Asked whether the tea party was waxing or waning, Rove said 鈥渂oth.鈥� He argued that the tea party is really split into two factions with different aims and experiencing opposite political fortunes.
The smaller group (perhaps about a third of the overall tea party movement, by his calculation) 鈥渨ants to be an adjunct to the Republican Party, wants to be the kingmakers. They want to be the guys who run the television ads, make the endorsements, and pick the candidates.鈥�
Though Rove didn鈥檛 say so, this group could include leaders like Sen. Jim DeMint (R) of South Carolina, who is inside the party but often backs outside challengers to more established Republican figures in primary races. This is the waxing faction of the tea party for its high visibility.
The other tea party, the other two-thirds, doesn鈥檛 want to be an 鈥渁djunct鈥� to the GOP. Instead, it aims to become a movement like the pro-life or Second Amendment or civil rights movement that wants 鈥渢o influence people in both parties and hold their feet to the fire on issues of deficit, debt, freedom, limited government, and Obamacare.鈥�
This is the tea party鈥檚 waning faction, currently 鈥渉aving difficulty figuring out how to become durable. They鈥檙e nervous about getting involved with others, they don鈥檛 have the visibility you get by running TV ads in a primary, and there are just some institutional difficulties for this group finding its way.鈥�
But Rove was adamant that the rage about deficits and personal freedoms isn't going anywhere.
鈥淲e spend too much time looking at the movement,鈥� he said. 鈥淗ere鈥檚 the sentiment that gave rise to the movement 鈥� and that hasn鈥檛 waned. It鈥檚 big, it鈥檚 powerful, and it鈥檚 driving a lot of this election and particularly among independent voters who won鈥檛 go to a tea party meeting or don鈥檛 consider themselves tea party but 鈥� that鈥檚 what鈥檚 driving it.鈥�
