Hinckley Institute of Politics director Kirk Jowers says Mike Lee has a chance to change the direction of the Tea Party and transform the Republican party as well.
Writing in the Deseret News, Jowers says Lee’s calls for the Tea Party to do more than obstruct the Obama administration could have
Lee may be positioning himself to lead a charge that could transform not only his standing with Utah voters, but also, potentially, the direction of the national Republican Party. Michael Gerson, a respected national conservative columnist proclaimed in his Washington Post article entitled“Saving the tea party” that “For those who expect and fear an irrepressible conflict between the tea party and the Republican establishment, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah is a hopeful anomaly. Should this anomaly become a trend, the GOP’s future would be considerably brighter.”
Through his recent speeches, interviews and legislation, Lee is demonstrating that he could metamorphose from being viewed as an obstructionist, Republican pariah to an agent for creating a better GOP and a brighter future. In a lecture at the Heritage Foundation — an institution that used to be far more purposeful and far less angry before former Sen. Jim DeMint took charge — Sen. Lee explained his new vision succinctly. First, he stated, “To deserve victory, conservatives have to do more than pick a fight. We have to win a debate. And to do that … [w]e need an agenda.” Second, he urged fellow Republicans to engage in a “Great Debate” and cease trying to purge more moderate Republicans from its ranks.
