MSNBC anchor Dylan Ratigan believes the recent developments in the GOP – including the rise of the Tea Party – have shredded the party of its "political traction" in the Senate.
When asked by guest-host Peter Morici, an economist and professor of business at the University of Maryland, how much the Tea Party has set the Republicans back in their bid to retake the House and Senate, Ratigan answered that the Tea Party has more than hurt their chances.
The developments in the GOP and the conservative movement in the past two years, Ratigan said, "made it almost impossible for the Republicans to find any political traction in the Senate – and that is something that is largely believed."
Of course, Ratigan forgot to discuss the Tea Party's populist contribution to the Republican Party – or what connection it may have to the GOP's predicted victory despite the party's overall poor ratings.
Appearing as a guest on Thursday morning's "Chris Plante Radio Show," Ratigan sounded off on the GOP's chances to take back the House and Senate and discussed what the Republican strategy would be post-election. Although the party is poised for a gain in both the House and Senate, Ratigan insisted that the American people's approval of Republicans is "abysmal" right now.
"The Republicans are going to accumulate more power at a time when they are still held in a phenomenally low regard," Ratigan opined. "If you look at the view of both parties, as we both know, they're just both abysmal."
Both pundits questioned how the Republicans are going to follow through on their Pledge to America, which promised the American people they would cut government spending, among other things.
"Well they're basically saying we need to spend less money, but they don't say how they're going to accomplish it. I really can't see that they have a basic theme," remarked Morici.
A partial transcript of the segment is as follows:
MORICI: Let me ask you this. Let me change gears a little bit, because I think we've kind of covered this. You have access to fantastic political analysts, being a part of the NBC network, you know, the NBC family. What do they really think is going to be the outcome in the Senate next week? How many seats are the Republicans really going to grab? And how much did the Tea Party actually hurt the Republicans on the Senate side?
RATIGAN: I think the Tea Party made it impossible for – I think the behavior of the Republican (Unintelligible) and then the subsequent campaign and the political development of the conservative movement, including the Tea Party, made it almost impossible for the Republicans to find any political traction in the Senate – and that is something that is largely believed.
At the same time, the ability for the Republicans (...) will be incredibly interesting to watch. The Republicans are going to accumulate more power in this election. Period. I don't know what the math will ultimately be – we'll see. But the Republicans are going to accumulate more power at a time when they are still held in a phenomenally low regard. If you look at the view of both parties, as we both know, they're just both abysmal. And it'll be interesting to see – unlike '94, for instance, when the Republicans had a much broader base of popular support for a basic concept of efficiency that Newt Gingrich was sort of championing – whether it was disingenuous or not, it doesn't matter, right, or how much of it actually happened. But that was the mime. What's the Republican mime in this election? Let me ask you, Peter. So they're going to have more power.
MORICI: Well they're basically saying we need to spend less money, but they don't say how they're going to accomplish it. I really can't see that they have a basic theme.
