The GOP warns the Tea Party by Judson Phillips

The GOP warns the Tea Party

Isn't that a bit like Alfred E. Newman warning the Incredible Hulk?

The fear is in the air at the GOP.  Two GOP stalwarts spoke to the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference in Washington and came out against a “purity test.”  Conservatives should be very alarmed about these kinds of statements. 

Why?

This is the GOP’s way of pushing back at the Tea Party.  They are saying to us, “you need to accept whoever we put out there.”  The Tea Party has a message for them.

NO WAY.

People like Haley Barbour and Reince Priebus want the Tea Party to just go along with who the Republican establishment picks out.  The establishment does not like Sarah Palin. Whether she should or should not run or even will run is a different story.  The establishment has their knives out for her and do not want her to run. They want Michele Bachmann to sit down and shut up.   They want Hermain Cain to fade quietly into oblivion. They want us to support Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty or Jon Huntsman.  In other words, conservatives should sit in the back of the bus and do as they are told.

In the past, the establishment has given us John McCain and John Boehner.  A few years earlier they gave us George W. Bush and before him Bob Dole.  The establishment’s track record at picking winners, let alone conservatives, is weak at best.

Here is our message to the GOP.  If you want to nominate conservatives, the Tea Party is with you.  We are the people who will get out and man phone banks and put out yards signs.   We are the boots on the ground who go door to door.  Give us a conservative candidate; we will be there in force.  We will ensure the voters get out.

Give us another John McCain, we very well may stay home. Give us another establishment RINO like Mitt Romney and you will most certainly guarantee a second Obama term. 

There is a purity test.  We, who are Republicans, are Republicans for a reason.  We have beliefs. We believe in limited government and freedom.  We believe in free markets and personal responsibility.  We believe in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  We believe in American exceptionalism.    These are not just words we throw around when it comes time to campaign or raise money.  These are things we live by.

Yes, we do have a purity test.  If you have supported an individual mandate to force citizens to buy health insurance, you are not pure enough for our support.   If you have supported cap and trade, you are not pure enough for our support.  If you do not believe in massive spending cuts and not raising the debt ceiling, you are not pure enough for our support.   If you are not committed to significant tax cuts, you are not pure enough for us.  If we have to flip a coin to figure out what you believe in, you are not pure enough for us. 

If we have trouble differentiating you from your Democrat opponent, not just in words, but in deeds, you are not pure enough for us.

Haley Barbour and Reince Priebus need to understand.  They have positions within the party but they do not rule the party.  We the people speak for the party.  Saddle us with another RINO like McCain or Boehner and you will hear conservatives speak with a very loud voice.

Yes, there is a purity test and if you want to win in 2012, it had better be followed.