Check
this out from FreedomWorks CEO Matt Kibbe on whether Republicans will split into two parties:
"I think that's a real possibility because you're seeing this clash between the new generation and — to me, it's not just the old wing of the Republican Party versus the new wing —you're really seeing a disintermediation in politics. [...] Everything's more democratized and Republicans should come to terms with that. They still wanna control things from the top down and if they do that, there will absolutely be a split. But my prediction would be that we take over the Republican Party and they go the way of the whigs."
So, according to Kibbe, the GOP might split into two, but probably won't, not because tea partiers like him will convince their fellow Republicans to support their approach to things, but because his side will take control of the GOP and their opponents will just disappear. Kibbe probably doesn't realize it, but it's pretty obvious he's also predicting the GOP is doomed, because if your choice is between splitting a party in two and having one side kick another side out ... you're really just choosing between six on the one hand and a half-dozen on the other.
But Kibbe isn't the only one declaring war. So is the Chamber of Commerce:
A battle for control of the Republican Party has erupted as an emboldened Tea Party moved to oust senators who voted to reopen the government while business groups mobilized to defeat allies of the small-government movement.
“We are going to get engaged,” said Scott Reed, senior political strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “The need is now more than ever to elect people who understand the free market and not silliness.”
So far, these are just words from the Chamber, but if they do decide to follow through and go after tea party candidates, we're going to have some serious popcorn nights ahead of us throughout the primary season. For example,
earlier today the Senate Conservatives Fund endorsed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's tea party challenger, and just a few hours later the spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee tweeted:
Has the Senate Conservatives Fund & the DSCC disagreed on a GOP primary yet? Asking for a friend.
— @BDayspring
There's more than six months to go before that primary, and already the flames for the GOP civil war are heating up. So yeah, better get some popcorn. This could be good.
