This disaster is what happens when a left-wing British newspaper attempts to cover Texas elections.
They include the Populist party that won elections in several states during the 1890s recession and the millions who voted for Ross Perot's presidential candidacy in the 1980s.
The things that get written in international papers about domestic American politics blow my mind.
Posted by Evan @ 02/28/10 05:54 PM
Previous Entry | Home | Next Entry
Comments
The comment you quote apparently came from a SMU professor - Calvin Jillson - and was about the Tea Party movement in general, not Texas politics or the gubernatorial primary in particular. And it remains to be seen if the Tea Party will fade out or have some of its strains coopted by mainstream parties, such as the strains of populism were coopeted by the Democratic Party in 1912 with the election of Woodrow Wilson.
Posted by TobyBelch @ 02/28/10 07:50 PM
It was not a Cal Jillson quote.
The point is that the entire article was bad, which isn't surprising if you don't know basic facts about American politics.
Posted by Evan_ @ 02/28/10 07:54 PM
It is a poor article, because the author apparently hasn't been paying much attention to Medina's flagging race down the stretch and not realising that Perot ran in the 90s not the 80s.
And you're right, it's not a quote (and I didn't say it was). He appears to be relaying Jillson's view that the Tea Party movement is like the Populist Party or Ross Perot and will flame out when the economy turns the corner. Not sure Jillson is right since I believe elements of the Tea Party (basically everyone who isn't a Truther or other conspiracy nutter) could be coopted - and channeled - into the Republican Party with a significant impact on it. That's why I use the example of 1912: Wilson and the Democrats were able to win by coopting parts of the Progressive Party (Bull Moose Party) platform and agenda, and those elements have remained apart of the philosophy and platform of the Democratic Party to this day.
Posted by TobyBelch @ 02/28/10 08:31 PM
good comment. we'll see.
Posted by Rick Perry vs World @ 02/28/10 09:17 PM
Add Comments
No flames or impolite behavior. HTML will be stripped. URLs will be transformed into hyperlinks.