CBS: 'Militant' Tea Partiers Create 'Chasm' in GOP
Prior to President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric wondered what the message of the midterm elections was, to which political analyst Jeff Greenfield replied: "You've got 87 new members of the House, many of whom are fired up with a kind of militancy we very rarely see, even among new members."
Greenfield went to proclaim: "One of the things Obama politically is going to try to do – not just tonight but over the next year – is to separate out the middle from what he will try to paint as a much too ideological Republican majority." He then used the "militant" label a second time in describing tensions between new Tea Party members and Republican leadership: "It's also going to be a lot of pressure on new Speaker – the new House Speaker John Boehner. I mean, there's a tension between John Boehner and the more militant Tea Party folks."
Moments later, Couric turned to Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer and fretted: "And how serious, Bob Schieffer, do you see this chasm developing? I mean, how big a problem will this pose for the GOP?" Schieffer declared: "It is a problem. And, I mean, the fact that the Republican leadership is letting Michele Bachmann make a second response here just underlines that....they're afraid to tell her not to, because they know how powerful these Tea Party people were and the power they had in the last election."
Here is a transcript of the January 25 exchange:
9:06PM ET
KATIE COURIC: You know, Jeff, a lot of people are saying the real battle is how the recent midterm elections should be interpreted. Republicans say voters wanted less government, they didn't want government-run health care. And the White House claims they just didn't like partisan politics and they wanted both sides to work together. What do you think the message of the midterms was?
JEFF GREENFIELD: Because different people can interpret those differently, one of the most important things we're going to see is how the Republicans interpret it when they start to govern. You've got 87 new members of the House, many of whom are fired up with a kind of militancy we very rarely see, even among new members. They really believe they were elected to put a firm immediate halt on spending and one of the things Obama politically is going to try to do – not just tonight but over the next year – is to separate out the middle from what he will try to paint as a much too ideological Republican majority. It's also going to be a lot of pressure on new Speaker – the new House Speaker John Boehner. I mean, there's a tension between John Boehner and the more militant Tea Party folks. That may be the best political story this season.
COURIC: And, in fact, John Dickerson, how is that shaking out? We all talked about after the midterm results how these two, basically, sides of the Republican Party were going to be integrated once this new congress was convened. What have you seen happen? How has it all sort of turned out so far?
JOHN DICKERSON: Well, it's a shaky business so far and the shakiness comes, we see it tonight. Congressman Paul Ryan, who will give the official Republican response, and then Congresswoman Michele Bachmann will give another sort of Tea Party response. And the difference there, essentially, is between governing – which is what Ryan has to do, put together a budget, listen to all of the input and voices – and Michele Bachmann who's doing a little bit something closer to campaigning. And the mix there and how they find that mix, how they keep all of those promises they made, but still get enough votes to actually pass something that could even make it to the President's desk. That's the tension and they're still working that out and they're working it out in public.
COURIC: And how serious, Bob Schieffer, do you see this chasm developing? I mean, how big a problem will this pose for the GOP?
BOB SCHIEFFER: It is a problem. And, I mean, the fact that the Republican leadership is letting Michele Bachmann make a second response here just underlines that. I mean, my heavens, can you imagine what Sam Rayburn, when he was Speaker of the House, would have done if one of his members had said 'Oh, by the way, I'm going to make a response, too'? Or Lyndon Johnson, when he was the leader of the Senate? They're letting her make this speech because they're afraid to tell her not to, because they know how powerful these Tea Party people were and the power they had in the last election.
— Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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Comments
GOP?
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 4:56pm.
If there is any chasm it is because our symbol is the Elephant, not the RINO.
The latest Media Matters/White House talking points
Submitted by TexasMom0517 on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 5:49pm.
Honestly how stupid does this White House think the public is? Obviously, VERY STIUPID. Apparently, the "chasm" idea is the newest one coming out of Podesta and Media Matters and Axelrod at the White House. And, anyone who thinks that the "famous" Ezra Klein (of Journolist fame) won't be far behind, think again. How many synonyms can we find for "chasm?" Someone break out the Roget's!
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on ME! Not this time......
You're right...the "talking
Submitted by motherbelt on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 8:37pm.
You're right...the "talking points" have gone out... talk about "division" among Republicans.
That, and the story below about Michelle Bachman supposedly "ruining" chances of bipartisanship are just strategy to portray Republicans as at each others' throats.
→ Right on MB
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 8:43pm.
Not mention about Harry Reid's vehement rejection of Obama's right to stop earmarks, though.
Kumbaya
yeah right...
Submitted by MidAmerica on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 8:45pm.
The Republicans are divided when they have a policy dispute but democrats have 'many voices' because they have a Big Tent.
Big tent?
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 8:51pm.
Is Obama dreaming of Scarlett Johanssen again?
The MSM has two main goals
Submitted by MidAmerica on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:00pm.
The MSM has two main goals to help re-elect obama. They must stir up discontent between the elected Tea Partiers and their supporters by portraying them as sellouts now that they are in Washington. The media must also create division among Tea Partiers and any Republican not recognized as a Tea Partier by exagerating any spurious comment and/or policy dispute.
