While Obama’s rather spectacular errors are certainly helpful to the Republican Party, it remains to be seen whether the tea parties evolve into a movement, and if so, what kind. An earlier article here at PM indicated that Republicans should not see the tea parties as some kind of vindication of themselves. They were not, as most Republicans are guilty of fiscal irresponsibility as well. It is not a great idea to run as “the lesser evil” because sooner or later, someone will come up with a “good” alternative.
However, Obama offers the Republicans a chance to sell their base’s values and ideas to mainstream America, esp. as we see the consequences of Obama’s policies and near-blind ideology. If the GOP continues on the path of “Democrat-lite,” someone else will take the conservative base from them for good, and perhaps in a direction many of us would not like to see. The talk of secession in Texas seems to be hyperbole for now, but dont count on it remaining so. Despite of how the Civil War is taught in most schools in the North and Pacific (including the way I was taught in NJ), the South never really has accepted the outcome and there is a case to be made for secessionist rights, in spite of Lincoln.
