Karl Rove, “ROgressives,” and the Tea Party

Written on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 by David L. Goetsch

There has always been tension between mainstream Republicans and the Tea Party. Mainstream Republicans represent the middle and left elements of the party while Tea Party Patriots lean more to the right. Local Tea Party groups do their best to pull the Republican Party to the right while mainstream Republicans—although they are loathe to admit it—pull the party inexorably to the left. The Tea Party wants Republicans to hold fast on conservative principles while mainstream Republicans think ideological dilution is the key to winning future elections…… So who is right in this standoff between Tea Party Patriots and mainstream Republicans? On one hand you have Karl Rove and Republican mainstreamers who appear to be willing to water down their principles and become what I call “rogressives” (Republicans progressives) in a desperate attempt to win elections. On the other hand, you have Tea Party patriots who believe it would be better to lose elections while standing firmly for conservative principles than to win them by casting those principles aside…… Let me be clear, Republicans did not lose the last two presidential elections because they were too conservative. They lost because they went soft on conservative principles and selected candidates who not only failed to articulate these principles to a broad cross section of Americans, but did not fully accept the principles themselves....To Read More.......