Op-Ed: The viability of the Tea Party movement

In the wake of Christine O'Donnell's upset victory in the Delaware senatorial primary, establishment Republicans have been slow to embrace this Tea Party favorite endorsed by Sarah Palin and Senator Jim DeMint.

Karl Rove, in an appearance on Sean Hannity's Fox News television program, seemed beside himself that nine term Republican representative Mike Castle was trounced by O'Donnell. Rove attributed the defeat to Castle's voting record, while disparaging O'Donnell as inexperienced and having a checkered past. Chris Coons, the Democrat challenger and avowed Marxist (see article here) , had been deemed more vulnerable to an election defeat by Castle, and the mainstream GOP was firmly in his corner. Castle is a RINO who supports most of Barack Obama's agenda, including cap and trade, and is liberal on social issues such as abortion. The argument that establishment Republicans put forth is that for the northeast, Castle was an electable moderate, which is about as close as that part of the country is going to get to conservatism, and that if Republicans want to hold on to Senate and House seats in the northeast, they need to suck it up and stand by Castle. The problem is that most Americans are fed up with the status quo in Washington. They don't like the direction that this nation is headed in, and they are not interested in voting for moderates who are going to tow the Obama line and take us further down the road to socialism. Americans are more concerned for their nation, than they are for who is considered more electable. This is why the Tea Party movement has emerged as a viable entity, attracting true patriots who want to take our country back from career politicians, and return it to that which the founding fathers intended. These patriots are willing to take their chances that the candidates they support will lose, rather than electing politicians who will further the destruction of the country. Karl Rove has a reputation as an outstanding political strategist. But Rove doesn't understand the angst of the American people, and their revulsion toward more of the same in politics. And with his support for Mike Castle, and working behind the scenes to get Christine O'Donnell to drop out of the race, he has shown that he doesn't understand the Tea Party movement either. (Read The Freedomist article detailing Rove's actions here. Other establishment conservatives have also attacked O'Donnell. Charles Krauthammer, in several appearances on Fox News, ripped Palin and DeMint for endorsing her, challenging them to go to Delaware and campaign for her. Krauthammer also believes that Castle would have been the only chance to defeat Coons in the midterms. What is more disturbing than trashing O'Donnell on her lack of experience, are the personal attacks on her character by Rove and others. They have pointed to her financial troubles, the length of time it took her to pay her college tuition and more. Therein lies the problem. Politics is vicious. It is airing the dirty laundry of those seeking to serve the people in political office. And no one is beyond reproach. But many who would gladly serve shy away from public service because they have issues in their past which they don't want splattered on the front page of the newspaper. How many of us have run into difficult situations, maxing out our credit cards and struggling to pay our bills? How many of us have engaged in behavior that we now regret? How many of us have fought personal demons such as drugs and alcohol, or associated ourselves with dubious people that haunt us to this very day? Now, if one is a liberal, such as Barack Obama, the past is excused, covered up, even defended. But if a conservative Christian like O'Donnell has had a troubled past, she is not only attacked by the far left, which is to be expected, but by the right as well. Even though she espouses conservative principles, such as limited government, lower taxes, a strong national defense and border security, she is labeled as unelectable by her own party. The NRSC even considered, albeit briefly, not supporting her as punishment for defeating Castle in the primary. They have since re-thought that stance. Jim DeMint said on an appearance on CNN that the Republican Party will be “dead” if it fails to live up to its principles again. He's right. It wasn't "conservatism" that failed in the midterm elections of 2006 that gave the Democrats control of both houses of Congress. It was "Republicanism" that failed. The party lost its way, and the conservative principles that have been the core of the GOP from its inception were abandoned. The Tea Party patriots understand this, and do not wish to see that happen again. They are willing to chance losing an election with so-called unelectable candidates, rather than settling for politicians that will end up destroying the Republican party if given the opportunity. It's party vs. principles. Which will it be? Listen to America Talks weekends at 9 am Eastern Time.