Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the Tea Party-backed politician who temporarily killed the federal government last October over the Affordable Care Act, said that act “gave the GOP an edge” for the midterm elections this year.
Establishment Republicans, or “graybeards” as Cruz calls them, have all but washed their hands of the Tea Party movement. Because the Tea Party is still associated with the Republicans, the Tea Party faction is like that loud, annoying little cousin at the family reunion that has to be babysat when his parents have had too much to drink.
Except this time, it’s the sober, annoying cousin with the drunken-esque delusions. Cruz actually believes that his two-week long government shutdown is the reason why the Republicans have a chance in the 2014 elections. Even worse, he believes that the GOP is not giving him enough credit.
“They’re reaping the fruits of the battle, which is perfectly fine,” said Cruz. “But we need to take a moment to acknowledge the lesson of the battle.”
Nothing is crazier and further than the truth, and recent polls say so.
Since the end of April, Republicans have only taken the lead in one poll, the CNN poll, and that’s by a single point. Rasmussen, CBS, FOX, ABC/POST, and the NBC/WSJ polls all have Democrats listed in the lead. The numbers remain close, but they hardly show the GOP as having any sort of “edge.” Even Cruz’s faction has been taking a lashing early on in the midterm primaries.
As of late-May, Tea Party support decreased to it lowest point ever. Support plataued at 31 percent in November 2010 and never received much more than that. Recently, support dropped to a mere 15 percent. That deserved lack of support has translated itself into the midterm primary results as establishment GOPers have been beating Tea Party opponents.
Sen. Mitch McConnell beat out Tea Party opponent Matt Bevin and the open primary election in California is expected to have the same result. Elections in Idaho, Oregon, and Georgia have seen the same end result where establishment Republicans have defeated the Tea Party.
America has really been getting sick of the Tea Party, and we are starting to see that jadedness in action. But this isn’t to say that the Republicans are great and will do well. The GOP is a weakened party. Establishment Repubs looked to the Tea Party as a hired gun to help fight Obama in the early days of his presidency.
However, the rogue faction got too crazy, too wiley, and started to take on its own party. What’s worse is that people like Ted Cruz still believe they have a chance and said he won’t let up on trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Some people just never learn, and the GOP is just now dealing with the problem that they created.
Josh is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire. Follow him on Twitter @dnJdeli.
