Come 2012, will teabaggers be back behind the GOP?

Originally posted by Southern Guardian
How many of you can be accounted at those tea parties? Tell me what changed your mind about Obama? It was apparent the man supported the stimulus package, he made his stances clear, why the change of mind?

I also vote Democrat across the board in local elections and waffle between Libertarian (their candidates tend to suck, also) and Democrat in the Presidential race. I don't know how many Democrat voters showed up to the Tea Parties, but I do know that a lot of us are at least sympathetic to the cause.

As for Obama: I haven't changed my mind about him. What market-based thinkers view as "good for the economy" is not what politicians view as "good for the election" so it's easy to see how politicians will do things that we think are stupid. All of them will, without fail. I vote based on social issues, and foreign policy in particular. Although I don't like his economics one bit, I do think that he has tremendous potential as the lead Ambassador for our nation, and he has surrounded himself with intellectual heavyweights who might be able to help him do a lot of good in the realm of domestic policy.

So, I still like him more than the alternatives. That doesn't mean that I have to like his economic policy.

IMO the Republican party is going to split in two with the current right kooks in one camp and providing there both willing to give a little the Libertarians and moderate Republicans in the other . Although it would seem more likely that the moderate arm of the Republican party would simply go at alone leaving Libertarians isolated as per usual .

Cheers xpert11 .

reply to post by xpert11


One problem is that the "libertarian party" is divided into two camps, with most of the division centering around free-trade/border issues. You've got the people who think that we need to limit free trade and go back to producing our own junk; and then you've got the classical liberals who view free-trade and open borders as being great for the economy, as well as being our best shot at world peace.

So, yeah, we're going to remain marginalized. And maybe that's where we belong.

[edit on 18-5-2009 by theWCH]

Originally posted by Southern Guardian
Why do you suppose they give a damn now Flyers?

I've answered this before elsewhere ... they don't 'give a damn' ... what they see is GOOD MARKETING. They know what people want to see. It's SMART MARKETING to cover these teaparties. FOX is #1 in cable news for a reason - they are smart when it comes to what people want to see and hear.

is fox news part of this mainstream media?

Yes.

Or is that a no comment from you?

What the hell are you talking about? Do you even know? :shk:

I dont need proof. I know its going to happen,

Okay ... I just saw SGs general apology for teabag comments.
Good for you SG ...

In my opinion .... these protests will bring us together .... and votes will peel off the dems and the republicans in 2010 and 2012.

Of course .. the swine flu problem very well could put an end to the teabag parties this year. This will make both the dems and the republicans in office in DC happy.

I have voted GOP for a long time in past elections, 2008 was different, I wrote in Ron Paul (yeah, he is a "Republican" in name, so I guess you could argue I voted for the GOP).

I went to the Tea Party in Atlanta and was disgusted that the GOP was trying to co-opt the event.

I WILL NEVER blindly vote for the GOP candidate again, they have left me and no longer are the party the best represents my beliefs. Sadly, neither do the Democrats.

I just want to be left alone and pay my fair share, that's not happening from either party right now.

I want them all out of office,

I think the Career politician has lost sight of what they should stand for.

Honestly I don't know what they are drinking in Washington.

And term limits,

I can't vote democrat in all good conscious, but I would vote for anyone that I thought was honest and qualified regardless of their political party.

Although I support where the original movement came from, SG does have a point. The GOP is trying to hijack the "teabag" movement and feed off of it.

And while there are MANY who didn't support either parties in this movement, the sad truth is the GOP are trying to feed off of it and claim it.

This is where we have to call out anyone in the GOP who tries to identify with this movement. Just like when Rep. Gresham Barret was booed off stage.

ANYONE, Republican or Democrate, who supported these bailouts does NOT deserve to be associated with this movement.

Originally posted by DiabolusFireDragon
ANYONE, Republican or Democrate, who supported these bailouts does NOT deserve to be associated with this movement.

QFMFT! Boy do I agree with that, luckily, my congressman has listened to his constituents and has voted against every bailout package since this whole fiasco started.

reply to post by Southern Guardian


Good of you to apologize SG.

I don't understand what compelled you to make the thread in the first place. I was finding myself agreeing with you on many things lately...especially when it came to the Constitution as you made a nice thread on it not long ago.

Many of the people here feel cheated and that no one represents them anymore. I just hope you understand that many of the people you were looping together were just as angry at the previous administration....some of whom even voted for Obama. I can't remember how many times I read on ATS that someone was voting for the lesser of two evils.

If another run of the mill Neo-con is the only other option...then there will be no choice for me and I will have to sit, watch, and be angry for another 4 years...regardless of who it is.

Originally posted by DiabolusFireDragon
Although I support where the original movement came from, SG does have a point. The GOP is trying to hijack the "teabag" movement and feed off of it.

And while there are MANY who didn't support either parties in this movement, the sad truth is the GOP are trying to feed off of it and claim it.

