GOP Donors Revolt Against Republican-Led 
Government Shutdown

By David Freedlander

Oct 3, 2013--It’s not just Democrats who are angry at the Tea Party-led shutdown.

Republican donors are furious their party has managed to ‘grab defeat from the jaws of victory’ on Obamacare—and some are withholding funds.

On a Monday last month, Rep. Greg Walden, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, met with some top GOP donors for lunch at Le Cirque on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.

The donors, a youngish collection of financial industry types and lawyers, had some questions for Walden, a mild-mannered lawmaker from eastern Oregon known for speaking his mind.

House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor speak to the media on the "fiscal cliff" on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Why, they asked, did the GOP seem so in the thrall of its most extremist wing?

The donors, banker types who occupy the upper reaches of Wall Street’s towers, couldn’t understand why the Republican Party—their party—seemed close to threatening the nation with a government shutdown, never mind a default if the debt ceiling isn’t raised later this month.

“Listen,” Walden said, according to several people present.

“We have to do this because of the Tea Party.

If we don’t, these guys are going to get primaried and they are going to lose their primary.”

Walden asked how many of those seated around the table were precinct captains.

These were money men, though, not the types to spend night after night knocking on doors and slipping palm cards into mailboxes.

“A lot of the people there didn’t even know what a precinct captain was,” said one attendee.

Not a single hand went up.

“I hear this complaint all the time,” Walden said.

“But no one gets involved at the local level.

The Tea Party gets involved at the local level.”

It is unlikely that the gilded power brokers in the Republican Party are likely to join their local county political club any time soon, but as the stock market wobbles amid the government shutdown and the continued demand for an Obamacare delay, a number of GOP donors are wondering if it is time for a little outside counter-pressure to sap the Tea Party of some of its energy.

To be clear, none are considering joining the Democrats, and they find plenty of fault with President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The deficit, taxes, and regulation remain top concerns.

But several top GOP donors say figuring out a way to “break the fever”—as Obama once put it—or at least keep their fellow party members from damaging the economy any further has become Topic A in their social set.

Got some extra time on your hands due to the government shutdown?

“When you have a small segment who dictate to the rest of the party, the result is what we have seen in the last two days.

People need to stand up and not be afraid of the Tea Party.”