Cross-posted at Eclectablog.com.
Giving my wife props for the idea for this diary.
It's time we changed the meme and change how we talk about the teabaggers. There is no "Tea Party" in the USA, not as a political party. There may be a bunch of clubs scattered around the country, groups of like-minded mostly-white, mostly-bigoted, super conservative no-brainers that don't see the stupidity and hypocrisy in most of what they do & say.
But there is no "Tea Party" on any ticket in this country this year.
There is only the Republican Party for these people. And it's high time we quit calling them Tea Partiers or teabaggers and call them what they are:
REPUBLICANS.
Enhanced GOPosaur graphic by second gen. Thanks, second gen!
So, Christine O'Donnell won in Delaware last night. Over and over and over again, even on this site, we hear her referred to as "the Tea Party candidate". She's no such thing. Did you happen to notice which race it was that she won? Yup:
She's a REPUBLICAN.
So, Carl Paladino won in New York last night. Google "Tea Party Candidate" and Paladino and see how many hits you get, hits referring to him as "the Tea Party candidate." He's no such thing. Did you happen to notice which race it was that he won? Yup:
He's a REPUBLICAN.
Ovide Lamontagne looks like he may squeak one out in New Hampshire after yesterday's primary. Even NPR is calling him the "Tea Party candidate". But you know what? He's no such thing. Did you happen to notice which race it was that he ran in? Yup:
He's a REPUBLICAN.
I could go on and on and on.
These people are not of the Tea Party. Hell, here in Michigan, some conniving Dems from Oakland County spent thousands of dollars to try to get "The Tea Party" on the ballot only to fail. The Tea Party people in Michigan FREAKED!!!
Yes, there's an anti-incumbent fervor in this country. But it's happening in the Republican Party, not across the board. As have written before, the teabaggers set out to take over an existing party rather than having to create one of their own. Mission accomplished.
It's time we change the meme. It's time we hang this dead, stinking albatross around the neck of the political party that has allowed these bigots, these small-minded, cold-hearted fools to take control. And not only did they allow them to take control, they put into play the rhetoric, the hatred, the fear, and the anti-government fervor that drives the teabaggers in everything they do politically. It's a monster they themselves created.
This November, there won't be races that have the Democratic candidate running against the out-to-lunch, out-of-touch, completely out-of-their-mind "tea party candidate". It will be a Democrat vs. a REPUBLICAN.
The so-called "Tea Party" groups are nothing more than Republican Clubs. They have now wrested control from the "establishment" Republicans in many places but let us never forget: THEY ARE REPUBLICANS.
And the Republicans get to own them.
They own this:
And this:
And this:
I say it's time we quit calling the teabaggers, tea partiers or tea party candidates. It's time to label them appropriately. As Republicans. Let's help the Republicans own that. Because, at the end of the day, it's a Frankenstein monster of their own creation.
I'm just sayin'...
UPDATE: I'd like to direct your attention to NCrissieB's most-excellent comment that explains very succinctly and better than I have why changing how we talk about these wingnuts is so important:
I've been using "Tea Party Republicans" for months now in Morning Feature and elsewhere at BPI. The DNC has begun using the phrase as well. I apply that phrase to all TGOP candidates, not simply those who expressly ran on a 'Tea Party' platform.
The Tea Party are the Republican Party now, and we can't let them play the Overton Window game of "Tea Party = right fringe, Democrats = left fringe, thus Republicans = center."
We and our candidates must make every TGOP candidate either endorse the extremist views (and alienate independent voters) or renounce the extremist views (and alienate their base). What we can't let them do is pretend the extremists are Those People ... and thus benefit from that extremism without having to own it.
Egg. Zack. Lee.
UPDATE 2: The more I think about this, the more I am convinced we need to call them plain ole "REPUBLICANS". Calling them "Tea Party Republicans" or some variation on that with some qualifier allows the Republican Party to distance themselves from these nutjobs. As the beautiful, talented, and wise scenna said in her comment:
When I was talking about this with Eclectablog last night I was asking him if the Tea Party is actually a party in some places. I was confused because I kept hearing "The Tea Party candidate..." but I had not recalled hearing that the tea party was an actual party. My point is, I am somewhat politically aware, more than the average person, but not as much as most of you and if I was confused about the tea party thing imagine how many people actually think there is a Tea Party. If those folks all knew that these candidates were Republicans then the message would be different. The message would not be Tea Party = crazy but would be Republicans = poor judgment and that tag would be on every member of that party. I believe this is an important message and I believe it could make a big difference in this election.
To those that argue that we need to keep the "tea party" or "teabagger" label because it has such negative connotations, I would argue that these people don't need a label to make them look crazy. They are perfectly capable of doing that all for themselves. And they DO! Nearly everyday. So why not tie that craziness to the Republican Party. It will pay dividends to Democrats far into the future if we do.