This is where we have to call out anyone in the GOP who tries to identify with this movement. Just like when Rep. Gresham Barret was booed off stage.

I agree. This is not the Republicans movement, and they can't steal it, the people see through them now. That is why we need a strong 3rd party along the line of the Libertarians and Constitutionalist.

reply to post by theWCH


Your post is a bit tricky to answer without going off topic but it is still worth addressing . Common sense ought to tell people that a good approach would be to have secure borders with pro free trade policy's . The reasons behind this logic are to far off topic to go into here . If the two schools of thought cant reach a compromise then there isnt a lot of hope for any change in the US electoral landscape .

Cheers xpert11 .

Originally posted by spacedoubt
NO, this is not a name purposely adopted by any group.
This name was handed out by an equal yet opposite sect of the Democrats.
...
It's so new, that I'm not completely sure that the term has been effectively defined though.

The term seems to have arisen around CNN's Anderson Cooper and a reference he made to the tea-party supporters.

I think it was a freudian slip.

Anyone who wants to address issues without ad hominem refers to the anti-tax, conservative (but not necessarily GOP), protesters as tea-party protesters, not the (projecting?) "teabaggers."

(Without being able to use name-calling (e.g., 'fringers', 'teabaggers') how can SG post anything? You certainly won't see a "liberal v. conservative" discussion on the merits; you'll get poorly disguised quips and jabs. So, why take that away from her?)

jw

Originally posted by Finalized
I WILL NEVER blindly vote for the GOP candidate again, they have left me and no longer are the party the best represents my beliefs. Sadly, neither do the Democrats.

There is nothing that requires anyone ever to vote a straight party ticket. Some states require you to vote in one party or another's primary, thus limiting your options. But if you vote for the most qualified candidate, regardless of party affiliation, you can never fault yourself.

Some candidates "adopt" a party for the inherent support, but vote their own agenda anyway. That's why there are "party defections" and people moving from one to another, or a third party, and sometimes back again.

Anyone who votes straight Democrat or straight Republican exhibits no free will, but has become a puppet of a party; to be traded, sold and bargained for. You become a tool and not a voice.

You are not to be listened to, but pandered to because you will take what they give without thinking.

If voters would educate themselves and vote issues and people, then they might see a responsive government. As it stands now, most voters are taken for granted.

jw

reply to post by Southern Guardian
I've shown you, posted links on your threads (and challenged you to show otherwise) that the tea party movement began well before ANY media coverage.

The movement grew out of localized protests against unfettered government spending and policies designed only to cater to specific minority constituencies who were fooled into voting for the Democrat ticket in 2008, and whose votes would be necessary to re-election in 2010 and 2012.

If the FOX news arm and GOP co-opted the opportunity, so what?
The anti-tax movement exists without reference to or support of any party. Most protests on April 15 REFUSED to allow party elected officials to speak.

I don't need proof. ... I know for fact ... Why should I show you proof?

Is a refuge for the delusional and the sycophant. When given proof of the opposite of your baseless accusations, you resort to

fringers ... bushies ... teabaggers ... .

Your 'turnabout' is hollow. When are you going to protest Obama's murder of Afghani children? Why don't we see your threads of disgust at his catering to warmongers like N. Korea and Iran, or even Israel?

Your devotion to the Obama agenda and liberal ideology, and hatred for those who disagree, do not go away because your god moved you with a speech. Act on your conscience. Detail Obama's neglect of rights at Guantanamo, his commitment to military tribunals, his support for criminal and corrupt enterprises that thrive on voter fraud, his stepped up efforts in Afghanistan, his coddling of Iranian tyrants who imprison American women.

Speak up for what you say you believe in. But you don't really. You believe in Obama, and little else matters.

Until you are able to address an issue head-on, this tack leads nowhere but to expose congenital (or was it acquired?) tunnel vision.

jw

[edit on 19-5-2009 by jdub297]

Originally posted by Kailassa
Thanks to Southern Guardian and Urban Dictionary, I have added a new term to my lexicon.

And this is a name people have chosen to call themselves?

No, only the uneducated and purposely provocative liberals who can't face the fact that the majority of voters are not happy with your god.

Want proof? How about what Obama's lead disciple says about his "freudian slip":

"Anderson Cooper Says "Teabagging" Comment Was "Stupid, Silly"

www.mediabistro.com...

CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke at UCLA Sunday as part of the Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture Series, and was asked about his "teabagging" comment last month during the Q&A portion.

Here is a video of his response, taken by an audience member.
www.youtube.com...

Calling it a "stupid, silly, one-line aside," he touched on the attention it received. "I think it's an incorrect statement to say I was, in any way, trying to disparage legitimate protests," said Cooper. "I don't think it's my job to disparage, or encourage, which oddly other networks seemed to be doing. Protest is the great right of all Americans, and it's not my job in any way to make fun of people or disparage what they're doing."

