Roll Call - an inside the beltway staple for news on politics - had an interesting report on Senator Hatch's sudden Tea Party outlook. You can read it HERE.
It looks the long serving senator is up against a conservative wave of new delegates who might be questioning his commitment to their ideals. The sad part is that Hatch simply doesn't get where the root of his own reelection problem lies. It's within his conservative credentials - he will find it, but he won't like it.
The fundamental disconnect between the career Republicans and the Tea Party voters who want them out is a failure to listen and understand on the part of the elected class. Poor Senator Hatch can't understand why anyone who calls themself "conservative" would want to oust a sitting Senator with 35 years of conservative leadership. Nobody has had the heart, or guts, to tell Senator Hatch that the "35 years" part is what bothers these people, not his commitment to conservative values. Although, it could be argued that no real conservative with real conservative values would ever serve more than a couple of terms - entrenched Washington politicians are frowned upon by real conservatives who believe turnover is a good thing. So, I guess in reality - his conservative values really are being questioned.
People who identify themselves with the Tea Party movement are focused on the mantra "they must all go!" They don't like where their country ended up in 2008 and they surely don't like where it has headed since. If you were in office before today - and I mean literally today - you were a part of the problem and you have to go. Their reasoning much of the time is simple:
- You either let it happen on your watch
OR
- You were a party to it
It's a very black and white way of looking at things. The problem is that it might cost the Tea Party movement in the long run.
Our government still runs the way it has run since the 60s and it not going to change over night. Cleaning out the existing conservative members of the House and Senate just to prove a point about your current view of the state of politics could make your goals harder to attain. A young inexperienced Republican delegation in either chamber could get run over by the savvy veterans on the Democrat side. There is something to be said for experience gained navigating the treacherous waters of government as it exists now.
Changing the look and feel of the conservatives at the federal level should be undertaken at a cautious pace to insure that a useful, powerful mass is sustained through whatever greater change the Tea Party crowd seeks in our government. If they move too fast they risk putting inexperienced players in the game when it's advantageous for them to have the old pros on the court.
I sincerely think there's a balance between scaring the electorate straight and electing new members of the electorate when ideals aren't met. Taking out a senator like Hatch would be like setting your all-star quarterback on the bench for the SuperBowl because he showed up late to practice. It just wouldn't make any sense.
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