A story in today’s paper talks about the Tea Party movement attempting to lure Democrats by severing ties to social conservatism. While their focus on fiscal issues is admirable, thinking this will attract liberals is like trying to catch flies by merely not using vinegar, ’cause there’s sure not much honey on offer. All well and good to not take an anti-abortion stance, but that’s hardly going to create a major drain on the left. The teabaggers seem to forget that Democrats like Obama, want health care reform, and believe that government can do the people’s work. They also don’t freak out selectively over budget deficits. (We had our turn w/W’s war.)
No matter how much the Tea Party disassociates itself from the GOP’s cultural crusaders, they’re still shackled to Beck, Hannity, and company, and I’d just like to see them shake those albatrosses loose. Beck’s recent tirade against Christianity won’t help win any converts. And news of what the right-wing loonies are doing to education in Texas won’t help the cause overall; as one supporter of more open-minded education said, “The social conservatives have perverted accurate history to fulfill their own agenda.” But somehow I think the Tea Party can relate to that.
The teabaggers are going to have to have more than a bit o’ honey to win new supporters, like actively supporting personal-liberty values – maybe even disavowing the social conservative agenda entirely – instead of just avoiding the issue. Because the lingering smell of vinegar just isn’t going to go away.
No comments:
Post a Comment