This time it's different.

• Author: Glastris, Paul
• Position: Editor's Note - Republican Party's resurgence - Editorial

I did my first stint in Washington in the early 1980s, during the heyday of the Reagan administration. I came back during the Gingrich Revolution and stayed for the George W. Bush years. Each of these waves of conservative ascendency began with bold rhetoric about cutting government, rolling back regulations, and shrinking the welfare state. Each ended with the government having grown considerably bigger. Reagan, you may recall, was stymied by Tip O'Neil and sided with pragmatists in his own administration. Gingrich was outfoxed by Bill Clinton. And even with one-party control of both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue during six of George W. Bush's eight years, GOP leaders chose not to dismember government, but to neglect it (FEMA) or add to it (NCLB, Medicare Part D, the Department of Homeland Security).

So it's natural for veterans of Washington to be a little dismissive of the idea that any big changes will happen if the Republicans win big this November. The presumption is that the desire to get reelected, the resistance of K Street, the power of the minority party to create gridlock, or the sense of responsibility that comes with governing will rein in the extremism we're hearing from GOP candidates in the primaries. Sure, Newt Gingrich has said child labor laws are stupid and inner-city public school janitors should be replaced by students, but that's just him talking. "Newt Gingrich has a way of tossing out some far-fetched ideas, like a professor trying to provoke a hearty debate," assured NPR's Pam Fessler about the disgraced former speaker's unusual idea. Sure, Michele Bachmann might actually believe her anti-Washington rhetoric, but she's not going to get the nomination, and those who might are too much creatures of the establishment to actually attack it. "The emergence of the Washington-friendly Newt as the last alternative to a Washington-friendly Mitt is but one sign that the Tea Party's anti-government insurgency has run its course," wrote Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank.

I think this is a profound misreading of where the Republican Party is right now. The failure of the GOP to shrink government the last three times it had power is precisely what motivates the anger of the Tea Party base--a force that still exhibits an amazing ability to lead the Republican Party by the nose. These are people who mainly kept quiet about the rapid growth of government during George W. Bush's first term because their leaders told them it was...