Q & A: Katie Ellis on the Tea Party

by Michael Sean Winters on Sep. 24, 2010

This week's Q & A on the Tea Party finishes with a comment from Katie Ellis, Acting Executive Director of the Delaware Democratic Party. As her brief comments suggest, and as the most recent polls for the Delaware Senate race confirm, the Dems in Delaware do not appear to be sweating it.

The question: Will the Tea Party be a blessing or a curse for the GOP in November?

Katie Ellis: I think the Tea Party is a symptom -- people are fed up with "politics as usual" in Washington, and looking for a change. Too often, progress is being blocked for purely political reasons, and the American people are fed up with it. When people elect leaders, they expect them to lead.

At the end of the day, I don't believe the Tea Party will fully encompass that voter frustration. With the Tea Party, and the Republican Party as a whole, I know what they oppose but I don't know very much about what they stand for. We're seeing a lot of momentum on the Democratic side for our proactive solutions to solving Delaware's problems.

I will give my opinion on

Submitted by Michael Bindner (not verified) on Sep. 24, 2010.

I will give my opinion on this. The Tea Party is a multi-headed beast, however certain factions, like the Tea Party Express, are made up of the most conservative Republicans - socially, economically and culturally - and they are funded by David Koch through a variety of means. While some factions have no desire to be tagged as organs of the Republican Party, such as the Tea Party Patriots, the TPE desires to control it - either because they think that their ideas will win with voters or because they are trying to discredit the entire movement. The jury is out whether they are true believers or Libertarian Party fifth columnists. I suspect that they may be a little of both and that they have been successful because there is a perceived leadership vacuum in the Republican Party and they had the funding to step in.

I think I will post this to my own blog. Next week's Radio Show will also have this as a topic.

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