In the last several months, the GOP-created monster, the Tea Party, has become a proverbial Frankenstein. From government shutdowns, public murders, and, now, elections, the Tea Party is now beginning to damage its former masters and creators. Just ask House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA).
Cantor lost his seat in Congress last night to a then-unknown Dave Brat, a Tea Party-backed economics professor. What basically happened is that a former Tea Party champion got dethroned by someone who is sure to be crazier and “more conservative.” Cantor’s political career has been an absolute disaster, even for a conservative whackjob.
Cantor was key in the government shutdown because the night before it happened, Cantor passed HR 368 which powered Cantor as the only House member to call votes on issues for which Congress couldn’t agree. This includes votes to end government shutdowns, which he ardently avoided doing.
Cantor also thought that a $1.2 million grant made by the National Science Foundation was going to help “pay seniors to play World of Warcraft.” The money was actually meant to study the cognitive improvements created by playing video games. See, Cantor isn’t really a winner in the first place.
It’s frightening to think that we had such an out-of-touch, stubborn conservative crackpot as the House Majority Leader. But, it’s even more frightening to think that an unknown Tea Party-backed opponent who claimed that he was more conservative than Cantor beat him in the Virginia Republican primary.
Brat created his platform to appeal to the Tea Party voters by criticizing Cantor for voting to raise the debt ceiling and ending the government shutdown. So, is it safe to say that Brat would have never budged and did any of those things? More than likely, yes.
The Huffington Post described Brat supporters as a “loud, committed following on the campaign trail, generating an intensity that Cantor failed to muster.” In essence, the Tea Party monster and its minions became crazier than Cantor’s minions.
Establishment Republicans thought the Tea Party died with the shutdown. But that is not the case. They have gained steam, gotten louder, and are foaming at the mouth. This little beast created by the GOP has snapped its tether and is now running wildly all because the GOP couldn’t control its little pet. Now no one is safe.
Josh is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire. Follow him on Twitter @dnJdeli.
