Tea Party movement
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 The Tea Party movement was an American political movement within the Republican Party by fiscal conservatives that began in 2009. The movement was a major factor in the 2010 election in which Republicans gained 63 House seats[ and took control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Signs frequently capitalize TEA, as an abbreviation for "Taxed Enough Already". Many describe themselves as constitutional conservatives, such as incoming Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky (U.S. state)|Kentucky and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota (U.S. state)|Minnesota) in her campaign for a House leadership role.[1] A number of the signs at the Tea Party rallies have compared President Obama with Hitler or with Communism.[2] Either of these explanations, however, is compatible that with the idea that it taps into deep anger. 2010 election effects[edit]A number of candidates supported by the Tea Party won election, although prominent ones lost. Prominent winners included Senators Marco Rubio (Florida (U.S. state)|Florida), Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania (U.S. state)|Pennsylvania) and Rand Paul (Kentucky (U.S. state)|Kentucky). Some of the more visible candidates, who had little political experience and made controversial statements that alienated the center, such as Senate candidates Christine O'Donnell (Delaware (U.S. state)|Delaware), Joe Miller (Alaska) and Sharron Angle (Nevada (U.S. state)|Nevada), lost. According to New York Times exit polls, 4 in 10 voters showed support for the movement.[3] Bid for leadership[edit]Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota (U.S. state)|Minnesota), an incumbent who started the Tea Party Caucus, claims a mandate and is a candidate for the chair of the Republican Leadership Conference, the fourth-ranking member of the Republican leadership.[4] Bachmann claims that a constitutional conservative must be in the leadership.[1] She lost her bid, and eventually supported the "establishment" candidate.Hensarling has been introduced by established conservatives such as Paul Ryan of Wisconsin (U.S. state)|Wisconsin, who wrote "Jeb's economic expertise and strong ability to communicate are what we need in our conference chairman to articulate our unified commitment to get our country back on track,.This position requires someone who has a command of these issues and has a history of successfully debating them."[5] On 10 October, she gave up her campaign and endorsed Hensarling.
Candidate identification after election[edit]A relatively small number of U.S. Representatives, 12 freshmen in the total of 30, formally joined the Tea Party Caucus organized by Bachmann. The freshman members at the February 2011 meeting were: Sandy Adams (Fla.), Tim Huelskamp (Kansas), Stephen Fincher (Tennessee (U.S. state)|Tennessee), Vicky Hartzler (Missouri), Mick Mulvaney (South Carolina (U.S. state)|South Carolina), Dennis Ross (Florida (U.S. state)|Florida), Marlin Stutzman (Indiana (U.S. state)|Indiana), Tim Walberg (Michigan (U.S. state)|Michigan), Rich Nugent (Florida (U.S. state)|Florida), Joe Walsh (Illinois (U.S. state)|Illinois) and Allen West (Florida (U.S. state)|Florida). Three members of the founding caucus declined to join in the new Congress: Paul Broun (Georgia), Walter Jones (North Carolina (U.S. state)) and Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming (U.S. state)|Wyoming).[7] According to a political analyst with the Washington Post, some Republicans are hesitant, once in office, to identify too closely with the Tea Party, over concern that they will alienate independents.[8] Origins[edit]While there have been many earlier movements that recognized the historical significance of the Boston Tea Party, it does not appear that there were organizations, which explicitly called themselves Tea Parties, before 2009. Predecessors[edit]The Rand Paul political campaign had a 2007 event that celebrated the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, but no separate movement using the Tea Party name appears to have resulted. It did spawn Rand's Campaign for Liberty (CFL) "a significant stand-alone, membership-based non-profit institution headquartered in Virginia [that has] played a noteworthy role in the growth of the Tea Party movement, even if few CFL members have enrolled in any of the national Tea Party groups."[9] The Libertarian Party of Illinois picked up some of the CFL momentum, and claims to have inspired the Tea Party call, in February 2009, from Rick Santelli. As with the Paul campaign, this group focuses on the concept rather than the name. Eric Odom had been a member but affiliated directly with Santelli.[10] Tea Party organizations[edit]The Tea Party name, however, came into national view as part of an estimated 750 city-level anti-tax protests[11] on the U.S. tax day of 15 April 2009. There indeed were several hundred protesters in Boston, Massachusetts.