Visigoths at the Gate?

[Geee]

National Review:

When facing a tsunami, what do you do? Pray, and tell yourself stories. I am not privy to the Democrats’ private prayers, but I do hear the stories they’re telling themselves. The new meme is that there’s a civil war raging in the Republican party. The tea party will wreck it from within and prove to be the Democrats’ salvation.

I don’t blame anyone for seeking a deus ex machina when about to be swept out to sea. But this salvation du jour is flimsier than most.

In fact, the big political story of the year is the contrary: that a spontaneous and quite anarchic movement with no recognized leadership or discernible organization has been merged with such relative ease into the Republican party.
The tea party could have become Perot ’92, an anti-government movement that spurned the Republicans, went third party, and cost George H. W. Bush reelection, ending twelve years of Republican rule. Had the tea party gone that route, it would have drained the Republican party of its most mobilized supporters and deprived Republicans of the sweeping victory that awaits them on November 2.