Salon: A left-wing Tea Party may be closer than you think

[starroute]

57. The Tea Party has billionaires to fund its insurgency

Brat was able to defeat Canton only because of support from powerful outside interests. There is absolutely nothing like that on the left. With rare exceptions, the Democratic Party chooses its own candidates -- and if someone not to its liking happens to win a primary, they make sure that person receives no support in November.

Expecting a grassroots movement to take over the Democratic Party from inside is folly -- or else a deliberate diversion. The only way the left has ever had any influence on the Democrats has been as scary outsiders who threaten the party's ability to conduct business as usual.

The Democratic Party leadership at this point appears to be as divorced from the needs and wishes of actual Democrats as most union leaders are from the needs of workers, or as the United States Chamber of Commerce is from the needs of small business. In every case, decisions are made at the top to enhance the power and wealth of the people at the top, and any threat to that cozy arrangement will be ruthlessly put down.