Sen. Jim DeMint embrace of the Tea Party gave his moribund Party an infusion of new energy, and gave the Party's stale message a radical makeover. The Tea Party (many of whom were relative political novices) put ideological purity over considerations of broader voter appeal, toppling some carefully groomed, slick, corporate spokes-person candidates from the dominate Wall Street wing of the Greedy Oligarchs' Party.
NRCC Chair Cornyn was evasive when pressed on the question of the Tea Party losing the Senate for the GOP while lamely trying to crow about coming up short of a majority in the Senate.
Cornyn ‘Gratified’ By Senate Results
But reporters on Wednesday’s conference call also pressed Mr. Cornyn about whether the G.O.P. failed to capture some potentially winnable seats, especially in states like Delaware and Colorado, where primary voters chose insurgent candidates backed by Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina over those who had more establishment support.
For some reason Cornyn didn't want to talk about that. The reporter wasn't fooled as the quotation marks in the headline indicate.
The Senate Republican Leadership can't be very happy with the way DeMint's Tea Party strategy blew up in their faces, leaving Democrats with a numerical majority in the Senate. (Keep in mind a WORKING MAJORITY in the Senate requires 60 votes.)
DeMint Pleased With Election, Prefers to Work 'Outside of the Elected Leadership'
DeMint agreed that the next Senate will have a strong Tea Party caucus:
Oh yeah, I think so. We've got a conservative caucus already, which is called a steering committee. We'll have a lot of new members on that who want to advance common-sense, limited government agenda. So whether we call it a tea party or a steering committee really doesn't matter; we're going to have a great new group of conservatives.
As for DeMint's role in leading that caucus:
I hope to continue to chair the steering committee and move the Republican Party in the Senate back to more conservative, limited government principles. That's the position I want right now. I found I can do a lot more outside of the elected leadership positions, just being chairman there, and also what I can do on the outside with the Senate Conservatives Fund, which has proved that if we give people an opportunity to support conservative candidates.
The senator claimed to be happy with his non-elected leadership role, claiming he does not plan to run for president or party leadership:
DeMint is riding a Tiger. Even if Republicans are reluctant to talk about the Tiger in their caucus room right now, a cat fight is already breaking out inside a Party that is so starkly divided between a rigidly doctrinaire faction that needs to demonstrate that they're advancing their radical agenda, and the Party's dominate faction, devoted to discreetly servicing the whims of corporate elites, and entrenching their own political power.
The first shots are being fired today:
The Tea Party has issued what may amount to an ultimatum:
Conservatives urge GOP leadership to adopt core principles
Washington (CNN) - In a sign the conservative movement intends to hold the newly-emboldened Republican leadership accountable in the wake of Tuesday's midterm elections, over 60 prominent activists on the right sent a letter Wednesday to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker-designate John Boehner and Republican Governors Association Chairman Haley Barbour urging the new GOP leadership to unify around a set of core principles.
It asks McConnell, Boehner and Barbour to "go before the American people jointly and present a unified vision of what this Republican victory will stand for" - namely lower taxes, reducing the size of government, a commitment to "restoring traditional moral values" and a muscular foreign policy.
"You are in positions to lead Republicans in putting aside personal ambitions and desires to retain positions of power and use the public offices entrusted to the Republican Party to address the momentous economic, moral and national security challenges our nation faces today, as our Founding Fathers did before us," the letter reads.
McConnell pays lip service to the Tea Party but thinks their demands aren't flexible enough to allow the business as usual flow of pork to members' pet contractors, and pet projects.
McConnell Praises Tea Party, Opposes Their Goal Of Earmark Elimination
In a speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation this morning, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had kind words for Tea Party activists, who energized the GOP base but whose candidates likely cost Republicans control of the Senate. At the same time, though, he threw cold water on one of the movement's top goals -- an elimination of earmarks -- by noting that without Congressional input, President Obama will get to make most decisions on how federal money gets spent.
"Tea Party activists will continue to energize our party and challenge us to follow through on our commitments," McConnell said.
The Tea Party's top ally in the Senate is Jim DeMint (R-SC), who's also McConnell's main rival within the GOP caucus. DeMint plans to put the Republican conference on the spot about an earmark moratorium as soon as Congress returns. DeMint told the National Journal, "The first test vote will probably be as soon as we get back later in November: Will Republicans vote to ban earmarks ... to help a moratorium on earmarks? Because that's the rule change I'm going to bring forward and I think we'll see right away in the House and in the Senate whether or not Republicans are serious about what they ran on."
When the inevitable cat fight over earmarks does break out it should be quite a spectacle.
Meanwhile Democrats feel constrained by Obama's conciliatory approach to the Republicans.
Dems constrained from hitting back at McConnell by White House posture of conciliation
Today, McConnell doubled down on his "one term president" broadside, and if anything, his tone was more taunting than before. But the Dem response has been ... crickets.
What's the difference? Most obviously, McConnell's first blast came before the election; the second one after.
But the more important difference is that the White House political arm, the DNC, is constrained from responding aggressively for the time being because it would undercut the White House message that President Obama is fully committed to seeking common ground and a post-election period of civility.
Of course we're not so circumspect here at D-Kos.