JerNYC:

> A very clear message was sent to the Republicans in this election if they are
> smart enough to take their hands off their ears. "Get the crazies out of your
> party"

> This message didn't come from the liberal establishment in the Northeast. It
> came right out of the heartland.

> Just like Obama was smart enough to never associate himself with the lunatics
> of OWS, so should the Republicans turn their backs on their own lunatics.

To me it was very telling the situation in Colorado. Colorado traditionally voted Republican. Yet it this election (as in 2008) Colorado went Democrat. On TV I hear that the "Latino" vote did it.

The real problem with the Tea Party is that so far it has failed to appeal to the imagination of minorities. Many Hispanics are actually quite conservative people. Traditionally people in Latin America have favored conservative government policies and values deeply influenced by their Catholic thinking.

I found this in one of the Tea Party websites:

"Many people believe that because the Tea Party is a conservative movement, Hispanics do not have a role or interest in it, however this is not true. Hispanics not only are involved, there is a strong effort to reach out, and inform and educate them about conservative issues. The goal of the Tea Party in Texas is to create a strong conservative bloc of voters in the Texas Hispanic communities through out the state.

Hispanics have conservative cultural values which include family and religion. However, liberal Democrats have blinded them with fears and racism. Liberal Democrats have made many of them dependent on the government, while establishing political bosses to control them politically and economically. The political history of south Texas is full of political bosses like George and Archie Parr of Duval County who controlled Hispanics by keeping them dependent on the government. The old Anglo political bosses may be gone, but they have been replaced by Hispanic bosses who are supported by liberal Democrats in Washington DC."

Obviously the Tea party is aware that they need to appeal to minorities if they are to change the course of politics in the USA. However, I am yet to see any prominent Hispanics or African Americans who support the Tea Party. This is made worse by the Arizona immigration legislation that was pushed forth and supported by some members of the Tea Party. The idea that Hispanics have been made dependant on the government by "liberals" is not going to help Tea Party hopes in Texas (or anywhere else).

If Republicans are to rebuild their voter base, they must balance the values of fiscal conservatism, religious conservatism, and the appeal to minorities and women. This is not easy to do because the religious views of Tea Party members are more in line with the 10% of the Hispanic population that believe in protestantism and evangelism. Some of the values of the Tea Party can appeal only to a small segment of the minority population. It will be interesting to see how Republicans balance that approach. I am not sure if there will be a backlash against the Tea Party or some of its values. I think we are more likely to see a further radicalization in their direction. I think Republicans will not take a har look at their values until they receive a real beating at the polls.