St. Louis Tea Party co-founder Dana Loesch was one of Christiane Amanpour's roundtable guests on Sunday's "This Week."
At the end of the lengthy segment, Loesch, who is also editor of Big Journalism, offered an interesting view about next year's elections (video follows with transcript and commentary):
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, HOST: So would that bring you great hope if [Sarah Palin] jumps in? I mean, look at her negatives. They're very, very high.
DANA LOESCH, BIG JOURNALISM: I think that she does have a little bit to overcome, in terms of -- I know that there was the Fox News poll which came out, and there was also an independent study which was done in conjunction with that, that also looked at Republican voters to see who they would or would not choose.
I think -- but we're still -- I mean, we're still really early on into this race, so anything is possible. I mean, and when I say anything is possible, I mean, when you look at the polls right now, the last poll that was released showed generic Republican candidate was beating this president in the polls.
JONATHAN KARL, ABC: That's who they should nominate.
LOESCH: So I think that we do -- I think that we do have a strong field. I do really think that we do have a strong field. But whether or not we're going to end up with someone that is speaking to the base -- because I think not only is this election going to be a referendum on Obama's first term, but this is also going to be a referendum on the Republican Party.
First off, I applaud Amanpour and her schedulers in inviting Loesch on the program.
In recent months, there have been a number of Tea Party members on "This Week," and it's nice to see that rather than just disparage this powerful movement, the folks on ABC News are willing to include them in the discussion.
As for Loesch, I thought she did a marvelous job in her first "This Week" appearance. In particular, her point about this election's referendum was quite compelling.
After former President George W. Bush and his Party that controlled both chambers of Congress punted on Social Security reform, the GOP made a hard turn left that led to their devastating defeat in the 2006 midterms and Barack Obama's easy victory in 2008.
In the course of just two years, as a result of a steady departure from conservative principles, the Republican Party relinquished complete control of government that had taken them decades to attain.
Two years later, the Tea Party surge helped to make the GOP a force again.
Will this movement to the right continue, or will Republicans go back to their "In Name Only" ways that have proven ineffective?
Depending on the answer, Loesch's point about the referenda in play next year might be quite prescient.
Brava, Dana! Brava!
