Reagan, Goldwater Wouldn't Recognize the Republican Tea Party

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"Reagan, Goldwater Wouldn't Recognize the Republican..."
Sounds good to me.
"...Tea Party"
Wait, what?
"Barry Goldwater was not a doctrinaire social conservative; he would be seriously taken aback with the anti-gay and anti-choice views, let alone the hard-right interpretation of religion in evidence with today’s cast of Republicans."
I would, and I am. I'm a young adult male, atheist, and bisexual - and a conservative. And I know of others like me who have gone to tea parties and been accepted with open arms. The Tea Party isn't the evil, socialcon/necon last stand that you think it is.
"Something tells me that he would have more trouble [with] the Ron Pauls [than] Ted Kennedy"
Grandpa, you just went full stupid.

Libertarian Conservative of NY 2:00AM September 11, 2011

The Democrats are in such disarray that they can't pass a budget with complete control of the White House and both houses of Congress, and this Democrat is giving the Republicans advice? Fenn is either in serious denial, or he's hoping to divide the Republicans. I suppose that's what he gets paid to do, but the street isn't buying it. BTW, I have never been to a Tea Party event. I'm just one of those voters who is paying more attention than Mr. Kerry gives us credit for.

Lew Flagg of MA 8:22AM October 01, 2010

Associating the GOP will be the death of the Tea party movement.
Call these bums whatever you will, both are the handmaidens of the lobbyists and billionaires yanking their puppet strings.
This ain't your fathers GOP, certainly. The Grand Ole Party used to be interested in governing, sticking to their principles whether they might win elections or not. That's not the case anymore.
The Tea Party and the Republicans don't have any principles anymore and have no intention of governing fairly except to cater to half a dozen billionaires who are paying for their campaigns. Sorry statement of the times.

Rocky of ID 2:15AM October 01, 2010

Do we really need a Democrat to tell us what conservative Republicans think of the tea party? First of all Fenn doesn't know what Reagan, Goldwater or the others would think because they are no longer with us. If they could tell us, would they be here in this time? Or telling us what they think of the tea party's stances back in their day? How does Fenn know what Goldwater would have said about abortion and gay rights? Did Goldwater ever talk about those subjects in 1964? I sincerely doubt it because if he had the network news would have criticized him for that. Fenn looks old enough to remember how most people felt about abortion and gays in 1964. US News is really scraping the bottom of the barrel lately.
I used to rely on US News for objective news and well thought out commentaries and editorials. I don't know what happened, but I won't renew the subscription I've had for 25 years.

Dar of FL 3:42PM September 30, 2010

From the DNC 9/29/10
All bloggers: Attention- the Party orders you make reference to "Tea Party Republicans" in all blog titles. It is our intention to make the term "Tea Party Republican" interchangeable with "meanie."
We feel this will aid in debunking their arguments and help us to victory over the reactionary Cossacks trying to block the proletariat and return us to the days of the csar.... I mean the bad old days of Reagan.
Viva Che!!!

B Ritchie of PA 2:59PM September 30, 2010

Igor said it all.
The Democ-rat Party became a coalition of America (they spell it AmeriKa) haters and grievance groups after 1968. Every enemy of America has a friend in the Democ-rat Party, particularly the Viet Cong in its day and Islamo-fascism today.
The Democ-rat Party lionizes America's enemies domestically and has contempt for patriots. Look at how the Democ-rat Party and its RINO ally Bloomberg secured the approval for the Ground Zero Mosque but have given nothing but grief to the Greek Orthodox Church in its attempts to reconstruct St. Nicholas Church which was crushed by the Moslems on 9/11. (It was located next to the World Trade Center which fell on it when the South Tower Collapsed.)
To say that the Democ-rat Party is beyond redemption would only serve to raise its stature.

David S. Levine of FL 1:54PM September 30, 2010

I am a registered independent voter since 1941 primarily Republican but I haved erred with FDR and Carter so I look upon the subject "Tea Party" as a breath of free air
Bob --PA, Igor--MA Manuel----NY--- say it all except
Your comments are to me the typical Democratic vitriolic that is filling the news areas ala Ed Schlutz & Maddow

O'Gorman of MD 1:14PM September 30, 2010

Is the Democratic Party really defined by Obama, Pelosi and Reid? Do the Democrats really answer to John Stewart, Stephen Colbert, David Letterman, Keith Olbermann and the cast at MSNBC News? Are Democrats afraid to take on those forces because of ratings and the hard 25 percent of their base that believes our Constitution gives the Federal Government unlimited power to control our education, health care, food choices, car choices etc., and that Tea Party members are anti-American racists? Or do most of the Democratic candidates and officeholders believe the falsehoods that are spread so far and wide by MSNBC, moveon, media matters, and huffington?
(In case you missed my attempt at ridicule, this paragraph above is just a reversed modification of a paragraph from the above article
This editorial was so void of facts and logic, I fail to comprehend why it would even be considered worthy of publishing.

Bob of PA 9:39AM September 30, 2010

JFK and Sen. Henry Scoop Jackson would not recognize Democratic party of Move-0n and Huffington either

Igor of MA 9:38AM September 30, 2010

I perface what I am about to say, by stating that I am a person on the far left and completely disagree with the reactionary views of the Tea Party Movement.
I am glad that the Tea Party Movement is causing choas in the Republican Party because it displays the broken nature of our two party system, showes why a multi-party system, with serious third and or fourth party options, is paramount in our times, and has the potential of starting a debate about amending the U.S. Constitution to move the federal government more into a parilmentary mode of opperation.
The problem with both parties is the fact that they are both corporations who sell policy and any consideration of ideology, or the various different ideas and beliefs that citizens hold about where the nation should head in the future, are second to the profit and publicity motives. They both cater to independents who know nothing about what is really going on politically and sophmoric centrist, who think a wholesale blinding of ideas from left and right will lead to utopia, as a way to serve their masters: profit and publicity.
Bravo Tea Party Movement! At least you can vote for people who suport your world view and ideas about the future of the country. I am left to vote Democrat while having a very nasty taste in my mouth and feeling like I just sold my integrity.

Dakota Denzel Manuel of NY 9:36AM September 30, 2010