The Yardstick and the Clock
Posted by Lex, on September 17, 2010
Peggy Noonan writes one of her better recent op-eds on the meaning and rise of the Tea Party movement in the US.
First the yardstick:
Imagine that over at the 36-inch end you’ve got pure liberal thinking—more and larger government programs, a bigger government that costs more in the many ways that cost can be calculated. Over at the other end you’ve got conservative thinking—a government that is growing smaller and less demanding and is less expensive. You assume that when the two major parties are negotiating bills in Washington, they sort of lay down the yardstick and begin negotiations at the 18-inch line. Each party pulls in the direction it wants, and the dominant party moves the government a few inches in their direction…
Democrats on the Hill or in the White House try to pull it up to 30, Republicans try to pull it back to 25. A deal is struck at 28. Washington Republicans call it victory: “Hey, it coulda been 29!” But regular conservative-minded or Republican voters see yet another loss. They could live with 18. They’d like eight. Instead it’s 28.
Then the clock:
Here is a great virtue of the tea party: They know what time it is. It’s getting late. If we don’t get the size and cost of government in line now, we won’t be able to. We’re teetering on the brink of some vast, dark new world—states and cities on the brink of bankruptcy, the federal government too. The issue isn’t “big spending” anymore. It’s ruinous spending that they fear will end America as we know it, as they promised it to their children.
So there’s a sense that dramatic action is needed, and a sense of profound urgency. Add drama to urgency and you get the victory of a tea party-backed candidate.
The GOP tried to suborn the Tea Party movement, which – lacking leaders or any kind of organization – proved impossible. Then the GOP establishment closed ranks against the Tea Party candidate in Delaware, joining the left to throw everything at her but the kitchen sink – and failed.
The fact that she may not win, or even prove to be a sensible choice doesn’t much matter. The message was sent: They want their country back, to pass on to their kids. And they don’t care whose house they’ve got to burn down to get it.
The realizations is even now dawning on the GOP: It’s not good enough to be the party of marginally less profligacy with other people’s money than the other guy. It isn’t good enough to be the only option left when the other guy self-destructs. That they, at least, cannot count on the blind loyalty of their constituents to confer job security, perks and power. They’re getting the message that they’ve got to perform, and that the time is now.
Those are pretty good lessons to learn.