It's Official - The Teabaggers Control The Republican Party

The Republican Party started this presidential nominating campaign with 17 candidates. On Tuesday night, Ted Cruz became the 15th candidate to drop out of the race, and on Wednesday the 16th candidate (John Kasich) dropped out. That leaves only one candidate -- Donald Trump. "The Donald" is now the presumptive nominee for president of the Republican Party.

That's right. Republican voters have chosen a candidate with no experience in politics at any level -- a reality TV star and billionaire real estate mogul -- a man who promises to bring jobs back to the U.S. while having his own products made in China (including his campaign swag). Trump has won the GOP nomination by making a lot of promises, but without revealing a single plan on how he would keep those promises.

But Trump supporters don't care that he doesn't have a plan. They only care that he seems to reflect the same anger they have over federal politics. They don't have any plans either -- only anger at the politicians (especially the politicians in their own party. They are the teabaggers.

A few months ago, on this blog, I said the nominee of the Republican Party would be one of three men -- Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, or Marco Rubio. And I said that the final nominee would tell us who really controls the current Republican Party. If it was the business establishment, the nominee would be Rubio. If it was the evangelical/conservative extremists, it would be Cruz. And if it was the teabaggers, the nominee would be Trump.

At that time, I said I thought the nominee would be Marco Rubio. I was wrong. The business establishment wing of the party might control the money, but they no longer control the party. In the last few days, it has become obvious that the Republican Party has now morphed into the Tea Party. The teabaggers now officially control the Republican Party.

I am a die-hard Democrat, but I do believe we need at least two viable political parties (if not more). And I find it sad that the once proud Republican Party -- the party that produced Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower -- has now devolved into a shameful mix of anger, hate, and bigotry. This is a terrible day for this country.