Caustic brew: Tea Party “purging” GOP establishment in 2016, says Jax author

US_NEWS_TEAPARTY

It’s billed as the first book that examines the Tea Party’s successful “primary” campaign against what the movement has dubbed Republicans in Name Only (RINOs).

(Another, less flattering nickname is cuckservative, but that’s a story for another day.)

UNF political science professor Ron Libby argues that 2016 is the year the Tea Party has moved from local and Congressional contests to the biggest prize in politics — the White House — in Purging the Republican Party: Tea Party Campaigns and Elections.

Libby will present the ideas in his book at the upcoming Iowa Conference on Presidential Politics, which is expected to be attended by 2016 candidates from both parties leading up to the February Iowa caucuses.

“This is the first time that the Tea Party is able to compete for the Republican presidential nomination,” Libby tells Florida Politics. “In the past, from 2009-2012, they focused on Congressional races. They have a strategy called primarying” where they challenge someone from the right. Now, in the 2016 election, they’re contesting for the Republican presidential nomination. And what that reflects is that they’ve basically taken over the base of the Republican party. And that’s what the media doesn’t understand.

“They don’t get that they’re not Republicans. And two, they’ve taken over the grassroots base. That’s why the RINOs like Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina and even Marco Rubio and Chris Christie, establishment candidates, won’t win. The media thinks if they give wonderful performances — the media is focused on words – that there will be a shift in the polls. It’s not gonna happen. The Tea Party is not gonna vote for these people.”

Libby points out, 60 percent of the Republican voters who go to caucuses and vote in primaries are affiliated with the Tea Party.

“For these voters, Trump/Carson is their dream ticket.”

Melissa Ross

In addition to her work writing for Florida Politics, Melissa Ross also hosts and produces WJCT’s First Coast Connect, the Jacksonville NPR/PBS station’s flagship local call-in public affairs radio program. The show has won four national awards from Public Radio News Directors Inc. (PRNDI). First Coast Connect was also recognized in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014 as Best Local Radio Show by Folio Weekly’s “Best Of Jax” Readers Poll and Melissa has also been recognized as Folio Weekly’s Best Local Radio Personality. As executive producer of The 904: Shadow on the Sunshine State, Melissa and WJCT received an Emmy in the “Documentary” category at the 2011 Suncoast Emmy Awards. The 904 examined Jacksonville’s status as Florida’s murder capital. During her years in broadcast television, Melissa picked up three additional Emmys for news and feature reporting. Melissa came to WJCT in 2009 with 20 years of experience in broadcasting, including stints in Cincinnati, Chicago, Orlando and Jacksonville. Married with two children, Melissa is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism/Communications. She can be reached at [email protected].



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