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Editor's Note: This article reflect the opinions of the individual interviewed and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of KSL as an entity.SALT LAKE CITY — The Tea Party received a lot of attention when it was established a few years ago. Their two main messages at the time were the problems of America's deficit and government spending. Most Americans agreed with that message which reinforced the quick rise of the Tea Party.
"But now, so many things have been added on to it, and kind of the rigidity of getting that, has made it almost impossible to get deals done," says Kirk Jowers with the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. "It's burn the village unless you do it our way."
Jowers believes there are three reasons why Tea Party all-stars like Senators Mike Lee and Ted Cruz have stayed so powerful.
1. Re-drawing district lines
Parties know the real race in many districts is before the general election, meaning they're politically safe.
"Re-districting, which are where the seats have gone either extreme right or extreme left," Jowers said. "Since the general election doesn't matter anymore, there is a fear of getting flanked to your right in this case."
2. Reinforced news
Voters tend to consume news they already agree with, from Fox News to the Daily Show.
Is there no one in the Tea Party who is married? In order to move the household forward, there are times you have to pick and choose what's most important and not keep score on everything.
–Kirk Jowers
"We don't watch the evening news and the national news like we used to, and so there's not a single source of information," Jowers said. "Instead, we segregate ourselves into different TV channels or websites, and so we only get our own self-reinforcing news."
3. Interest groups
Interest groups tend to fund politicians to the far right or far left.
"The money is flowing towards the extremes. So even though the middle may be 80 percent of the country, 80 percent of the money is going to the 20 percent," Jowers said. "There certainly is the implication that the Tea Party has very strict litmus tests. And if you fail them, even if you're with them 9 out of 10 times, that one time could be reason enough for someone to run against you."
Utah saw that example with Senator Bob Bennett in 2010.
"Bob Bennett was a 90 percent all time conservative rating, but he got some groups on the far right upset on a couple of votes," Jowers said. "For those who are more worried about re-election than about solving our countries problems, it really is a no-brainer on what you do here. You toe the line and don't run the risk of getting out-flanked to your right."
That makes it hard to compromise with members of the opposite party.
"Is there no one in the Tea Party who is married? I don't get my way every time at home, and it's better if we find some pathways that work, even though I might prefer to do some things this way," Jowers said. "But, you realize, in order to move the household forward, there are times you have to pick and choose what's most important and not keep score on everything."