Cooper said he regretted making the comment. "If people took offense to that and felt that I was disparaging their legitimate right to protest, and what they were doing, then that is something I truly regret, because I don't believe in doing that," he said. "Having this discussion just takes away from the real story."

So, you and SG repeat it, adopt it, practice it all you want. The liberals' leader and spokes "man" disavows it now.

jw

[edit on 19-5-2009 by jdub297]

reply to post by Southern Guardian

The last election offered two candidates that proposed similar views of big government. Big government versus small government is more important than liberal versus conservative.

The Tea Party People (not "Tea Baggers", which is a derogatory term referring to form of homosexual activity) are not in favor of big government from either party. Remember, the Republican Party led by Abraham Lincoln was a 3rd party.

You gutless ignorant fool! (I apologize Mods, but he's asking for it! His vitriol is obviously nothing more than "hate bait" and he needs to be called for what he is)
When will you EVER understand? It isn't about democrats or republicans, I hated Bush just as much as you did! I didn't even bother voting even for McCain this time, because I KNEW he was nothing more than another puppet in different clothing. Why on God's green earth would you even think I would want to vote for the republican fools that are nothing more than "The other side to the SAME coin"?

Your arrogance and your ignorance is so incredibly unbearable. It honestly makes me wonder about your motives for coming to ATS at all! It seems you've already made up your mind with such a narrow point of view, why not simply go to a "I Love Obama" forum where you will find like minded robots, instead of coming here to ATS where you know you'll be shown the ridiculousness of your blind faith? Do you see yourself as some kind of democratic "evangelica priestl" sent here to "change the minds of those who do not understand the word of the Messiah, my lord Obama"?

Go ahead fool! keep spewing your garbage and generalizing everyone here on ATS who doesn't agree with you as a "closet republican" or whatever it is that makes you feel good at night. You're not fooling anyone here. What's next? Would you care to throw at us the other poison filled words that your sick pathetic party has been throwing at us? Would you like to start calling us "inbred rednecks"? how about "Gun-toting bible thumpers"?

You know, the more and more FILTH I hear from your party about "we are tolerant, republicans are racist/sexist" etc. etc. the more and more I'm seeing that your party is nothing more than full of sh*t because they end up doing the exact opposite. Your party's motto should really be "We're tolerant of all... as long as you believe what WE believe"

Since we're asking. What will it take for you Obama bots to realize the error of Obama's ways? How much of YOUR hard earned money will he have to spend away, sink you, your children and your children's children further into debt before you realize "Oops, we made a mistake! We didn't want Bush, but now we got a Bush 2.0/Karl Marx combination going on, which is worse!"


[edit on 20-5-2009 by Question]

Originally posted by CharlesMartel
The Tea Party People (not "Tea Baggers", which is a derogatory term referring to form of homosexual activity) are not in favor of big government from either party. Remember, the Republican Party led by Abraham Lincoln was a 3rd party.

The republican party of today is verymuch different to what the party of Lincoln stood for during the 19th century. If the Republican party of the 18th century is actually the Libertarian party of today. Lets not forget the great party switch of the 60's.

ok I'll bite.

Originally posted by Question
You gutless ignorant fool! (I apologize Mods, but he's asking for it! His vitriol is obviously nothing more than "hate bait" and he needs to be called for what he is)

I hardly find "gutless ignorant fool" offending, and I dont think its going to add much for the sake of debate here.

When will you EVER understand? It isn't about democrats or republicans,

And how do you know that when applying this to most tea bag protestors? How are you so sure most of these individuals are not GOP voters jumping onto the bandwagon to only jump off again come 2012? Its a cycle Iv seen in the past, what is so different now?

Question I well and truly hope that these individuals will vote third party come 2012 because this country needs to go beyond just two sides, that being said history has shown us a different light to these movements and once folks get home. You say this isnt about the two parties, how do you know that once another star GOP candidate comes out in 2012?

I hated Bush just as much as you did!

Im sure you did. Many of the folks here feel the same way however howmany of those tea bag protestors out there didnt vote for McCain? How are you so sure they will be different come 2012 question?

I look back at history and I see the same cycle. Now I aint blasting what most folks are saying here, the end to the two parties and the promotion of third parties, I like that idea, but this has been said and done time and time again. Whats so different this time? How do you know that movement hasnt been hijacked? ATS members have been against the two party system for years, most of those folks at those tea party protests have evidently done so for the first time.

My concern here is the "bandwagon" cycle that we find every election period.

Go ahead fool! keep spewing your garbage and generalizing everyone here on ATS who doesn't agree with you as a "closet republican" or whatever it is that makes you feel good at night. You're not fooling anyone here. What's next? Would you care to throw at us the other poison filled words that your sick pathetic party has been throwing at us? Would you like to start calling us "inbred rednecks"? how about "Gun-toting bible thumpers"?

This really isnt necessary.