Around The MOB: Eckernet
By Mitch Berg
Kevin Ecker is not one of the more obscure MOB bloggers. Everyone knows Kevin. An unapologetic paleocon, one of the founding junta at True North, Kevin is also the foremost Second Amendment blogger in the Twin Cities (although Carnivore at TvM gives us all a run for our money). And he’s been doing Eckernet for a long, long time – actually going back to February 10 of 2002, which was five days after I got started.
Did I say unrepentant paleo? Yep. Kevin’s never been shy about mixing it up with the GOP establishment, even in his capacity as an activist:
The conservative agenda is clearly popular right now, it’s a gimme for the Republicans right?? Wrong. Polls show conservatives simply don’t trust Republican legislators, and they have a lot of reason to.
But Tea Party activists have to eventually side with Republicans don’t they?? No, not at all, and Scott Brown’s election proved it. Scott Brown got his volunteers from the Tea Party movement. He raised over a million dollars a day via the internet. His campaign existed largely outside the Republican Party structure. Republicans always promise lower spending and smaller government, but when they get to Washington they feed the government hog instead. When Scott Brown promised the same, the public, especially the Tea Party activists responded with great enthusiasm. The Scott Brown campaign didn’t just exist outside the Republican Party structure…..it THRIVED.
The Tea Party is the most popular movement in the country, far outpacing both the Democrats and Republicans. And now they’ve proven they can do more than just stand around and make noise in town halls and in web forums on the internet. They can make or break an election, even in hostile territory. The Republican Party hasn’t yet figured out that they need the Tea Party, but the Tea Party movement is slowly waking up to the fact that they don’t need the Republican Party.
If you’re not reading Eckernet – well, your mission is clear.
February 2nd, 2010 at 10:46 am
“Scott Brown’s election proved it. ”
I came to a different conclusion. If Scott Brown didn’t have an R after it, Kevin might have a point, but Brown ran as a Republican, with Mitt Romney’s campaign machine, and a vast infusion of money from all kinds of people, not just Tea Partiers.
February 2nd, 2010 at 1:56 pm
One thing I believe is that Scott Brown got a HUGE number of small contributors who wanted him to have enough money to have a chance against the Dem machine, especially because it had been Kennedy’s seat for near 40 years. I only hope that another of Kennedy clan doesn’t show up for the next election.
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:08 pm
He clearly got Tea Party support, but he also got support from a lot of other places, including the “Republican Party Structure”.
If anything, Brown’s victory shows what can happen when pragmatism wins over conservative purity concerns.
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:15 pm
MoN wrote”If anything, Brown’s victory shows what can happen when pragmatism wins over conservative purity concerns.”
A definite improvement over oh, say NY 23.
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Doesn’t compare. Tea Partiers had no interest in a Scozzafava victory because she was a vote for Obama’s health care reform. No pragmatism was warranted. The mistake in NY23 was clearly the fault of the local GOP that endorsed her.
February 9th, 2010 at 1:18 am
[…] I’m by no means a firearms expert, as much as I may blog about them, but it doesn’t take much knowledge to spot the inconsistencies, subtle errors, and outright […]