Of course their overarching goal is to drag the Tea Party name through any mud they can find to create a negative reaction in the general public, you know as they have done with George Bush, Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin.
game plan part 6
Submitted by neutron on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 8:52pm.
Divide and conquer, but how? How to divide the Republicans? Like Iago in Shakespeare's Othello, the MSM repeats many different lies in public and in private to cause real friends to doubt each other.
"The Big Lie" is the patron saint of the MSM.They constantly repeat their lies until they believe them. Too bad for the MSM, the American people aren't as believing as they were in the Conkrite / Murrow days.
The MSM did so well with the accusations of TEA Party racism that they lost the Nov 2010 midterm election in the biggest landslide reversal in history. They tried to double-down on blaming conservatives for the AZ massacre, and the American people rejected the MSM meme.
Now, these well known liars are pushing that the Republican party is deeply divided and ready to fall apart, only the Republicans just don't know it yet. I doubt anyone, other than those on or regularly tuned to MSNBC, will believe them.
Always enjoyable
Submitted by bbboss on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 5:06pm.
To watch the loony left media diagnose the GOP...their party just got whammed in the election and they are saying the GOP is split? Ha!!
Even the silliest RINO doesn't go that far....the Dems have the rich neo-Dem lunatics as the main stream or conservative wing...the far left loons kissing bark as the middle of their party...and the drug addled, violence ridden scum from the '60s or '60s wannabees and their leftward edge... Yea, they are doing well......
Chasm??????????????
Submitted by BBallleaper on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 5:13pm.
I hope they create the Grand Canyon and every DemonRat and RINO gets swallowed up! Go Sarah, Go Michelle Bachman! Go Tea Party! Si vis pacem,... para bellum!
Hear hear!
Submitted by DemsRFascists on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 5:17pm.
I agree completely...except for that Latin stuff...which I didn't understand.
Palin/Barbour '12
BBall,
Submitted by Dave. on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 6:37pm.
That is exactly what I was thinking when I saw the headline.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Militant Homosexuals Attack Sites Of Marines Opposing Repeal Of
Submitted by im41 on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 5:15pm.
Active and non-active solders are trying to organize an opposition to the repeal of Clinton's "Don't Ask Don't Tell," but have been targeted by homosexual activist.
The lesson behind the election
Submitted by dmaley1714 on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 5:16pm.
Can anybody really believe this that the reason th counrty elected more republicans was they did not like the partisanship of one party rule. This defies logic
And the White House claims they just didn't like partisan politics and they wanted both sides to work togetherWho Are These Militant Tea Partiers'
Submitted by Boil It Down on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 5:22pm.
Couric and Schieffer refuse to recognize the real chasm which is that between Congress and the people of the United States. The talking points memos seem to call for making the Republican party look like they are disintegrating whether there are facts to support that theory or not.
I keep hearing about the violent and militant Tea Partiers but I never get to see the videos, hear the audios or read the quotes of these mysterious people. With so much being said in opposition to them you'd think there would be one TV special after another exposing them. I'd sure like to see some pictures of these monsters. Are they like Big Foot or the Chupacabra?
No, people
Submitted by HockeyKid on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 5:47pm.
actually have footage of Bigfoot, fuzzy and distorted as it may be (the footage, not Bigfoot...).
Here's a newsflash for you: the only Americans to have actually bombed federal buildings in recent history are Timothy McVeigh and William Ayers (et al). The former was convicted and executed within 10 years of the crime; the latter is celebrated by "journalists" as an innovator in education even 40+ years later. Clearly, if you're a leftist, the LSM will let you get away with literally anything, up to and including bombing the Pentagon and terrorizing a federal judge's home and children.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
Really? CBS too?
Submitted by Phryj1 on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 5:24pm.
Didn't someone say something about repeating a lie until everyone thinks it's true? Wasn't there also a Nazi comparison involved? So, by Steve Cohen and his supporters' logic, the mainstream media is like the Nazis, right?
Yup, pots and kettles, glass houses and thown stones. You know how it goes.
Progressives seem to be completely averse to facts and logic. Apparently, reality has a conservative bias.
And RINO season is still open
Submitted by 10ksnooker on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 5:32pm.
Be sure to get your tag and bag your quota. I understand Maine has a few that are unspoken for.
Couric's Chasm
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 5:31pm.
Not a very big chasm compared to the space between Katie's ears.
Notice I behaved myself and made no comparison to her on-air colonoscopy.
OOPS!
→ This Chasm?
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 5:58pm.
Why aren't we talking about the chasm between Harry Reid and Barack Obama.
"The executive branch of government is powerful enough and I think that I know more about what Nevada needs than some bureaucrat down on K Street."
Reid is elsewhere quoted as saying Barack Obama is "light-skinned" and having "no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one."
Sick
Submitted by grammajane on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 6:07pm.
People are getting so sick of these arrogant, elite, know it all Tv so called news experts.Every chance they get. they under-cut any word said by conservatives. Have never seen any violence at a Tea Party function but, did see much violence from the left. The left reminds me of the 60's and how they carried on and were a complete disgrace to America.
