Tuesday, February 25, 2014
G.O.P. Leaders Draw Re-election Challenges From the Right
We have talked about in class how the Republican Party has the more moderate wing and the Tea Party wing, and how these groups are struggling for control of the party identity. This article talks about how in the upcoming congressional elections there are more Republicans challenging each other in primary elections than ever before. In particular, many Tea Party members are trying to unseat high ranking Republican congressmen such as John Boehner and Mitch McConnell. This causes current members of Congress to make their main focus to be "keep my job" instead of providing for their constituents. It will be interesting to see how the results of the 2014 elections affect the Republican Party.
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The "keep my job" mentality that impacts congressmen from districts with a high population of Tea Party Republicans seems like it is a bad plan for the Republican Party. Although it may get congressmen reelected now, in the long run this inerparty dissension will hurt the Republican Party. Most Americans are more moderate, and this extreme right wing of the party is sure to hurt them in the General Election. A effort to unseat the speaker, definitely shows weakness in the Republican Party.
ReplyDeleteThis article really has a lot about what we learned in class the last couple of weeks. It talks about how incumbents are rarely challenged in primaries and are practically guaranteed reelection, but this article is different: it discusses how, suddenly, Republicans are being challenged in upcoming primaries, particularly by Tea Party conservatives.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the odds are slim that these challengers can dethrone current Congressmen, but this article does show how the Republican Party is seemingly splitting up into two wings and how these two wings are seemingly going further apart. That definitely showed when the article discussed how Ms. Pierson was trashing Republicans, not Democrats, as one might think. The Republican Party seems to be splitting up and it will be interesting to see how it affects Republicans and Democrats.
The phrase "Ted Cruz acolytes" really struck me. Our congress doesn't need further polarization. It also shows the growing support of the Tea party wing of the republican party. And this is why people like Ms. Pierson are trashing republicans during the primaries and not democrats. They are taking a stand in their own party.
ReplyDeleteAt first I was surprised that Tea Party members are planning on challenging incumbents, but this article made it clear the intentions of this group. Even the most extreme members like Ms. Pierson know that it is unlikely they win these prestigious spots. Their reasoning also includes raising money through the petitions and "building a national profile," which makes sense as they continue to try and overtake the highest Republican members of Congress.
ReplyDeleteThe Republican Party as a whole is in trouble. If someone like Katrina Pierson, a Tea Party woman who has never held any type of office, wins over a longtime Chairmen of an influential committee, there is serious weakness within the Republican Party. The 2014 elections will be crucial to see how many Tea Party members succeed in out-seating the more traditional, moderate Republicans.
ReplyDeleteI think this will be a very interesting election season for Congress. Whatever happens to the Republican Party nominees will ultimately affect the Democratic members of Congress and the United States as a whole. As history has shown, the Democrats may win more seats as an effect of this divide within the Republican Party. While I think no Republicans want this, I think they realize a smooth break is impossible.
ReplyDeleteIt seems the republicans are really getting desperate here, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Bringing in new congressman/women has been long overdue especially on the side of the republicans. The current seat holders have been in power for far too long, such as McConnell, Cochran, and Roberts. There is no way that the majority of voters can relate to someone in their seventies or vice versa. It's time to get newer, younger faces with new ideas in the Republican Party.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is really just bad news for the Republican party as a whole. While the more moderate Republicans are turning into "keep my job" congressmen, the Tea Party members are the ones who shut down the government just a few months ago. This leaves almost no viable options for the Republican party. It seems that the party needs some more in-touch yet not so extreme candidates.
ReplyDeleteYou must be a very confident person to want to remove a long time incumbent from office. Ms. Pierson saying that she would remove Representative Pete Sessions is a bold strategy. She may be a local tea party leader, but he is a nine time incumbent. This means that he has a lot of support where he is from. I feel that instead of trying to remove each other, they should worry about politics and current issues.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that American politics no longer holds the respect for seniority or authority. That might not necessarily be a bad thing (especially for the Republican Party) as the Democrats are scene as the "cool side of the pillow" party and posses the majority of young voters. At the same time, attacking those within your party can create conflict. If there's one things voters don't like, it's intra-party conflict (if representatives can't agree with other reps of their own ideology how can they be expected to compromise in Washington?.) I think every case is different as it depends on how brutal each primary can get, but overall I am okay with seeing fresh faces in Congress.
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ReplyDeleteWhile the article points out the issue in a somewhat humorous tone, this “keep my job” mentality is pathetic. Sure, it has been helping the Republicans to “topple Democrats in local races across the country,” but not only will this become self-destructive for the Republican party, it sidetracks the real issues. Whatever the outcome in this coming election, I hope it has an eventual positive impact on the focus of these Congressmen.
ReplyDeleteThe Republican Party has been going down a perpetual drain that has slowly made clear all of the divisions that exist between its members. When a part of your party tries to have you removed form your position as is the case with John Boehner it shows how much of discord has formed between the GOP and many of the more radical conservatives primarily the Tea Party. In this article, they mention many of the anti-boehner groups that have formed as the Speaker has been taking many more moderate routes in order to have things like the raising of the debt ceiling so that the government did not shutdown like the Tea Party had planned.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that many of these Republicans (especially McConnell and Boehner) are being challenged by the Tea Party branch of the party. If a Republican does not advocate truly conservative principles or writes the president a blank check on the debt limit (as what happened when many in the party hoped to mislead their constituents by saying they voted “no” on the bill when in reality they cast a vote for cloture—an effective “yea” vote). Any spineless politician such as this deserves to be voted out (unfortunately in the case of John Cornyn, nobody truly worthwhile challenged him).
ReplyDeleteThis election season will be very interesting for Congress and crucial to the Tea Party members. I agree with Michaela that the whole "keep my job" mentality is bad for the Republican Party. There also seems to be a fair amount of weakness within the Republican Party if Tea Party members are winning over incumbents.
ReplyDeleteI think that the "keep my job" mentality is detrimental to all politicians and it hurts the citizens. I expect my politicians to do what they think is best for the country and their constituents, not what will get them another term. Although this is a high expectation, i think it can be applied to public service men as they should be held to a higher standard. I was also shocked that Katrina Pierson expects to take down a veteran representative, considering her extreme political affiliation. If she were to win the election, i think it would speak poorly on the american electorate.
ReplyDeleteI think the sheer amount of inter party challengers in the upcoming election makes the Republican Party look disjointed and weak. I think the party members should be satisfied that they have some nine term officials in congress and instead of trying to defeat them try to work with them. I think the inter party conflict will be confusing for Americans and ultimately lead to a weaker less prevalent Republican Party.
ReplyDeleteOne thing in this article that really caught my eye was its mentioning of the change in the Tea Party section of the Republican party. It describes its transformation and becoming more "self-destructive than advantageous," which is not the intention. Also I noticed how this article referred to the topic we previously studied in class, incumbency, and how common it will be in this next election.
ReplyDeleteOne thing in this article that really caught my eye was its mentioning of the change in the Tea Party section of the Republican party. It describes its transformation and becoming more "self-destructive than advantageous," which is not the intention. Also I noticed how this article referred to the topic we previously studied in class, incumbency, and how common it will be in this next election.
ReplyDelete