Conservative George Will - Tea party now is republican party

Before we take a break, I want to quickly discuss the story of George Will. George Will wrote, of course the conservative journalist and author, wrote... or, rather, said that the Tea Party is basically the establishment today. And we actually have video of him saying this to Christiane Amanpour. And it's interesting, because for so long, we still continue to hear, ideally, a distinction made between the Republican Party and the Tea Party, and here is George Will himself saying it is the Republican Party. George Will: ... is no Republican establishment. Its newspaper died, the "Herald Tribune" in New York, in 1966, and it died... Christiane Amanpour: But it's-- they keep raising their voice, though. Will: It died... look, Google "the Republican establishment", you'll get 20 million hits. Google the Loch Ness Monster, you'll get a whole bunch. It's dead or never existed. Amanpour: Yeah, but there is a Tea Party, and many say that they are outside the establishment. Maybe not? Will: They are... they are the establishment today. David: So there's George Will saying the Tea Party is the establishment today, which is interesting, because for so long before the 2010 election, all we heard was how the Tea Party are outsiders, the Tea Party is grassroots, even though we knew all along it was astroturf. And what did we say right after the 2010 election? The Tea Party is going to be the Republican Party by the next election, or they will disappear altogether. And case in point, as we talked about, CNN partnering with the Tea Party for a debate, and the complete lack of basically traditional conservatism. Some people will say it's actually Ron Paul, but as we've already discussed, in many ways, it's not. Do you agree, Louis, that the Tea Party is now the Republican establishment default? Louis: I mean, they're like the embodiment of what most of the angry Republicans are concerned about now, right? David: Certainly it's one of the loudest voices, yeah. Louis: But have they completely replaced the Republican Party? David: It's not so much have they replaced them... Louis: I mean... I mean, it's not like there aren't Republicans out there who claim to be Republicans, who claim to be conservative, but do not want to have anything to do with the Tea Party. David: That's not what it is, it's different. It's more that if you are a Republican in the House, for example, now, if you don't agree or are vocal about the issues that the Tea Party is vocal about, you... Louis: You're a non-factor? David: You appear to be somewhat of an outsider. I think that's the best way to look at this. It's not so much that you either have to or don't have to identify as part of the Tea Party. I think that that's what it is. I think it's that the most identifiable and loud issues that are being dealt with on the Republican side are Tea Party-driven issues, and if you're not involved in those issues, you appear to be a little bit outside of the mainstream Republican ideal. Louis: Right. But it still falls under the whole Republican bubble, right? David: Yeah, they still have an R next to their name, yeah. But I think I agree with George Will, which is not something I've said very often. Let's take a break. Make sure to get the show on Stitcher, on the Stitcher Smart Radio app on your iPhone or Android phone. Use promo code "David", get entered to win 100 bucks. And you can also do it at www.Stitcher.com/DavidPakmanShow. Yet another great way to support the show. Back after this. Announcer: The David Pakman Show at www.DavidPakman.com. Transcript provided by Subscriptorium Multimedia Linguistic Services. For transcripts, translations, captions, and subtitles, or for more information, visit www.Subscriptorium.com, or write us at subscriptorium@gmail.com.