreme Right-Wing Conservatives snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory?

The 2010 Primary Season is officially over and victories by Tea Party back candidates have rocked the GOP establishment to their foundation.  Look no further than Delaware and Christine O'Donnell's victory over Congressman Mike Castle.  Up to this point, Republican Mike Castle had never lost a political contest in this deep, dark blue of blue Democratic strongholds.  This is a span of more than 20 years. 

While the Tea Party continues to demonstrate they're a force of conservative nature that the GOP establishment cannot contend with, the implications of their primary successes are just beginning to be felt.  Democrats, having been pummeled since the start of the Great Recession and throughout this lack-luster economic recovery, are feeling a stiff gust of wind in their sails with O'Donnell's win in Delaware.  Why? 

For starters, Christine O'Donnell is a perennial candidate with a personal credibility problem, has significant personal financial issues, has sued a former employer for discrimination and wrongful termination, and as the head of an "Abstinence Only" group made controversial statements regarding masturbation.  In a nutshell, O'Donnell is the GOP's worst nightmare come true.  Click here for the CNN report on her background. 

There seems to be widespread consensus that Delaware is off the target list for the NRSC, virtually assuring Democratic retention of the Senate.  But will O'Donnell's victory affect other GOP targets?  Possibly. 

Democrats now have a chance to turn the tables and make the case for them to retain control by nationalizing the Tea Party candidates as too extreme.  What kind of message can the Democrats cobble together with less than two months to go until November 2nd, that will hold the line for them to retain control? 

Just like Republicans were handed a gift by Democrats overreaching with their legislative agenda and not focusing on the economy first and then everything else, Democrats have been handed the gift of the Tea Party and the circular firing squad within the GOP.  Republicans had the Democrats on the ropes and the Tea Party threw a banana peal on the mat hoping Democrats would step on it and fall.  Whoops! 

So here's the picture Democrats have to paint for the General Election voters:  Message Received.  We hear you America and we'll do better.  But if you didn't like what the Republicans did when they had control, just wait and see if you give the keys back to this group.  Too extreme to govern and make rational decisions.  The GOP and the Tea Party will be the end of us all.  The GOP created this problem (The Tea Party) and now they can't put the crazy kid back in Juvee. 

Here's a short list of statewide GOP nominees that are supported by the Tea Party: 

Delaware U.S. Senate - Christine O'Donnell 
New York Governor - Carl Paladino 
South Carolina Governor - Nikki Haley 
South Carolina U.S. Senate - Senator Jim Demint 
Florida Governor - Rick Scott 
Florida U.S. Senate - Marco Rubio 
Kentucky U.S. Senate - Rand Paul 
Texas Governor - Governor Rick Perry
Utah U.S. Senate - Mike Lee 
Nevada U.S. Senate - Sharron Angle 
Alaska U.S. Senate - Joe Miller 

If you know of more, please add to the list.  But with just this list, the window of opportunity is there for Democrats to take advantage of the extremist candidates running on the GOP slate and put them under the magnifying glass.  Christine O'Donnell's victory might be the proverbial straw that breaks the camels back for the GOP to run the table.  Then again, the American public might just be that fed up with business as usual in Washington, D.C. to elect this group and their supporting cast. 

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So, how exactly did Shirely Sherrod get fired? Oh yeah! Tea Party Activist Gone Wild!

The phrase "teachable moment" continues to be repeated ever since the last "teachable moment."  It seems that no one, not even White House staffers or Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack, learned from the Henry Louise Gates incident.  ENGAGE BRAIN BEFORE OPENING MOUTH.  VERIFY, VERIFY, VERIFY.  I have come to expect this type of behavior from conservatives and the various forms of right-wing political pundentry, but then again maybe they do. 

It seems that even when the rantings and ravings of the conservative talking heads proves once more that they are deaf-as-a-post to issues of race, they boost their readership and trick everyone into looking at the train wreak of social discourse they generate.  This was the point that Politico was trying to make in their article today, The Tucker and Breitbart Show.  Tucker Carlson, former co-host of CNN's Crossfire, even admits it's hard not to get caught up in the sensationalism needed to generate viewership on their blog.  Carlson is one of the conservative pundents that I admire (but don't agree with) because he at least tries to be a real journalist. 

There's a name for the type of journalism that has been promoted by Tea Party activists, as well as conservative political operatives:  Yellow Journalism.  It's that "gotcha" type that shouts "LOOK AT WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND THEY CALL ME A (RACIST, HYPOCRITE, DISHONEST, etc...).  It doesn't even try to use facts to support their story, just rhetoric, accusations, and counter-accusations to push their version of the truth. 

While I was finish up my undergrad degree I worked in high end hotels, primarily at a place called the Siena Hotel (by the way if this looks like a place you would like to go for a weekend get away, tell Anthony Carey that I sent you).  One of the first things you learn in the hospitality industry is that for every person that you provide excellent guest service to, they will tell maybe 1-3 people.  For every person that gets bad service, they will tell 10 or more people. 

