TEA PARTY SEATS

BUSINESS WEEK   10/14

Tea Party's House Seats Might Not Be All That Safe

Before the budget fight, the widespread assumption in Washington was that conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives could do more or less whatever they wanted (like, shutting down the government), because many come from safe districts Republicans specifically drew to squeeze out Democrats. So even if a majority of the country disapproved of the Tea Party’s tactics, the voters who sent them to Washington would stick with them.


WASHINGTON POST  10/9


“A big chunk of the Republican Party right now is — are in gerrymandered districts where there’s no competition and those folks are much more worried about a tea party challenger than they are about a general election where they’ve got to complete against a Democrat or go after independent votes,” Obama said. “And in that environment, it’s a lot harder for them to compromise.”
Is President Obama right?  Are Republican districts drawn by Republican lawmakers the reason that compromise is such a dirty word these days? We put that to the Post’s Aaron Blake and Paul Kane, who disagreed on the answer. Their conversation — conducted via email — is below.
Aaron Blake: Our country is so polarized that there would still be this group of cast-iron [conservatives] who would be driving this debate. That fact that their districts are a few points redder doesn’t mean anything.


CHRIS CILLIZZA WASHINGTON POST  10/17

The tea party is getting more powerful. But less popular.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and his band of tea party-aligned House conservatives proved over the past month just how much influence they have over the Republican Party in Washington. And yet, outside Washington, disapproval numbers for the tea party are soaring.
Here’s the trend line on approval/disapproval of the tea party in Pew polling from 2010 to the present, showing that unfavorable views of the tea party have doubled since February 2010:

CHRIS CILLIZZA WASHINGTON POST  10/29