[12] It was preceded by small local demonstrations in February, although it is unclear if they used the name "Tea Party" at the time or have subsequently inherited the title from leaders who are now active in the named movement. Many participants say it is a genuine bottom-up movement, whose members learned from the community organizing of groups on the left, especially citing Web-inspired groups such as MoveOn.org. Subsequently, it held national protests on 4 July 2009 and 12 September 2009, and its supporters have been visible at both local and national events. Some of the national-level groups that have supported local Tea Parties have received large funding from major conservative contributors. For example, Freedomworks and its predecessors received in excess of $10 million in funding from groups associated with the owners of Koch Industries.[13] The funding is sometimes even more obscure: The #Tea Party Patriots|Tea Party Patriots received a $1 million donation from an anonymous source. The donation was reported in the news media in September 2010. The donation would be divided up among other Tea Party groups by Oct. 4, 2010, at the donors request.[14] It has been characterized, however, by opposition and anger more than specific recommendations, by endorsement of candidates rather than policy papers. Nevertheless, its recurring themes are, most strongly, reducing the power of the Federal government and encouraging fiscal conservatism. It contains libertarianism|libertarians, paleoconservatism|paleoconservatives and social conservatives, with inherent conflicts among them. Demographics[edit]Several national opinion polls, cited in the October 2010 Burghart-Zeskind report, point to support for the Tea Parties running at approximately 16% to 18% of the adult population, which would put the number of sympathizers in the tens of millions. That would be the outermost ring of support. At the next level is a larger less defined group of a couple of million activists who go to meetings, buy the literature and attend the many local and national protests. At the core is the more 250,000 members in all fifty states who have signed up on the websites of the six national organizational networks that form the core of this movement.[15]An October 2010 poll by the Public Religion Research Institute reported:[16][17]
According to Gallup Polls (Spring 2010)[18] among Tea Party supporters there are
and they share the following beliefs:
A Rasmussen poll in December 2009 indicated there was greater support for Tea Party than Republican congressional candidates, although it was not a formal party. When 1,000 likely voters were asked, without knowing specific candidates, who they were most likely to select
The poll, with a margin of error of 3%, showed that the Tea Party would split the Republican vote. The poll of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Dec. 4-5 and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele recognized the potential threat, saying
National positioning[edit]While the Tea Party's original focus was on taxes, its scope has broadened, although it continues to be characterized more by protests and anger than an actual platform. Three national figures associated with it are Sarah Palin, Fox News host Glenn Beck, and Rep. Michele Bachmann. CNN contributor John Feehery said while it energizes the Republican base, it also presents problems.
Bachmann invoked it against the H.R. 3962 Democratic health care reform legislation. After calling for a protest on Sean Hannity's television show the previous week, saying "she hoped viewers would come to her press conference and then walk through the congressional office buildings, "up and down through the halls, find members of Congress, look at the whites of their eyes and say, 'Don't take away my health care.'"[20] Officially, her 5 November 2009 event, at the U.S. Capitol, was a press conference and not a rally, since there was no demonstration permit; an estimated 5 to 10,000 supporters attended.[21] Appearing with her was House minority leader John Boehner (Republican Party (United States)|R-Ohio (U.S. state)|Ohio), U.S. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, and Republican representatives Todd Akin (Republican Party (United States)|R-Missouri), Steve King (Republican Party (United States)|R-Iowa (U.S. state)|Iowa), Paul Broun (Republican Party (United States)|R-Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia), Jean Schmidt (Republican Party (United States)|R-Ohio (U.S. state)|Ohio) and Bill Cassidy (Republican Party (United States)|R-Louisiana (U.S. state)|Louisiana). February 2010 Convention[edit]A National Tea Party Convention was held in February 2010, a production of Tennessee lawyer Judson Phillips and Tea Party Nation, of which Sherry Phillips is vice president. Phillips has said he expects to make a profit on it, but many activists are complaining about the $550 ticket price and the $100,000 speaker fee to be paid to Sarah Palin. Reps. Michele Bachmann (Republican Party (United States)|R-Michigan (U.S. state)|Michigan) and Marsha Blackburn (Republican Party (United States)|R-Tennessee (U.S. state)|Tennessee), previously listed as speakers, have withdrawn, saying they were concerned how the convention's revenues would be spent.