Recognizing The Divide

It appears that the tea-baggers are noticing the effect that they are having. Not on the overall political landscape, but on the party that they have splintered off from, and it's not pretty.

Recent polling has shown the the tea-baggers have the very real potential to split the Republican vote, thereby cementing a guaranteed win for the Democrats. Michelle Bachmann, one the matriarchs of the tea-baggers, knows this and is calling for unification.



As I've been saying since the election, the modern GOP has no leadership, no goals, and is more than willing to redefine well-documented history. The problem is that the fringe has carved out a niche within the party but has yet to gain full control. It's a very interesting dichotomy. The tea-baggers moved away from the GOP because they claimed the party wasn't strong enough on specific issues, and the remainder of Republicans have distanced themselves from their fiery and ill-conceived rhetoric. And now, the splinter cell of tea-baggers find themselves in the position that they had not expected - they have just enough power to destroy themselves and not gain any ground unless they fold themselves back into the party from which they left.

Think Progress has more.