Quote Originally Posted by Nessus View Post
Yeah, but that was my point! Some Dems are leftist even by my (according to Kain insane) metrics, but what kind of power do they actually hold? The Teaper freshmen had a pretty good showing this year, but insofar as I can remember (and this is where I trip!), there hasn't been such a success for the "social progressives" in the US. There was some health-care reform but not enough (neither side of the aisle is happy), they let faggots be faggots in the military (this is a progressive yay, I admit), but there's still a big if on the faggot marriage thing...What am I missing? And let's not forget that the Teapers are not a minority within the GOP wanting to slash the welfare net, they're just the vocal front!
I'm confused. Health reform, even if it wasn't all that they might have wanted, did get passed. What actual legislative success have "the Teaper freshmen" enjoyed? The only real challenge they made was trying to prevent the debt limit from being raised. And they didn't get many concessions before they caved. Gingrich's "New Republicans" got a lot further with that ploy back in 1995.

Oh wait, I forgot, you have a massively overblown view of the Tea Party's presence and power, in Congress and with the public, and nothing I say has ever made the least dent in that delusion.