Is The Tea Party Too Full of 'Rage'? Peggy Noonan Thinks So

Throughout the 2012 election cycle, Peggy Noonan's responses to the Republican party's campaign were frequently critical, only getting optimistic near the end when former GOP nominee Mitt Romney began to tack to the center and employ big ideas to win over crowds. However, Noonan's faulty prediction of the election notwithstanding, she arguably also had a pretty clear idea of what was going right (and wrong) with the Republican party, and expressed it in a relatively mild way.

And today, on CBS's "Face the Nation," Noonan had a similarly circumspect take on what was and was not wrong with the GOP, and more specifically, the Tea Party. Describing the group as "helpful" and applauding its decision not to become a third party in 2010, Noonan nevertheless fielded some criticisms of the group not so much for its philosophy or policy, but for its tone.

"I think the Tea Party is going to have to look at itself," Noonan said. "It’s been so helpful to the Republican Party in the past. It saved it by not going third party in 2010, helping the Republicans sweep the House. But the Tea Party style of rage is not one that wins over converts and makes people lean towards them and say, ‘I want to listen to you.’ I think a friendly persuasion has to begin now from the Republican Party to people of the United States."

Watch Noonan make her case here, courtesy of the Daily Caller: