TPM asked DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, in Manchester for the GOP debate, what it said about the Republican Party that Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) had placed third in Iowa.
“The Republican Party has clearly made a decision to embrace extremism and that’s been clear from their political activity as well as their caucus and conference in the House and in the Senate,” Schultz responded. “They’ve allowed the Tea Party extremists to take over, it’s the tail wagging the dog.”
She cited the recent difficulties Speaker John Boehner had in securing his own members’ votes on a compromise extending the payroll tax as one recent example of the Tea Party’s influence within the party forcing its leaders to tack right.
“Whether it’s Ron Paul or Mitt Romney or Rick Perry or Newt Gingrich, they’ve all embraced extremism. And thats not the direction that I think Americans will choose to go on November 6.”