Daniel Hannan On The Impossibility of European Tea Parties

Outspoken British member of the European Parliament, Daniel Hannan, wrote a thoughtful piece in a recent edition of the Wall Street Journal explaining why you won't see any Euro-Tea Parties.

Hannan credits the parliamentary system common to European countries with putting all nominating power in the hands of party leaders. There is no option for solo candidates to try to break into parties with new ideas. Party leaders construct the lists which provide voters with their local parliamentary choice.

Whereas, in America, a Christine O'Donnell can beat the party favorite in the primaries, that just isn't possible in Europe.

As Hannan writes,

"Open primaries ensure that legislatures remain diverse, independent of the executive, and responsive to public opinion. They make a spontaneous antitax campaign possible.

You don't know how lucky you are to have them, my friends."

At least for now, before the Constitution is further eroded by Progressives, we retain this remarkable feature of our government.