Throughout my political and grassroots advocacy career, this rule has applied.  That's why grassroots work for positive social change is so difficult and demagoguery is so effective.  It's easier to spread a rumor than to take the time to learn the facts or discover the truth. 

The casualty of this latest battle was Shirley Sherrod who, as many of us know, was fired/forced to resign from her job with the USDA in Georgia.  The reason was a heavily, heavily edited tape of her giving a speech at a local NAACP banquet where she talks about the event that lead her to her "ah-ha" moment on race and discrimination. 

A very teachable event of realization was butchered by Tea Party Activist and conservative political hit man Andrew Breitbart.  Thank goodness the NAACP put the whole video up on their web site so we could get the entire context and hear what she really said.  Problem with what Breitbart did, he picked the wrong person to accuse of reverse racism.  Talk about a major backfire. 

If there was any person, any African American person, that should have bigotry in their heart it's Shirley Sherrod.  But she doesn't.  A woman who's father was killed by a racist, she went on to fight for Civil Rights and against injustice her entire life.  While nobody is perfect, and Mrs. Sherrod would I'm certain would agree, she too had to work though a lot to get to the place she is regarding race relations.  In many ways, I am no different. 

But again, because of Tea Party Activists (the racist and extremist elements of the Tea Party Movement) we are talking about race and discrimination again.  The bigotry of the conservative media gets a boost in their viewership and readership, and we are all distracted from the most important issue at hand, getting people back to work and fixing our economy. 

Is this what a TEA Party activist’s dream world looks like?

This past Thursday, September 17th, TEA Partiers gathered in Lynchburg and in other communities across the nation in honor of “Constitution Day,” to make a symbolic point as they continue to press their anti-tax, less government stance. There is no question that our national debt is massive and we cannot continue to live beyond our means. But, for all the anger and the animosity being fired at President Obama and Congressional Democrats, why are they standing so close to the ones that are the most responsible for our current financial situation?

Cutting taxes for the wealthiest and then engaging in deficit spending during non-recession years started with Ronald Regan. This approach to financing our Federal Government has ballooned our national debt to the levels they are at today. It continued with George H. W. Bush and was only slowed temporarily by the Clinton Administration. During the Clinton years, the size of government was reduced and the amount the Federal Government spent went down as well. In turn, we saw several years of budget surpluses that helped cut into the national debt. Then conservatives and anti-tax advocates had this notion that if there’s a budget surplus then it must mean that taxes are too high and there is no other debt to pay off.

Republicans pretty much had control of the Federal Government from 2001 to 2007 (when the Bush Administration was sworn in to the time that Democrats officially took control). So, it’s pretty misleading when activist groups like the TEA-Baggers put all this on the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats when the ones standing closest to them (Republicans and Free Market Conservatives) are the most responsible for the economic mess that we are in. Now how does this all fit with a possible, and from all accounts probable, dream world for TEA Party activists?

In the Ohio School District that covers Grove City, the normal sounds on Friday nights these days are the sound of passing cars on the road and chirping crickets at the local High School Football stadium. Grove City is notorious for fighting any tax increase. This is no dream world; this is reality for this working class community. The town voted for a third time in August in a referendum to increase the operating levy for the School District. For a third time, they levy failed to pass and the School Board took the next step – elimination of all extra-curricular activities. This paragraph from the article sums it up best:

The issue has turned neighbor against neighbor and caused shouting matches at school board meetings and on street corners. Those who oppose the levy argue that the district should find a more efficient way to spend the money it already has instead of asking for more tax dollars. The anti-levy crusaders appear to be the majority, evidenced by the fact that the levy already has been voted down three times. Those who support the levy warn that if the district doesn't offer a full program that includes a quality education and extra-curricular activities, parents will leave for another district that does. They also fear that another no vote will force the school board to slice into academic programs, which could trigger a mass exodus. That, they argue, would further erode the tax base and rob South-Western of many of its brightest students. To the pro-levy side, the Nov. 3 vote is nothing short of a referendum on the future of the community.

The situation in Grove City, Ohio should serve as an example of what happens when we don’t fully fund things like schools. Our tax dollars fund programs and services, like schools and infrastructure. I think it’s fair to debate how tax money is being spent. But, to hear the TEA Party activist rail on about being Taxed Enough Already, it’s like the Federal Government is taking every dime they have and they’re out on the streets. What are they really saying? Are they against increasing taxes or opposed to all taxes?

Regardless, taxes serve a purpose and when voters refuse to address critical funding issues that support the common good, the end result is what Grove City, Ohio is going through right now - cutting extra-curricular activities like sports as well as Student Government which helps develop civic skills in our young people. It also makes the community less attractive to potential residents, businesses and industries. Do TEA Baggers support killing communities because they feel they are Taxed Enough Already? I hope not.

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