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<DIV class=timestamp>August 12, 2011</DIV>
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<H1><NYT_HEADLINE version="1.0" type=" ">Genuflecting to the Tea
Party</NYT_HEADLINE></H1><NYT_BYLINE>
<H6 class=byline>By CHARLES M. BLOW</H6></NYT_BYLINE><NYT_TEXT>
<DIV id=articleBody><NYT_CORRECTION_TOP></NYT_CORRECTION_TOP>
<P>I must confess that every time Representative Michele Bachmann uttered the
phrase “as president of the United States” during Thursday’s <A
title="Complete transcript here"
href="http://foxnewsinsider.com/2011/08/12/full-transcript-complete-text-of-the-iowa-republican-debate-on-fox-news-channel/">Republican
presidential debate</A> I blacked out a little bit, so I’m sure that I missed
some things. </P>
<P>But one thing that I didn’t miss was the moment when all the candidates
raised their hands, confirming that they felt so strongly about not raising
taxes that they would all walk away from a hypothetical deficit-reduction deal
that was as extreme as 10 parts spending cuts to one part tax increases. </P>
<P>That moment should tell every voter in America everything about this current
crop of Know-Nothings — no person who would take such a stance is fit to be
president of the United States or any developed country. </P>
<P>Good governance in a democratic society is about the art of the deal, not
fiats and dictum. You want leaders who stand up for principles but not in the
way of progress. </P>
<P>And it is truly telling that the word “bipartisan” was only used twice, once
each by Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, whose campaigns evoke the phrase “dead
men walking.” </P>
<P>At least Jon Huntsman tried to act like an adult toward the end with this
statement: “I’m the only one on this stage who stood up for a deal, for the
Boehner deal, against this nation defaulting. I know I’m a little different than
everybody else in that regard.” But he’s getting about as much traction as a
tire stuck in the mud on a Mississippi dirt road. </P>
<P>What we are witnessing is an extension and acceleration of the G.O.P.’s
obscene genuflection to Tea Party tenets: give no ground; take no prisoners;
accept no deal. </P>
<P>Luckily for the rest of us, a rash of <A
href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/148940/Tea-Party-Sparks-Antipathy-Passion.aspx">recent</A>
<A
href="http://people-press.org/2011/08/09/views-of-tea-party-supporters-in-congress-grow-more-negative/">polling</A>
suggests that more Americans, at least for the moment, seem to be coming around
to seeing the Tea Party for what it is — not mechanics come to fix the machine,
but the proverbial monkeys willing to throw a wrench into it. </P>
<P>One of those polls was <A
href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/05/us/politics/20110805_Poll-docs.html?ref=politics">a
New York Times/CBS News poll released last week</A>. It found that the percent
of people with an unfavorable view of the Tea Party increased by more than a
third from the last time the question was asked. Furthermore, the percent of
people who considered themselves part of the Tea Party dropped to 18 percent
from 26 percent and the percentage who said that the Tea Party had too much
influence over the Republican Party increased by more than half, crossing 40
percent for the first time. </P>
<P>David Axelrod, the Obama campaign strategist, said the candidates at the
debate were “<A
href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20091630-503544.html">essentially
pledging allegiance to the Tea Party, instead of resolving the problems of this
country</A>.” </P>
<P>I’m not always a fan of the administration’s messaging. But, on this, I
completely agree. </P><NYT_AUTHOR_ID>
<DIV class=authorIdentification>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center">•</P>
<P>________________________________</P></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>Wayne A. Fox<BR><A
href="mailto:wayne.a.fox@gmail.com">wayne.a.fox@gmail.com</A><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>