Opinion by John Williamson:
Of the many commentaries I’ve seen which try vainly to explain the Trump phenomenon in none has the effect of the Tea Party been mentioned. The tea parties had a major hand in giving the Republicans control of the House in 2012 and the Senate in 2014, but those elected Republicans refused to support tea party agendas.
The tea partiers on the whole were Republicans, if you compare their ideologies with those found on most Republican party websites: lower taxes, smaller government, capitalism, and individual freedom and responsibility. The Republicans in state and national life were for the most part behaving contrarily. Consequently tea partiers and others having a “Republican” ideology were left out of the political process. They didn’t leave the Republican party, the Establishment Republicans left them.
How odd it is that political gadflies are now trying to advise President-elect Trump how to be a conservative Republican of their image. I’m sure that Trump understands why and how he was elected and hopefully he will make America great again.