Chasm
Submitted by Scott Trent on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 6:47pm.
This so called Chasm sure took a lot of seats away from the Socialists last November! STOP THE SPENDING for crying out loud!
a pox on both their houses
Submitted by MidAmerica on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 7:06pm.
The Tea Party will create a chasm inside the democrat party as well. Every elected democrat has to take into account when he votes will his vote set himself up for defeat by a Tea Partier. The Tea Partiers are much more of a threat than run of the mill Republicans.
Katie, "Rinos are Causing a Chasm"
Submitted by dr-go on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 7:14pm.
within the Tea Party.
So, it might be best if you formulate your political population proportions correctly before you sink into the ratings basement any further.
Educating Katie
Submitted by cestes on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 7:53pm.
My response to Katie would be this: "Katie, we learned from the election results on Nov. 2nd that the American people want to stop the big government agenda, they are angry about the process in Washington, the failure of the politicians to LISTEN, the pure corruption associated with shoving bills through without reading or debating them, the accelerated bankrupting of the country we love, the refusal to search for energy answers domestically, the trashing of our founding documents and the arrogance with which these people conduct themselves. The ignorance and denial to admit the threat of Islamic extremists and the gross injustice of avoiding to seal our borders and address ILLEGAL immigration. That my friend is the MESSAGE plain and simple".
It is a problem. And, I mean,
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 8:32pm.
It is a problem. And, I mean, the fact that the Republican leadership is letting Michele Bachmann make a second response here just underlines that
Yeah think of it ... someone exercising their right of free speech. I cant believe this clod is actually on TV. Not only that she did it on a webcast which meant it was not over the airwaves and one had to look for it.
Did Katie ever describe Alan Grayson.....
Submitted by GregE on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:24pm.
......as militant?
Didn't think so.
→ No, she didn't
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:28pm.
And Grayson's career DIED QUICKLY!
No response to these bozos is necessary
Submitted by gopcongress on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 9:46pm.
The only agenda the news media have is to try to sow discontent upon their enemy, which is anyone that is not a socialist. That is why RINO's are generally viewed as favorable, because they muddy the waters from the conservative standpoint, allowing the dems to take over ala Obama and other socialist policies.
Their ONLY hope now is to tie virtually EVERY problem that occurs from now on to the Tea Party movement. To that end, they will concentrate on trying to affect the GOP primaries to the point of elevating ALL RINO candidates, and disparaging ALL conservative/constitutional candidates. This was seen rather plainly in the way they were successful in their ability to get McCain nominated on the GOP side, because they KNEW that real GOP voters were turned off.
Once he became the nominee, and the O became the Dem nominee, though, all gears shifted. McCain became Bush, and Obama became Jesus Christ.
Luckily, the ONE good thing we got out of that election was the emergence of Sarah Palin. She was the initial jolt the real republicans needed, and allowed the seeds of the Tea Party movement to coalesce. In addition, Palin officially overtook Bush as the Most Hated Person on Earth, and allowed us to formulate our own strategies.
So Couric et. al. should be very careful on how they orchestrate the agenda along with the Obama Administration. And make no bones about it: It IS a coordinated effort'; the mainstream media and the Obama Administration are part of the same team, and will do anything at all to demonize the right.
Therefore, no "response" to this nonsense is necessary. All that is necessary is for someone like Bozell to shine the light of truth on their actions, and let our Tea Party candidates take the reins in Congress. 2012 is going to be one hell of a year.
"The news and truth are not the same thing." -Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER
Yeah, there is so much
Submitted by Ashrak on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 11:07pm.
Yeah, there is so much division that the House repealed Obamacare "lock, stock and barrel" with more votes than passed it.
An example of actual division -
Obama, after keeping those dreaded Bush tax cuts in place, calls for lowering the corporate tax rates -while his home state, his own party that is in total control, just raised not only the personal income tax by 66% but also raised the combined corporate tax to 9.5%. And a week later, yet another tax increase on booze, previously adopted by the same General Assembly, is bounced by the Illinois Supreme Court.
Yeah, it is the GOP that has problems with division and disparate messages.....uh huh.....yup.
New conservative leaders have
Submitted by mostlymoderate on Thu, 01/27/2011 - 5:06am.
New conservative leaders have to be militant if they are in any way going to be a match to the already militant leftwing. I would say that attempting to expand the government, grant amnesty to illegals, force people to buy something like healthcare, and defy the Constitution are all militant.I guess this means that
Submitted by eaglewingz08 on Thu, 01/27/2011 - 11:08am.
I guess this means that because dems have no divisions, they are all socialist/marxists and there are no conservative tea party types in the democrat party.
Katie Couric's Chasm
Submitted by esfritzi on Fri, 01/28/2011 - 7:39am.
The only chasm that I know of is the one between Katie Couric's ears! What is it with this chick? She is just another lamestream hack and who watches the CBS evening news anyway? I'm sure Walter Cronkite would be so proud of these hacks.
...
Submitted by Wesley Mcgranor on Fri, 01/28/2011 - 7:44am.
People must be starving for political action. In the 90's militant meant something; the P.C. tea party is not even fringe enough.