Two years ago we elected a President who everyone knew would project change, however President Obama has made a lot of political enemies, one of which is the Tea Party movement. We heard a lot about them in the previous two years. Many have risen to be stars in the Conservative party, some had to have their 15 mins of fame. But only a few people are asking why weren't they more influential in this past November election? Have they risen and fallen or are they biding their time until they can get the White House?
Populist ideaology is how many people described this small grassroots movement. Populism is a term as defined as "sociopolitical thought that compares "the people" against "the elite". This age old conflict is at the heart of our Conservative and Democratic ideals. Democrats are often thought of as "the elite", they have worked hard to get the vote of the average man. Conservatism has been a party of "the people", many Republicans admire President Bush for being a down-to-earth kind of President, he was the average joe. The Tea Party name is symboloic of this ideaology, the name itself conjures images of our Revolution, the Stamp Act, the high tea taxes and our status as a colony. Even if you don't subscribe to the movement itself, personally I admire the term "sociopoliticial thought" in that description. Tea Partiers started popping up all over the country only a few months after the first few rallies and protests. The ideas spread rapidly and soon this small group of protesters became thousands all over the United States.
Tea Party movement: a brief history. A central platform idea among them is that taxes are too high and they feel no one is listening to what they have to say. This idea was mainly formed by the bailouts of banks and industries, there was a lot of opposition to that bill and the movement showed up at the right time. One of the earliest rallies formed by blogger Keli Carender. She used the conservative media to increase awareness of the protest against taxes. Fox News helped to generate participation from the Republican base. 1,200 people gathered for this event. Supporters started talking to the base when websites started popping up and viral videos began showing up in the media, a facebook page was created. Popularity grew and soon there was the first national movement event staged in 12 cities and they gained powerful supporters. You can't talk about the Tea Party without mentioning Sarah Palin who became a political figure and then a political celebrity. Her visibility in the campaign extended her fame, and she became the darling of the conservative right. They started to become very influential in Congress for the large donations and continued political rallies. From these protests, rallies and media coverage, rose a few members who embarassed the movement. During the 2010 midterm election they had raised enough money to be influential in many campaigns, every candidate supported by the contributions of the movement has been Republican. What was the Democratic reaction all of this: I like the quote from Presidential advisor David Axelrod "I think any time that you have severe economic conditions, there is always an element of disaffection that can mutate into something that’s unhealthy."
The Tea Party movement was effective in getting their candidates elected. 48 members of the 112th Congress were elected from Tea Party donations, while this seemed to have a strong hand in creating this congress, many were incumbents in the House. One of the men elected through this PAC was the current speaker of the House, and the second he took the oath of office, he was threatened by the movement. "As you get down to work, there are a few things to remember. You did not become Speaker because America suddenly fell in love with you or the Republican Party. You became Speaker because America, led by the Tea Party, repudiated Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and the party of socialism," Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation. This week the congress will probably pass a bill which increases the national debt by billions of dollars. This is exactly what the Tea Party movement doesn't want, the party was founded on getting rid of high taxes and government spending, and the Republicans are going to do just the opposite. Can they have strong influence when even Republicans don't hold up their ideology?
Lastly if you care to know my thoughts on the subject: In regards to describing the Tea Party to my boyfriend I told him that they are bascially "The people who are supporters of Sarah Palin for President". I'm not sure how her decision to leave her office of Governor of Alaska hurt or helped a possible presidential campaign in 2012. An interesting point to make is that the entire purpose of grassroots politics is to whip up your base in that respect they exceeded expectations. It seems now their view has shifted once they became a political action committee (P.A.C.). They recieved large donations which kept pouring in, this money went to many Republican candites. I was surprised that after the negative press from some members of the group, the die hards only got more crazy in their opinions. It is no question the media played an important role in advertising for this group, this I think speaks loudly to the bias of news networks. They made a sensation out of a few protests. They embraced the crazies on the far right. There were those who took the ideas too far and attempted to smear and ruin people's lives. I feel there should of have been stronger condemnation of these people, instead there was only 3 hours of coverage on Fox News. I think the Tea Party movement had great ideas to start but they were corrupted and sensationalized, I'm not sure what the future of the group is, I don't think we have heard the last of them but we will have to wait until 2012.
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