Mary Matalin to GOP: Stop Tearing Down Tea Party

Republicans must stop tearing down tea party conservatives, who actually represent the roots of the GOP, political consultant Mary Matalin says.

"I do blame the party, and those in the party, who are attacking the so-called tea party conservatives who were elected, who are doing exactly what they were elected to do," Matalin told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

"They're attacking them on tactics. This was never about tactics. It's about ideology, and it's an ideology that not only is the base of our party, it's the base of the country. And it's an ideology that wins elections and it's ideology that works," she said Wednesday.

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Matalin said states where Republicans have enacted policies based on the principles of limited government and a balanced budget have seen their economies grow at twice the rate of the national economy.

She chastised the party for not doing more to help Ken Cuccinelli in the race for governor of Virginia, which was narrowly won by liberal Democrat Terry McAuliffe.

"Everybody could have done more, including Cuccinelli, who was mum on abortion, on life," she said. "And the albatross on him was the Republican Party having raised taxes. If we don't work on our own issues, who's going to turn out for us?"

But Matalin, who was campaign director for President George H.W. Bush, declined to criticize New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who reportedly turned down Cuccinelli's plea to campaign for him.

"I don't say anything about Christie. When you're running in your state, you've got to stay in your state, even though he was going to win. And I'm not sure how popular he would have been," Matalin said.

Matalin thinks the disastrous launch of the Affordable Care Act website was completely preventable.

"When Y2K was approaching, the government . . . went crazy trying to make sure that there weren't going to be any glitches, and we were more fragile technically then," she said.

"We didn't have the tools that we have now. That this happened is so emblematic of everything that's wrong with progressives."

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