[22] Former Rep. Tom Tancredo verbally attacked both 2008 presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, always referring to the latter as "Barack Hussein Obama," whom he called a "committed socialist".[23] He continued to say that the President was elected because "we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote...People who could not even spell the word 'vote' or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House."[24] The issue of whether the movement should form a new political party, or take over the Republicans, was an open issue. Andrew Breitbart told Time (magazine)|Time Magazine "Form another party? Why would we want to do that? That's exactly what the Daily Kos wants us to do and we'd just be playing into liberal hands," but others disagreed.[25] Dick Armey expressed concern about prominent "wedge" issues such as Tancredo's position on immigration, and Joseph Farah speaking on the Birther Movement. He said "That kind of rhetoric is counterproductive. It feeds into the hands of the left and allows [the tea party] to be portrayed as people who are angry and accusatory, inflammatory. That is not what this movement has been about. We have to keep our eye on the ball; we have to work to stop people who believe the government should control vast sections of the economy." Armey suggested that President Obama was using the gays-in-the-military question specifically to divide the tea-party movement. "He's hoping the grass roots would jump on this and turn away from economic issues," Armey said. "And Obama would just love to change the subject, so my own view is, don't take the bait." Future positioning[edit]One of the major questions is whether the movement will stay in the Republican Party or form a new party. Fox News reports that the Tea Party could well influence the 2010 U.S. Congressional election, with most commenters assuming it will focus on Republican primaries.[26] Groups are establishing political action committees for the financial support of candidate. Phillips said Tea Party Nation opposed a third party, preferring to take over the Republican Party. She was joined by Freedomworks' Matt Kibbe, who said that Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman, who drove Republican Dede Scozzafava out of the race but lost to a Democrat, Bill Owens, was an "anomaly". said the special election in upstate New York last month -- in which Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman drove the Republican candidate out of the race with the help of tea party activists -- can be considered an "anomaly." He said "I think a more practical solution is to take over the GOP... explaining that the tea party movement can have the most impact by directing volunteers and money in support of GOP candidates who reflect their small-government values. " Kibbe mentioned candidates Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania (U.S. state)|Pennsylvania and Marco Rubio in Florida (U.S. state)|Florida as examples of conservative challengers within a Republican framework. Rep. Mark Souder (Indiana (U.S. state)|Indiana) is one Republican expecting a primary challenge from a Tea Party activist. "It's hard to tell if this will help the Republican Party win...What it's done is energize people. The question is what will happen with the energized people: Are we going to maintain an effective two-party system or are some of them going to split off?"[27] May 2010 Convention[edit]Much more accessible than the February convention was a May convention in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. With a $35 admission fee, this was quite different in cost from the earlier event. "Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who generated considerably less media buzz than Sarah Sarah Palin|Palin. More than twenty local Tea Party groups in Tennessee sponsored the gathering. The sponsors claimed to have pre-sold 1,000 tickets to the event, and told the press they expected more to attend. To the casual observer, however, there never appeared to be more than 300 people attending at any one time."[28] It was well positioned for the target, however: local Tennessee groups. Burghart and Zeskind expressed concern that its workshops had a significant presence of what they considered extremists:
Contract from America[edit]A number of affiliated groups called upon candidates, in September 2010, to pledge to follow a Contract with America, whose main points are:[29]
Conflict on racism[edit]There has been media and blog commentary on racism in the Tea Party, but the issue is not clear in October 2009. One research report, with a foreword by Benjamin Jealous, president of the NAACP, and issued by the Kansas City, Mo.-based Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, which is funded, in part, by the liberal Firedoll Foundation, with its primary author being specialists in white nationalism.[30] The report highlighted individuals and groups in Tea Parties and in antisemitism or white nationalism.[31] A different report, also reported by the Post, said that University of California at Los Angeles graduate student Emily Ekins had photographed and counted signs at the 9-12 Project rally, and found few with racial themes.[32] The Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights (IREHR) study focused on six organizations it considered at the heart of the national movement:
