Sarah Palin: ‘GOP Is Through’ If It Doesn’t Embrace Tea Party Message

During an interview with CNN political producer Shannon Travis, Sarah Palin claimed that she doesn’t believe that the Tea Party will split the Republican Party, but did state that if it strays from its core values, the ‘GOP would be through.’ Palin also added that if the Tea Party continues to tout “free market principles,” the movement will have no problem attracting independent voters, and called on members to “apply time tested truths” and prove they work.

Palin said “I think the machine within the GOP will realize the ‘we the people’ within message is rising and is resonating throughout with independents, with moderates, with hard core conservatives because it’s so full of common sense.” Palin continued “And time tested truths that could put the economy back on track that heaven forbid the GOP machine strays from this message if so, the GOP is through.”

Some have noticed a growing rift between establishment GOP and the grass-roots Tea Party movement, of which Ms. Palin has become a vocal and enthusiastic supporter/quasi-leader. The “GOP Civil War” is in some respects great news for a motivated voter base in the coming elections for right-of-center candidates, however a landscape in which the GOP and Tea Party are not in line could prove to be quite beneficial to Democratic candidates, particularly in the 2012 presidential race (See Perot, Ross and President Bill Clinton.)

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