"Establishment" GOP Takes Tougher Stance Towards Tea Party

When it comes to winning the job on dividing and conquering Republicans, liberals must laugh till they sleep:

That 2014 has been the year that the establishment struck back — preparing and financing its candidates with a new determination and focus — is evident in its success.

That may prove to have been the easy part. Republicans on both sides of the internal divide are now looking at the impact the primary season will have on politics and governance as the party seeks to build on its House majority and take control of the Senate this year and win back the White House in 2016.

Emboldened by their success, establishment Republicans are using tough language about the party’s more conservative groups. They are suggesting that the federal government shutdown last fall — led by hard-liners like Senator Ted Cruz of Texas — and this year’s primary results have staggered the organizations claiming the Tea Party mantle.

“This is a bunch of out-of-state political gunslingers who have crowned themselves as the leaders of Tea Party Republicanism and are raising money in the name of a more conservative party and spending it all attacking Republicans,” former Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi said in an interview at the meeting here.

“If in 2016 we don’t have these people raising millions of Republican dollars and using it to attack Republicans, then we’ll be stronger against the Democrats for president and for keeping the House and for hopefully keeping the Senate,” said Mr. Barbour, who was one of the few speakers at the meeting to urge party unity.

The most significant effect of the party turnabout could take place well before 2016, though. If Republicans now in office conclude that Tea Party pressure is no longer a political threat, they may be more willing to face down the right on issues like an overhaul of immigration laws.

“If the threats are toothless, then the scorecards are meaningless,” said Mr. Barbour, referring to the closely watched voter guides issued by many conservative groups.

Scott Reed, a political strategist for the newly aggressive U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that such ratings now amount to “hollow threats” and that the success of the party’s mainstream wing would give Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio some room to maneuver in the House.

“If Speaker Boehner increases his margins, he’ll have a more manageable caucus, and governing will be back front and center,” Mr. Reed said.

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