“The Tea Party is Dead, Long Live the Tea Party”

In his fight to keep his position as New Hampshire GOP chair, Jack Kimball characterized the conflict as a “struggle between the Tea Party and the establishment.” But Kevin Drum looks at the bigger picture and says that war is over. The Tea Party won.

Just like every other fluorescence of right-wing activism over the past 50 years, its destiny was to flare up, get incorporated into the Republican Party, and then die out. The big difference this time has been just how complete its incorporation has been. Ultra-conservative flare-ups in the past have been increasingly potent … which has brought us to the point where there’s really no meaningful distance between the ultras and the Republican Party establishment. The Tea Party really is dying away, I think, but only because their victory has been so total. For the time being, anyway, they control the Republican Party from top to bottom.