Campaign criticism on the right[edit]Writing in the conservative National Review, Jim Geraghty questioned the possible irony of "The Tea Party movement in all its myriad forms — free-market groups, little old ladies, crusty in flag hats, fans of Glenn Beck|Beck’s 9/12 Project — have done everything one could possibly ask to derail a government takeover of the health-care system. It will be a perverse irony if their high-visibility protests end up persuading Democrats to damn the torpedoes in the face of near-certain electoral doom." He suggested that while some Democrats might lose their seats if they vote for the bill, if they fail to do so, they might enrage the Democratic base, with the Republican base already activated, and lose control of the House in the 2010 elections.[33] It is characterized, however, by opposition and anger more than specific recommendations. Elections[edit]In some recent elections, it has been suggested that perceived ultraconservatives it supported to win Republican primaries may not appeal to independents or more moderate Republicans, and actually cost Republican seats by creating unelectable Republican nominees. Another view, however, is the reality that the Tea Party Republicans winning seats against Republican favorites shows organization and appeal to voters. Alaska[edit]Delaware[edit]Such a Tea Party candidate is Christine O'Donnell, who won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, seeking the long-Democratic Delaware seat in the U.S. Senate, formerly held by Vice-President Joe Biden. O'Donnell was endorsed by Sarah Palin. Delaware Republican chairman Tom Ross had called an O'Donnell victory a "complete train wreck" for the party.[34] Missouri[edit]Out-of-state Tea Party activists have not necessarily fit local agendas. Missouri Tea Party groups issued a joint statement that they were incensed by Rep. Michele Bachmann's endorsement of Senatorial candidate Roy Blunt.[35] Bachmann is a national favorite among Tea Party members, as is Palin and Sen. Jim DeMint, but the national figures may not be in tune with local issues. Nevada[edit]Issues[edit]From another conservative group that can cross party lines, neoconservatism, there is conflict with some of the libertarianism|libertarians and paleoconservatism|paleoconservatives in the movement. The former, represented in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, include the heads of the American Enterprise Institute (Arthur C. Brooks), the Heritage Foundation (Edwin Feulner|Ed Feulner) and the Foreign Policy Initiative (Bill Kristol) is directed at Obama Administration military spending cuts, the real message, according to Marc Armbinder, political editor of The Atlantic, is to tell the movement that defense spending is untouchable: "there will not be 'long-term prosperity' if the US military is 'hollowed out and can't defend the country." They are concerned with comments from movement figures such as Ron Paul, and Senate candidates Rand Paul (R-Kentucky (U.S. state)|Kentucky), Mike Lee (R-Utah (U.S. state)|Utah) and Ken Buck (R-Colorado (U.S. state)|Colorado). Buck, for example, has said that as Iraq winds down,
Another conflict potentially comes between social conservatism and libertarianism. While the Tea Party has a general position against enlarged government, the social conservatives want government to enforce their strongly held moral views.[17] Relationship to moderates[edit]In April 2010, Senator Scott Brown (R-Massachusetts (U.S. state)|Massachusetts) declined to join Sarah Palin at a Tea Party movement rally in Boston, Massachusetts. Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia said “He wants to mainstream himself before the election.” His office said he would be busy in Washington, but he applauds the “energy and enthusiasm” of Palin and the Tea Party.[37] After O'Donnell's primary victory, national Republicans said they were diverting funds from the Delaware race, which they had hoped to win, to other races where they had a better chance. Karl Rove said, on Fox News,
Possibly fraudulent Tea Party candidates[edit]It has been alleged that New Jersey (U.S. state)|New Jersey Democrats, supporting the candidacy of incumbent John Adler against Republican John Runyan, may have worked to nominate a fake Tea Party candidate,[39] Peter DeStefano, to split the Republican vote in the 3rd Congressional District. DeStefano, a political unknown, announced his candidacy in July. According to the New Jersey Star-Ledger, no organized Tea Party group claimed to know him.[40] In March 2011, charges were filed against two former Democratic Party officials in Oakland County, Michigan, charging they formed a fake Independent Tea Party to split the opposition to Democratic candidates. Other charges were made relating to fraudulent mailings.[41] References[edit]
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