In America the masses are now slipping away from the one-percenters towards the 99-percenters, and about the only mindless supporters of anything mainstream are Tea Partiers.
Paul's May talk-a-thon against the government's surveillance program went a long way toward restoring his appeal and reenergize fans, and his new flat-tax proposal could please both mainstream and tea party camps in the GOP.
But the split between the mainstream and tea-party wings of the GOP will provide openings for Democrats to force compromises, and that's exactly what happened on the omnibus spending bill.
The board said only eight lines have been dropped accounting for less than 1% of products sold and that it was instead focusing on improving its range of more mainstream products including tea, coffee and wine.
Christie's appeal, from the beginning and now, is that he appeals to both traditional, mainstream Republicans and Tea Partyers alike -- someone who could unite the party, which neither Romney, Santorum nor Gingrich is currently believed capable of doing.
"Intra-party schisms … are usually rooted in policy," Chait wrote, but "mainstream Republicans and the tea party have fallen out almost entirely over political tactics".
On tax cuts, "Tea Partiers and mainstream Republicans agree".
Like motherhood and apple pie, the "small government" mantra is something both tea partiers and mainstream America easily endorse.
Our caucus is badly split, we are getting killed in the polls, we have had to drop the demand to defund Obamacare, all the corporate leadership is mad at us for playing roulette with the debt, and there are even some likely primary challenges from mainstream business Republicans to our Tea Party incumbents.
Coke is mainstream; TV is mainstream.
His appeal was broad enough that one could easily imagine a coalition of tea partiers, evangelicals and mainstream conservatives.
