The Tea Party and Romney/Ryan: Love or Hate?
Fri, 08/24/2012 - 7:08am
Posted by Vikingstar
There is a interesting article at Pajama Media about what the author describes as the "fractured" response to Romney/Ryan on the part of movement known as the Tea Party (which as we all know isn't actually a 'party' per se). Something that particularly struck me:
"In less crude terms, rallying behind the imperfect Romney-Ryan ticket represents an investment of political capital with the potential to pay dividends for libertarians within the Republican Party. Embraced as allies, liberty activists will continue to gain positions of influence and leadership which may eventually translate to purer liberty candidates. That’s politics in a free society; you have to build relationships and coalitions with people you do not agree with 100%.
The chief impediment to such coalition-building is dogmatic ideological segregation. Many activists care more about advancing their system of philosophy (and vetting out the impure among their ranks through inquisitions) than about affecting change in the real world."
The article also references someone who talks about how the choice of Ryan was, from the point of view of the 'establishment', a 'bold choice', and is a step in the 'right direction'. The reader comments are worth reading as well. And as I read this, I kept thinking about our own vocal minority of "liberty republicans" and their professed ideological purity, and what response they get from us impure unwashed Republicans.